COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS: Great Opportunity or Franchise Scam?
The College Pro Painters franchise opportunity seems like a brilliant idea: a program that gives college students and recent graduates the training, systems, branding and guidance they need to build their own successful, profitable seasonal house painting businesses.
The idea seems to be a win-win for everyone: Homeowners get a quality, reliable paint job at a reasonable price and students not only earn good money, but gain invaluable business, management and entrepreneurial skills and experience.
According to the College Pro Painters franchise website directed at prospective franchisees:
… no other experience can provide you with the exceptional leadership and management training that helps you stand out now and in life after college. College Pro is the largest and most successful student painting company in North America because it provides a challenging, real-life business experience that inspires excellence. You‘re already working on your education in school, but this summer learn the tools you will need in order to make and manage money, run your own business and gain the self-confidence you will need for any future career…
Each summer we select over 700 driven, enthusiastic young entrepreneurs across North America to run their own business from more than 25,000 who apply. These students employ another 7,000 additional workers. All of them represent a brand recognized throughout North America, so we are particular about who enters the system – and supportive of those we choose. Find out what franchise managers say about how a summer job with College Pro can help you to meet tons of new people, make money to help pay your tuition, and learn new skills that can be applied to your future employment endeavors.
However, there are numerous comments on Internet complaint sites that tell a different story. On the Pissed Consumer website, a parent whose daughter was in the College Pro Painter franchise program calls it a cultish Ponzi scheme:
…College Pro was cult-ish and is run like a Pyramid Scheme.Think about it. The kids are working their butts off bringing in the CASH while a bunch of slackers at the top are raking in the money. “Bonding Sessions” are common-place. Financially, they took over 30% of the profits. That’s over $25,000 from my kid for her working 4 months.
They charge the Franchisees for EVERYTHING at top prices. They even charge the kids $15.00 for a College Pro T-shirt !!! YOU PAY FOR EVERYTHING! Shame on them. They disgust me. I will NEVER use College Pro. They are NOT good leaders or role models for our youth! It’s a greedy company breeding greed and teaching kids to cheat, not trust their loved ones and to lie about the painting skills they have ( 1 day of training).
If your kid wants to do College Pro, stand by them and know that they will work their butts off. There are a very few that make big bucks, but they are really rare. Help them create books, balances their checkbooks – your kids will need you more than ever. Don’t abandon them. They will not be able to do well unless they get REAL help from those that really care about their personal growth and work ethic.
John Doe writes:
Scammers. I was a franchise manager and I was robbed of all my money. I booked 72k and was on my way to my goal of 80k and my GM told me I was only going to recieve something less then 10k. I was pissed so you mean I worked 12-20 hrs a day and take home less then 10k. Bull ***! I just kept thinking they make 70k and I only make 10k. So I quit and sold my book work to other franchise managers so they can make their goals. I was just lucky not to have to pay anything more back to them for quiting like I read other managers have done. I really didnt have anything to owe them besides not fulfilling my goal. Anyways spread the word to kids that CPP *** and is a scam. Dont do it no matter what they say positive about their company
former CPP franchisee writes:
College pro painters is the worst student scam that is legal… the company lies, misleads, threatens, blackmails and on top of that they steal. True facts: if you sell anything under 75K your going to make nothing. There is NO guarantee of making any money! Example on a 50K business you will make 3000$ for working 70h a week for 6 months (1,78$ per hour). Total SCAM!
It isn’t really 24% royalty its more like 35% with all the hidden cost you pay on each job you book. Think about it 35% CPP charges 35% labour 15% supplies if your lucky you be left with maybe 15% to pay for your car, marketing, equipment. Don’t forget the 6000$ charge for what they call recoverables.
In total on a 50K biz they take 25K. They will take everything you have! If your thinking of becoming a franchisee it will be a mistake of a life time. You have greater chances of making money by starting your own company and make 45-50% of the sale and not 10-15% like with college pro!
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Great question about looking into the business. I know what you mean as you look into this. I had the same questions. I wasnt sure if this was legit or not as I know that some people that dont understand what it means to run a business could throw this down as a scam.
I am contrary to the experience listed above. I had an awesome experience. As for the money to College Pro. Running a business is a lot of work, and they financially front you everything you need to run this business for the most part. They guided me weekly to run my business and without their help, I would have been screwed. I am not sure how paying for insurance and a truck and all of the other costs that go in running a business is being portrayed as College Pro making that money, I didnt see it like that.
