EMPOWER BRANDS Exits Franchise Fastlane.  Will They Exit the “Semi-Absentee Franchise” Pitch as Well?

Empower Brands acquired & immediately franchised four “incubation brands” (their term).  Does that mean those initial franchisees invested in concepts not fully developed, tested or proven to survive in the outside world?  Additionally, they relied on the aggressive & controversial Franchise Fastlane to supercharge the initial sales of its supposedly “Semi-absentee” franchises.  As some of the initial franchisees fail or otherwise wish to exit their “incubation” franchises, will Empower Brands & its attorneys go easy on those who were sold un-hatched franchises from their now-terminated franchise sales organization (FSO)?  by Sean Kelly

(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) According to a Franchise Times article by Emilee Wentland, Empower Brands refers to the concepts it acquired, then franchised, as “incubation” brands.”The Empower Brands “incubation brands” are:

• Koala Insulation,
• Canopy Lawn Care,
• Wallaby Windows, and
• Bumble Roofing.

As we point out in our recent post EMPOWER Brands Semi-Absentee Franchise Claims – Discussion Invited, these four brands differ from Empowers’ in some significant ways.   All were initially promoted and sold by sales agents and commissioned brokers as “Semi-Absentee Franchises.”

“Semi-Absentee Franchise” sales representation expands the pool of potential franchisees to include those who wish to – or must – maintain their full-time jobs or other full-time endeavors and have limited time or energy to devote to a new business.

To appear viable, the semi-absentee opportunity must demonstrate the potential revenue and high enough margin to support a full-time manager, pay debt service and deliver a profit to the “passive” or semi-absentee franchisee.

Another difference is that three of the four (excluding Bumble Roofing) achieved their initial sales through the controversial outsourced franchise sales organization (FSO) Franchise Fastlane.

Empower Brands’ own term, “incubation brands,” acknowledges (or at least implies) that some of these concepts – unlike Empower’s more venerable brands – were sold as franchises before the concepts were fully hatched.

“Semi-Absentee” Fuels Franchise Fastlane’s High-Volume Franchise Sales

Outsourced franchise sales organization (FSO) Franchise Fastlane seems especially keen on promoting “semi-absentee” franchises… not always with positive outcomes.

For example, a number of middle-aged and or near-retirement DonutNV franchisees have complained that the “semi-absentee” mobile mini-donut franchise sold to them by Franchise Fastlane required significantly more hands-on involvement and commitment of hours than represented. 

They claim that they never achieved the revenue & profit level to hire a full-time manager, and that hands-on operations were beyond their physical abilities.

While the DonutNV model may work for hands-on owner operators, many failures and franchisee exits have been attributed to the alleged mischaracterization of the concept as “Semi-absentee” for fast sales and short-term growth.

Empower Brands “Incubator Franchises” Pulled From Franchise Fastlane

In May, 2024, FSO Franchise Fastlane displayed three of Empower Brands’ four “incubator brands” in its portfolio of franchise offerings:  Canopy Lawn Care, Wallaby Windows, & Koala Insulation.

By July, 2024 Franchise Fastlane displayed only Koala Insulation and Canopy Lawn Care in their portfolio.

By December, Franchise Fastlane only displayed Koala Insulation.

In January, 2025, all Empower Brands franchises had been removed from the Franchise Fastlane portfolio.

Company FDDs also reflect Empower’s separation from Franchise Fastlane.

Franchise Fastlane’s Amie Hawk, Justin Kemper and Patrick Sanchez were disclosed as franchise sellers in the 2024 Koala Insulation FDD, but not in 2025.

Canopy Lawn Care’s 2025 FDD no longer lists Franchise Fastlane’s Thomas Kissane & Candace Milton as franchise sellers.

While we haven’t been able to locate a 2025 Wallaby Windows FDD, Franchise Fastlane reps Amie Hawk, Patrick Sanchez, and Ben Rickord no longer promote or sell the Wallaby franchise.  (former Empower Brands “Chief Incubation Officer”  Scott Marr does not appear to be a seller, though his Franchise Altitude broker site indicates he may have a commission relationship).

Is Empower Brands Rethinking Its “Semi-Absentee” Franchise Sales Pitch?  Should It?

As discussed in our recent post, the Koala Insulation franchisor is suing one of its early multi-unit franchisees for breaching its franchise agreement and going independent.

The franchisee’s defense includes the claim that he was fraudulently induced by a false “Semi-absentee” representation (perhaps by Franchise Fastlane) to sign the Koala Insulation franchise agreement.

I do not know the Koala Insulation franchisee involved in the suit and have only read the pleadings I downloaded from PACER.

But I will say this:  If Empower Brands fired Franchise Fastlane because of its aggressive tactics and representations (including an emphasis on “semi-absentee”), they may want to consider taking a more compassionate approach with the early Koala Insulation, Wallaby Windows, Canopy Lawn Care & Bumble Roofing franchisees who find themselves unable to maintain their businesses in the coming years.

After all, their own term “incubation brands” acknowledges (or at least implies) that some of these concepts – unlike Empower’s more venerable brands – were sold as franchises before the concepts were fully hatched.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH ANY OF THE EMPOWER BRANDS “SEMI-ABSENTEE” FRANCHISES?

KOALA INSULATION?

WALLABY WINDOWS?

BUMBLE ROOFING?

CANOPY LAWN CARE?

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE OR OPINIONS BELOW OR EMAIL IN CONFIDENCE TO UNHAPPYFRANCHISEE[AT]GMAIL[DOT]COM.

Invitation:  All companies & individuals discussed on this website are invited to provide corrections, clarifications, explanations, rebuttals or expression of their points-of-view to be fairly represented.  Representatives of all Empower Brands are invited to weigh in.  Our goal is to include all perspectives of an issue so readers can make up their own minds.

TAGS:  Empower Brands, Koala Insulation franchise, Wallaby Windows franchise, Bumble Roofing franchise, Canopy Lawn Care franchise, semi-absentee franchise, passive investment franchise, Scott Marr, Franchise Altitude, Franchise Fastlane, Franchise Sidekick