EMPOWER Brands Semi-Absentee Franchise Claims – Discussion Invited
Empower Brands promotes 10 home services franchise opportunities. Six brands require franchisees to focus full-time on their franchise businesses. Four others (Koala Insulation, Wallaby Windows, Canopy Lawn Care, & Bumble Roofing) are promoted as “semi-absentee” franchise opportunities that can be run alongside a full-time job or other businesses. How are franchisees who joined as the semi-absentee owners doing? Why aren’t all Empower Brands franchises offered as semi-absentee? Please share your thoughts & experiences (can be anonymous). by Sean Kelly
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) The promotion of the “semi-absentee franchise” is one of the most controversial subjects in franchising today.
Pitching the semi-absentee option has enabled franchise consultant/brokers to generate huge commissions and fueled the rapid growth (and sometimes rapid decline) of much-hyped brands (like the DonutNV franchise) that are more saleable as a side-hustle than a full-time gig.
Franchisees from a number of broker-promoted franchises submitted complaints to the FTC last year claiming that they were sold franchises misrepresented as semi-absentee businesses that were not profitable enough to support full-time managers & would fail without at least a full-time effort on their parts.
While FTC complaints were not, necessarily, focused on Empower Brands, the multi-concept franchise-seller provides a unique opportunity to explore the pros & cons of promoting traditionally full-time concepts as “semi-absentee franchises.”
According to franchisee recruitment information online, six Empower Brands’ franchise offerings require a full-time owner-operator:
- Archadeck – 93 units; Franchising since 1984 (41 years)
- Conserva Irrigation – 205 units; Franchising since 2017 (8 years)
- FRSTeam – 49 locations; Franchising since 2006 (19 years)
- Jan-Pro (11,266; Franchising since 1992 (33 years)
- Outdoor Lighting Perspectives – 137 units; Franchising since 1998 (27 years)
- Superior Fence & Rail – 297; Franchising since 2017 (8 years)
Four other franchise offerings are promoted as semi-absentee franchises that allow passive ownership:
- Bumble Roofing – 29 units; Franchising since 2023 (2 years)
- Canopy Lawn Care – 32 units; Franchising since 2022 (3 years)
- Koala Insulation – 447 units; Franchising since 2020 (5 years)
- Wallaby Windows – 28 units; Franchising since 2023 (2 years)
NOTE: Unhappy Franchisee is an independent website that provides franchise owners and others the opportunity to share their experiences and opinions confidentially. We are not affiliated with any company or special interest. You may email the author in confidence at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail[dot]com. You may confidentially request and/or sponsor investigation and publication on any relevant franchise topic.
Empower’s Semi-Absentee Franchise Brands Have Far Less Experience, Little-to-No Track Records
A cursory comparison between the Owner/Operator and Semi-Absentee franchise offerings reveals that the latter companies have substantially shorter operating histories and virtually no long-term track records.
The concepts in Empower Brands’ Owner/Operator Category have an average of 23 years experience selling and supporting franchises vs. an average 3 years for the Semi-Absentee Brands.
The franchises in Empower Brands’ Owner/Operator Category have an average of 781 operating units* vs. an average of 134 units in the Semi-Absentee Brands.
| Empower Brands Franchises | Full-Time Franchisee Brands | Semi-Absentee Brands |
| Average Years Franchising: | 23 | 3 |
| Average # Units | 781* | 134 |
Why do their older, more established brands require full-time owner-operator focus while newer brands with a limited track record recruit franchisees with limited time to devote to it?
Are they more efficient?
Provide more support?
Or are they designated for more aggressive, broker-powered sales?
Most importantly: Are semi-absentee franchisees’ experiences consistent with the characterization as described by brokers and “Confirmation Day” presentations?
* Jan-Pro is excluded from this number. The average number of units including Jan-Pro is 2,007.
Former Koala Insulation Franchisee Disputes the “Semi-Absentee” Claim
In court filings*, Koala Insulation franchisee Salim Michel Makhlouf claims that he was fraudulently induced to enter into franchise agreements by misrepresentations that the Koala Insulation franchise could be successfully operated on a semi-absentee basis.
Salim undertook… substantial financial obligations based on Koala’s representations [$900,000] regarding franchise viability, its semi-absentee ownership model, and cost.
However, Salim subsequently discovered Koala’s representations were materially false…
The franchisee claims that the Empower Brands franchisor deceived him, terminated him, and now is suing to prevent him and his employees from earning a living.
Franchisee’s court documents characterize the dispute as a David v. Goliath mismatch:
It is David versus Goliath: a national, deep-pocketed franchisor attempting to extinguish the livelihood of a hardworking individual who regrettably relied on its representations of financial promise in attempt to build a better future for his family.
* Koala Insulation Franchisor, LLC v. Lotus & The Rooster Holdings Company et al , Civil Action 1:25-CV-1008, filed 6/5/25 in UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Does Empower Brands Offer True Semi-Absentee Franchise Opportunities?
Discussion invited regarding Empower Brands semi-absentee franchise offerings.
Does a Koala Insulation Franchise Really Require only 8-10 Hours Per Week?
Presentation materials included as exhibits in the Koala Insulation Franchisor v Lotus, et al lawsuit include the claims:
- “RETURNS – High Revenue with over 33% Return”
- “HIGH REVENUE – Strong Average Ticket ($3804.03)”
- “Semi-Absentee Model – 8-10 hours a week”
Can a Wallaby Windows Franchise be Run While “Maintaining Other Ventures or Another Job.”
In the interview “Wallaby Windows: A Franchise Model Designed for Semi-Absentee Ownership!” with founder Scott Marr & franchise salesman Ben Rickord of Franchise Fastlane, Rickord states:
…We wanted to make a business that could truly be ran while still maintaining other ventures or another job… there’s not a ton of moving parts…. we really designed this with the executive owner in mind.
Can a Bumble Roofing Franchise Be Run “While Still Maintaining a Job or Other Obligation.”?
The International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG) website states:
Bumble Roofing is a semi absentee franchise and allows passive ownership.
A semi-absentee franchise is a business you could start and run while still maintaining a job or other obligation.
Canopy Lawn Care: High Margin, Year-round Revenue, With Passive Ownership?
Canopy Lawn Care is promoted as a semi-absentee franchise that allows passive ownership:
The Canopy franchise business model is an asset-light, high-margin, cash-flow business built on predictable and recurring, year-round revenue with low startup costs.
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, Salim Michel Makhlouf, Scott Marr, Franchise Altitude, Franchise Fastlane