They trained me really well, I worked my butt off. I ran a 100,000 business my first year and didnt listen to my GM a lot and ended up only making 7 – 8K when I thought I was going to make 12K – 15K. Now he walked me through where all my money went and spent as much time with me as I needed to understand it, I then came back and ran 150,000 and made 20-30K that year.
As for how I look at it, I pay in over 15,000 a year to go to school to get a degree in business, yet I ran a business and ya I paid in close to 90K in expenses to CPP for helping, the overhead of the business, payroll and supplies, but I learned how to run a 100,000 business in which I had no idea how to do that before. Same as the guy that said he only made 3 – 4K on a 50,000 business. I mean did he know how to do that before, cause I didnt. I got paid 7000 – 8000 my first summer, keep in mind, this would be a 30K salary if all year, or I guess I should say I paid myself as I was a business owner and got a four year degree in 6 months on how to run my own business. I would have honestly done it for free all over again, especially with more expereince several years after.
My vote, is this is an awesome program for the right person, you have to want to work hard, want to learn how to be a leader and take ownership over every mistake you have. To start a business with laywers, accountants and state fee’s, that would be 5000 right there that the feedback isnt listing, College Pro helps with this. It is a franchise, you either have what it takes, or you dont! Hope this helps give you a bit more perspective!!
K.C.
I agree with the comment and not the post. I am currently a second year franchisee with college pro. I only ran a 50k business last year and made right around 4k for my troubles. I was bitter fora long time, because I felt like I was misinformed prior to the summer on what I would make. But looking back on it, and the reason I came back, I was the reason I didn’t make money, not College Pro.
I was lazy my frist year, not marketing when I said I was, not putting in the necessary time. I cam back this summer to prove to myself that I could succeed. I am currently booked at what I produced last year with 3 more summers to book work. I also recently graduated from College, and to be hoenst, I have learned more from College Pro in the 1 and a half I’ve been with them, then I did in four years in a business program at school.
And whe it comes to the “improper training” or low quality work that is delivered by college pro, that just isn’t true. I produced over 25 jobs last summer and only ONE failed to give me a 10 out of 10 when college pro called them and asked how we did. I ended up having the highest customer satisfaction in the company for last summer.
Like anything in life, you have tow ork hard to succeed. And that is the main thing I learned from College Pro. Nothing had ever challenged me like College Pro did and when I walk away from the company at the end of this summer for bigger and better things, I will have nothing but positive things to say about it.
nate
I am a very disatisfied customer of College Pro and from what I read, I am one of MANY. After an unsolicited visit to our front door by a CP rep, my wife gave him my number and she told him to call me (we do need an exterior paint job). A CP rep called me back shortly after and came to the house to talk about the estimate. I liked the guy, the kind of person you’d like dating your daughter, so I thought. To make a very long story short, I signed a contract to commence work the week after the following. They did not show until three weeks after the signing (and a considerable down payment). They worked 1.5 days (give or take) and said they were done. My wife and I walked them around showing them why they were NOT done. Overspray mess (this was to be a spray-brush job but I doubt brushes were used), and incomplete painting job was terrible. They said their boss will fix everthing. Boss called that night wanting his check. I said, job not done, come and look. He came over next morning and agreed with me. He said after the holiday they would return and fix the problem. He said he needed the money because they were having trouble making payroll. (Like it’s my problem!) I still liked this guy and I paid him 70% of the contract price, including down payment. This was the last have seen anyone from CP Co. Their two extension ladders and some buckets are still behind my house. I have not seen anyone from CP for 5 weeks. Unreturned phone calls and emails later and 2 calls to Corporate and another broken appointment by them and still no resolution. I’ve been scammed before but never as batantly as this. College Pro Painting Co. SHAME ON YOU.
I am a current franchisee for College Pro. Every once in a while I hear stories like some that I have read. I am not going to say we are a perfect company, but I will say we are a lot better than these stories make us out to be. I have produced over 150 jobs for homeowners in my community and so far only have one customer that wouldn’t reccomend me because a painter left a gate open and their dog ran away for about an hour. I know we are a good company and am very proud to be a College Pro franchisee.
Eric
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I’ve been a franchisee for the past year on the East Coast and I’ve had nothing but great experiences. I’ve employed 7 college students in the past 4 months and I’ve provided them with steady work in a very poor economy. Because of the promise and commitment the company offers, I’ve been able to challenge myself in numerous ways. I plan on being a part of this wonderful company for many years to come because of its core values and purpose. We are all about developing young entrepreneurs into successful business owners and leaders within their community. As in most facets in life, you DO get out of the business what you put in. If you give up on yourself, or your co-workers you will not be successful. I am an enthusiastic advocate for College Pro and I stand by my alignment with the company and their values.
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This controversy interests me because I hear many different perspectives, both good and bad. From all accounts, including many friends and acquaintances that have been involved with College Pro and have shared their stories with me, have led me to believe that the program is a great learning experience for those that are willing to take ownership over their business and learning. I know people that have succeeded immensly with College Pro and I know people that have failed at the manager position. At the end of the day, what I have gathered is that everyone that goes through their program learns a TON. I am convinced that the company exists purposefully for college students to learn true entrepreneuership skills and accountability. I understand that the support from the company toward the Student Managers is excellent and the company works really hard to help ensure success in the Students. For those that may not have succeeded in the role, it has sounded like much of that was due to lack of effort or accountability on the part of the student. From those that I know, when they discuss their role and responsibility within the company and try to explain why they have failed, it generally sounds like there are missing peices to the story and that the student doesn’t take full ownership. All the while, the learning through the experience is insurmountable.
Overall, I feel like College Pro is a great company that provides a premium internship with the opportunity to learn, grow, and potentially make a good amount of money for a college student. I definitely don’t think its a scam… It just may not be the right fit for everyone. However, for the right person, it can be the best experience and most life changing a student can go through.
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I am both a homeowner and a College Pro franchisee for the 2010 season and my experience was the exact opposite of the original post above. I have also had bad painters and pissed off customers. I’m not going to argue the fact that there are trade-offs in running a franchise. The question I pose to previous franchise owners is this: Did you know how to run a business previously? How old are you? Time and time again, disgruntled franchisees are unwilling to accept the responsibility of running their own businesses and want to blame their GM or anyone/anything else. Life and business is full of hard lessons. Regardless of the outcome, you now know how to run a business or are a lot further along in that process.
How come you are not a millionaire already? It’s probably because you are not sure how to run a business. I have worked for a lot of other companies and no other company invests in the training and development of 20 year old, negatively stereotyped, college students (even though we are the future business leaders of North America).
Homeowners:
I’m not sure how you can consider this a scam. Practice makes perfect. I’m sure that you have always been perfect in everything you do and required no training at all for your job. While I do sympathize with you about having ladders left at your house or having appointments broken, you are still helping students learn from their mistakes and improve their customer service. At the very least, you can take pride in the fact that you invested in your country’s economic future.
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So many have said that College Pro is a scam. However, when I look at College and see recent freshman who fail out and spend many thousands of dollars I see the same thing. When they fail out they are not complaining about the University not giving them a degree, or complaining about the Universities claims that you can come to school, spend time and energy to get an education. So if we were to put all of this on an even playing field, and not say which business was a “scam” (because Universities are a business) an outsider would have a hard time picking out which was which. So, this then comes down to the individual who either goes to school, or signs the contract. Because I knew a lot of freshman who failed, and I knew a lot of freshman who graduated with me 4 years later. So, if you have failed, I am sorry, you should not run a business, you should probably keep working in jobs where you are told what to do rather than having to undertake the responsibility of telling yourself what to do (much like a new freshman at school away from home without parental influence). If you feel you have been scammed or cheated by someone, first look at yourself, could you have done anything differently? Were there red flags early on that should have told you no? If so learn from your experience and move on, life is a learning experience and we learn the most from failure. If you cannot learn from the experience and move on and make changes then you are doomed to repeat the same situation in other aspects of your life both personal and professional. Some people have what it takes to graduate from College and some don’t, much like some have the potential to be successful with business or College Pro and some don’t.
My background consists of a Bachelor’s in Business Management, 3 years experience in the entrepreneurial field, and 11 years of working hard for what I have. Success in any venture school or work, takes effort and energy. It also takes an open mind to work on what we are not good at to get better, if we are not willing to put in that time, it is going to be very hard to ever get better!
Hope this provides some insights for someone!
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Try having your kid work for them all summer and not get paid. After a month and half of not getting paid on time, My son quit with them still owing him for 66 hours. . As of this date, they have still not paid two of the boys who worked all day in that august heat until dark only to not receive a dime for their efforts. They are currently attempting to get their money…no telling how long this will take of if they ever will see any of the money owed them.
I have been a franchisee with College Pro for three years now and have nothing but respect for the corporate part of College Pro. I have never seen a company work harder to ensure a positive experience for all. Reality is: mistakes happen it is part of life, it is the individuals that are willing to work through it with you that make the difference, any full time member of College Pro is more than willing to work through problems with you. PS. Did you know that the full time individuals had to run a franchise while in university to be hired?
I would definitely defend College Pro in this argument. I have seen the good and bad of the company from the inside and can honestly say the internet has created a very poor representation of what it is truly like. I 100% get that is is tough to be a college student, it is that time in life where you are figuring everything out, during this time period decision get made some good and some bad. While you are young you more then likely blame others for the poor decision due to your lack of introspective ability to truly look in the mirror. College Pro was upfront with me and always has been, I knew the risks getting into the program and while it was scary I trusted my GM and looking back feel it was life changing. I’m sorry to hear for all of the people who have had a tough experience, my feeling is that more often than not this has a lot to do with what they did in the program and what they are actually holding themselves accountable to.
I have actually heard of Franchise Owners lieing to their GMs and falsifying information, I’m not sure how CPP is supposed to be head responsible for that?
I think College Pro is a great experience for the right individual, and have to agree with the above comment. How is College Pro supposed to help you if you do not ask for it?
College Pro is not a scam, nor is it a pyramid scheme. It is a franchise opportunity. Like any franchise, there is an investment involved, there is risk involved, and you have to run it like a business. This is not a summer job, it’s much harder… but the benefits are huge. It’s a learning experience for sure. There is lots of money to be made, if done properly. There are hundreds of successful franchisees and College Pro alumni who have gone on to start other highly successful businesses.
If you do the research, College Pro is actually rated A or A+ by the Better Business Bureau in every city with a rating.
SCAM for sho
Yeah, I agree, it’s a great learning experience for the painters. It’s an opportunity for college kids to learn to be a private entrepeneur. That, and trust in a kid I really liked are the reasons I signed up as a customer. But along the way, many customers are being gouged. Does that not figure into the equation? I’m, still waiting (after signing a contract in June) for them to finish the job and clean up their mess. I’m just thankful that I didn’t pay them off in full. Next spring I’ll start getting estimates from local established firms.
Oh yes by the way, my extended family knows about my experience with College Pro, my neighbors know of my experience with CP (must be why they hired a different company to paint their house) and many of my friends know of my exerience with this company. Doesn’t that not mean a thing to the CP people?
If business ownership was easy then everyone would do it. That is what College Pro is trying to simulate, running your own business. For those who fail at least they know that maybe they don’t have what it takes to be a business owner and they’ve learnt that early on before they take the plunge and take full risk of entrepreneurship. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about not making much money… a lot of independent business owners don’t see a single cent the first few years so making 10k in four months isn’t so bad (better than doing an unpaid internship where you do nothing more than serve coffee and make copies; at least they’ve been challenged and hopefully grow from that).
I am a former employee of College Pro Painters.
And from experience, I can say that YES. the job was horrible.
I worked for my manager for 5 weeks,
it took him 4 just to pay me for the “leads” that I got for him.
I was told I was to be making $10/hour
yet my manager “forgot” to inform me that my pay was comissions based. So for the 5 weeks I worked for him, I was paid a little under $100
When the time came, he had me pressure washing houses,
I was put on a ladder, with no prior experience or training, and my manager left me at the house alone. Any questions I had, I couldn’t get answers to, my manager turned his phone off the second he left the work site.
Please, for your kid’s sake.
Don’t let them work at College Pro. I wish I had never even started. I’m still owed another $45 by the company (so much, right?) and I haven’t received any word that I’m going to see a cent of it.
You should call 1 800 32 PAINT, you are mad at the franchise owner not the company, that’s like going to a mcdonalds and having a bad experience and then saying it’s the entire company, I was a franchise owner so I know this, if you call that number, there is a formal process in filing a complaint and ensuring you get paid. Sorry you had a bad experience, I had a great one, I think it is all about who the manager is, I know college pro trained me to ensure I paid my employees, you have to treat it as that individual regions. Because i did this program as a manager I know have an awesome career.
I had a bad experience with CP. They never finished the job and took 4 months to do what they promised would be done in a week. They wrecked an area of the yard which they repaired poorly wthout my permission. The manager also damaged my new duradeck by power washing it even though I told him not to. I have tried many times to contact the manager or any manager for that matter and get no response. I would never recommend this company to a friend. Perhaps they need to work a little bit on satisfying the customer .
Hey Allan, you should call 180032paint and ask to speak with a general manager, it is required that they call you within 4 business days, otherwise it is escalated to the vice president! The company has over 90% reco rating, they care a lot I know as I worked for them, reach out and I think you will see a difference, sounds like your individual franchise owner is not taking care of what is necessary, this does not represent the company I can assure you!
Since 1997, I have been very familiar with the most senior executives of FirstService/The Franchise Company and their brands: College Pro and Certa Pro Painters and Action Window Cleaners.
They fully realize their management practices destroys hundreds of small business families and marriages annually.
Les Stewart MBA
Midhurst ON Canada
WikidFranchise.org : FranchiseFool : LinkedIn
Firstly, I’ve only been aware of collegepro for the last two weeks. They had a booth at a job fair in my university and talked me into showing up for an informal gathering outside of school with other students to get some information. The interim time allowed me to do some research on the company and come up with a general idea of their practices, i didnt believe all the negative feedback i saw online. i wanted to give them a fair shake and proceeded to the meetup to meet three “GM’s,” one two franchisee’s and one “head honcho” (never really got his title but the conversations caused me to believe he was the top supervisor present there. and he is one of the comments praising their glories on here without mentioning his real involvement with CPP),
They were not upfront about anything i had already found out. I had to wring information regarding supplies and vehicles required from them which took me about 45 minutes.
They dont even really believe their B**LS**T. i understand there are costs to running a business (im an adult student with prior experience) but they were extremely reluctant to put any numbers on the table, there are no clear guidelines about how much you take home if you create “$X” in business.
One comment that really IRKED me to put it politely, from two of the “GM’s” was regarding a students commitment to their education. His exact words were “why wouldnt you ditch a class to get CPP work done? Theyre just feeding you B.S in class for a piece of paper, we are giving you a business to run.”
The “GM’s” are nothing more than glorified salesman pitching the CPP B**LS**T. They dont pay you to run their business, you pay them to tell you how to run your business.
Their current recruitment tactics involves inviting students to a local bar and pitching their company line over pitchers of beer and appetizers (Ive heard from friends at 4 different universities of this occuring) no ID’s were checked.
This is my suggestion, YOURE GOING TO MAKE MISTAKES IN LIFE, DONT MAKE THIS YOUR FIRST/ EAT THEIR FOOD, DRINK THEIR BEER AND SAY GOODBYE. FIND A REAL JOB THAT WONT KILL YOUR EDUCATION AND SAVE YOURSELF THE STRESS.
With regard to the comment above; I am a current franchise manager. I speak from working with College Pro Painters for about a year and a half now.
1. Before my hire, there was no local bar or pitchers or appetizers. There was no “luring” me into running a franchise. No one was forcing anything on me. I applied of my own accord, that was it.
2. During my interviews, College Pro was very professional and informative. Any information I asked for. They laid all the numbers out for me, showed me exactly what the financials were going to look like, explained exactly what I would need, and exactly how difficult running my own business would be. They were more transparent than any employer I’ve ever encountered. This is an investment for them too. Hiring an uninformed manager means less success for both the manager and the company.
3. I have NEVER been told to skip class, leave class, neglect my studies or ANYTHING of the sort. In fact, in my weekly call today to my General Manager (or coach for those who are not familiar with College Pro), I was coached by him on how to properly plan my time so that I could maximize my time towards studying. I genuinely care about my grades and I really feel that College Pro does as well.
4. College Pro actually rejects applicants, contrary to this seemingly popular belief. There is a reason why not all the turfs in my area are filled. It is not in College Pro’s best interest to just hire anyone and then have unsuccessful managers, nor is that in the individual’s best interest.
5. Yes, you do pay College Pro Painters to tell you how to run your business. That is the idea. Is anyone expecting free advice? Businesses hire coaches and inspirational/motivational speakers and financial planners to help them out. General Managers do ALL OF THIS for you.
6. My General Manager has never neglected me in the slightest. He always answers my calls/texts/emails if not right away then as soon as he is able (usually a couple hours). He always has intelligent answers to my questions and is always excited to tell me or show me anything I need to know to be successful and make the money that I WANT TO MAKE.
7. If anyone has any others doubts, questions or complaints, please feel free to post them and I may certainly dissolve them for you.
Regards,
B.
I have been involved with College Pro Painters going on 5 years. I have painted well over 500 homes, and have made piles of money. I have had 99.3% of my customers overall recommend myself and my services. My experience has been incredible, and I can personally attest to the strength of the company – and its values. I’m living in Calgary. I will only mention a few things in contradiction to the above claims.
1. Is College Pro a Scam/charge franchisees through the teeth?
College Pro is not a scam at all. It has nothing scheme-ish or dishonest about it. Ponsy scheme involves investments and pyramids schemes are illegal. Anyone who states these claims evidently doesn’t know anything about their “schemes” or of College Pro’s system.
College Pro is a Franchise. You pay a percentage of your gross business size on what you PRODUCE. Immediately, there are margins of profit to be drawn. Like any REAL business there is overhead, which often people don’t compensate in when it comes to running a business. So when they don’t earn money for their first month of the summer as they pay off THEIR debts specifically related to what THEY request to be billed for, immediately they are surprised. Last year College Pro had 96% Franchisee profitability company wide. Home Depot can’t claim that high. I made $65,000 my first year. After taxes, I walked away with $52,000. I was 20 years old. You tell me of another company that can claim that.
2. Is College Pro a Company based on Customer Satisfaction or Padding the Pockets of the Owners?
College Pro is the largest residential painting company in North America. Servicing tens of thousands of homes each year, it is impossible to satisfy every homeowner. Think of complaints people have with Starbucks upon getting a coffee that is half-fat and not skim. That is 4 dollars. We are talking about $1000 – $3000 on average. The “oops” I wasn’t happy clause all of a sudden holds more gravity. Use your brain. No company is perfect.
For the RIGHT person College Pro can jump start your career years ahead of your age group. For the wrong person, of course it can go badly.
College Pro exists to expose a raw, real business that is your own. If the manager is lazy, stubborn or dishonest – that will be reflectant in their business. College Pro merely amplifies your strengths and weaknesses in a real world business setting. Considering 80% of small business go bankrupt in their first three years (Canada), and College Pro has 96% of franchisees pulling a profit in their FIRST year, perhaps MacLean’s Magazine is right in saying: “College Pro is on par with a practical MBA. There is no other training company like it in North America.”
Be critical. Use your head. And look at both sides of the story. Usually College Pro Managers are busy building businesses and making money, thus giving them little time to reply to peoples’ whining and musings about something they don’t understand.
Oh there’s no doubt this is a huge scam. Absolutely absurd waste of time designed to funnel money to people “above” you. Avoid.
Hah haahaaa ha
I wonder if it’s the same person posting the same glowing testimonials over and over and over again or if they have a team of shills dumping poo in this comments section. Love the ‘well, I made it work great’ garbage when unless the business plan and contract changes wildly in your second year, your going to be just as ripped off as you were before. Only you might not feel that way when you clear $125,000 in sales and end up making $10 grand for the summer. Holy cow the system works! I made more money! I’m still only making couple bucks an hour but… more money!
You can dress it up any way you want, but leaving the ‘franchisee’ with few grand or so after doing $70,000 in business over a single summer is absolutely thievery on an epic level.
Ooohhh you learn so much about business and how it works and all that claptrap. You learn how to rip off your employees and maybe how to paint a house well (usually through some ridiculous trial and error on your first few jobs, too, which means sub sub-par painting), which is something you can learn on your own with an internet search.
I will give CPP credit for one things – Any business than enables you to pay your employees far below minimum wage while racking in incredible profits is a pretty decent model … for detestable roaches who feed off the hard work of others. You can make this work if you’re scum and get into it early enough, much like anyone in the higher echelon of MLMs and Ponzi schemes. This might not fall under those categories, but it most certainly works out like they do – the workers and late adopters get absolutely fleeced while those at the top make huge bucks.
Anyone thinking of signing on for this, try this out – before you sign the contract or whatever (and I imagine there’s a hefty one with lots of fine print), see if you can take it to a lawyer to find out your true potential earnings. If they let you, awesome, you’ll find out how shady they are. If they won’t, that’s the red flag of red flags – they’re hiding something they don’t want you to know, like taking nearly half of your money as an overhead fee or whatever they call it in addition to the myriad other expenses they hit you with so they keep making money while ripping you off.
Oh, and another thing – work a 40 hour work week over three months at minimum wage and you’ll make around $4,000 over three months. By the sounds of testimonials here and a thousand other places, you’ll work twice as hard for a third of the pay doing CPP. Impressive!
Oh, and another thing – I’ve worked construction and painted houses and put up eavestroughing. How many times did I have to pay to learn how to do those jobs? Not once. It was on the job training, just like it is with ANY legitimate business of that type. I cleared just over $10,000 over a summer doing construction in my first year. It worked out to just over 40 hours a week with time and a half for overtime. Three months of eight hour shifts with a few 10 hours plus. Weekends off, too!
Wonder what would happen if you worked the same hours for College Pro….
Oh, and another thing – I currently run the aforementioned construction business. My former boss and his wife – then and now my accountant – showed me everything about how the business works financially and how they run a profit year after year. How much did it cost me to learn that? Nothing. In fact they paid me double time and a half to come in on weekends so they could give me the rundown.
Every employee in our company makes at least $15 an hour, and those are the greenhorns who have a hard time hitting a nail with a hammer when they first step on site. I feel like I’m underpaying them sometimes.
The business made just over $8.25 million last year. I clear six figures. We’re a non-union shop and there hasn’t been a drive in recent memory because we pay well and have solid benefits
Every employee in our company makes at least $15 an hour, and those are the greenhorns who have a hard time hitting a nail with a hammer when they first step on site. On average, our workers make around $27 an hour, my foreman is at $49 dollars an hour.
I feel like I’m underpaying them sometimes. I highly doubt that thought has crossed the mind of any College Pro GM or top gun in recent history.
Oh, and another thing – I have online access to MacLean’s, seeing as I’m Canadian and enjoy staying upon the issues. Through multiple searches I wasn’t able to find any reference to College Pro Painting or any College Pro business other than an offhand mention in a Scott Feschuk column.
Which leads me to believe you people bought an ad with that text in it. And then had one of your shills quote it as if it was from an article.
If I’m wrong and their search is wacky, please let me know which issue it was – I collect these things and have copies going back to 1983, so I could probably dig it up to satisfy my curiosity.
College pro is a massive scam. They troll the internet looking for any mention of the problem, and then they pay people to post fake posts praising them. They have even funded fake websites to try to “bury” people’s complaints in fake traffic.
They say “if you work hard you’ll make money” to hide the fact that they are ripping kids off and consumers off. An experienced painter makes 40 bucks an hour. They send out college kids to charge 5-10 dollars an hour, but nobody complains about the shoddy work because they are kids. Essentially, the consumer gets ripped off…they have to hire a real painting company a year later to fix the shoddy work, which actually ends up costing more because they old paint has to be stripped off.
Scam, scam, scam.
First and foremost I would like to educate everyone in some was on the scale of this situation. College Pro painters was once a proud franchise that did indeed help many people. They were started I believe (I’m not trying to hard here I could
I was hired as a tech and promised 2 months of full time and then 2 months of part time. I worked my ass off for two weeks and then had excuses for a week straight on why we weren’t working… while being told the “next” week would be very busy, then June would be “packed”… after 2 weeks of NO work whatsoever and no work from my manager, I call him tonight and find out I’m no longer needed. I was told I could expect to make at least $3000 this summer, and I worked my ass off to get $350 and let go through an email… only after I repeatedly contacted HIM. Maybe I just had a bad manager but this whole thing seemed off to me.. dishonest, shady and not even the common decency to let me know I had been let go!
I currently work for College Pro Painters and honestly, it’s the best job for the summer. While the company is large (national) it is run by smaller managers and franchisees. So before one should put the blame on the company, it could just be the branch and managers. I love working for College Pro. I work full time, the training was paid hours, and I didn’t have to pay for anything to start up (no payment for shirts, equipment,etc.) I get to work outside all day with people that are quickly becoming my friends. And in addition to that, it is only a summer job (great for students like myself) that not only pays well, but offers multiple opportunities to bonus or receive tips. It is an amazing job and I advise students to talk with the managers before making a decision.
Every negative word you hear about college pro is 100% true!
I painted full-time one summer while I was in college a few years back.
We worked hard, but were completely untrained. We did terrible jobs on peoples homes. I felt bad.
We were promised tons of cash, yet every single pay check I ever received bounced.
I made maybe 2,000 when promised 15$ hour 60 hours a week.
Our franchise owner, a college kid himself, was promised a ridiculous amount of money. At the end of the summer he owed college pro over 10K.
I remember a few months after our summer was over, I received a call from some lady asking about my experience working for CPP. I laughed and hung up the phone.
I worked for College Pro for the last 2 years and have a great experience with them. I have never received a bounced check, and I was fully trained and we produced quality work. My franchise manager had 100% satisfaction rating and was a pleasure to work for. Sounds like Andrew worked for a bad franchisee and all I can say to that is if you had every check bounce why would you continue working?? Obviously if that kid owed over $10,000 then he was never cut out to run a business and you can’t blame the company because he was an idiot. College Pro gives students the chance to learn how to run a business and they make it very clear in the interview process that it is not cut out for everyone. I cannot believe that they actually promised $15 and hour for 60 hours a week. You cannot guarantee 60 hours with painting because you never know what the weather will bring and anything over 40 would be overtime and I would never trust anyone that would promise me 20 hours a week at time and a half. Either you were completely misinformed and did not think for yourself or your lying…either way that’s not CPP’s fault. I think its a great company and I have made a lot of money working for them. The way my pay was run was that I received $9 an hour plus bonuses depending on how fast we produced work and by the end of the summer my AVERAGE pay was over $15. All I can say about working for CPP as a painter is that it is all what you put into it. If you go slow and waste time then you and your manager will both lose money, but if you do your job right it will pay off in the end. I am currently considering becoming a franchise manager myself. It may not be for everyone, but they never claim to be. You can’t just have a business handed to you and expect it to run without any effort. If you put in the time and use your head it is a great opportunity.
I applied for a painting position i was tild to call by 8 oclock pm not a minute before or after or he wouldnt hire me even if he was going to. I called 8 oclock he ignored it tried again ignored so he texted me and said he would call me in a while its the next day and no call back still.
one of the most intresting things about all these comments if they are negatives you will not investage them but if they are positives you want to know if they where real
easiest way to kill your copetietion bad ads
if you are going to look into one person you must also look into the person making the negative
by so doing you get the whole answer
other wise you only get one part of the answer
I’m going back 24 years to my experience as a College Pro franchisee so factor that in but . . . 2nd year undergrad summer I had a 9-5 government “student employment counsellor job” I was hired for ($10K for 4 months), was playing university football and working weekend evenings at a steakhouse restaurant with my buddies.
Instead I chose to work my ass off, pay a 20% royalty and make around $30K for a summer’s (6 months including April and September while in classes/exams) work. Nonetheless most co-franchisees were nowhere near as “fortunate” due to territory, poor hiring and/or mostly their own incapability.
The company management was cultish (“Yeah, I’m too busy to go to your weekend retreat though, especially if I have to pay for it myself”), clique-ish (“So you’re giving this loser some of my leads because he drinks wine coolers with you on Friday afternoon?”) and transparently revenue obsessed (“I understand what you are saying but if I have to lower my profit margin to hit your arbitrary revenue target then because you’re not at all negotiable to lowering your royalty rate my business study theory suggests I might just as well go to the beach as work for free”).
BUT SO IS EVERY CORPORATE ENTITY THESE DAYS. Same for customer service — you think IBM consulting or the biggest bank/law firm doesn’t have entry level employees doing shitty work that is only signed by and billed at the full partner rate?
Most of my success was word of mouth due to my literally going above and beyond. I had projects where the employees didn’t show up because their friends were camping for the weekend or did a crappy job due to hangovers that I lost significant time and money to remedy (yes Virginia there are some projects you lose money on in the real business world).
And those employees then bitched when I fired them and/or refused to pay a job completion bonus (though the franchisee next to me did go bankrupt halfway through the year and stiff his employees).
Anyway, in hindsight I don’t think I would do it again (more because the money and lessons learned made me too cynical to accept becoming an entry level corporate drone at the time and if you don’t get into that cult at 22 you’re a pariah even if you repent via MBA at 27).
BUT I also graduated with no student loans, a fancy car and backpacked around the world for a year so bear in mind that the broke ass, Lower Middle class Michael P. Keaton wannabee I was then would disagree (like they say, youth is wasted on the young ;)
im unhappy with college pro, this was my first week, in the interview i was told that i would be paid 10.50 an hour and if i went over the contract i would be paid minimum wage, i have worked 27 hours in three days, today i was told that if i have a 30 hour contract with my partner i would only be paid for 15 hours even if i worked 30 hours, if we go over say we take 34 hours to do it, the overtime would be split in two so i would only be paid for two hours of overtime even if i worked 4 hours, i may be young but this is sketchy, how can you say its 10.50 an hour when technically your only paid for half the time you do unless its less then under half the time of the contract, honestly this is ridiculous and not to mention illegal first of all its false advertising second of all technically im only paid 5.25 an hour which is below the minimum wage which is illegal, third of all if people can actually beat the set time they should be pros and making 24.00 an hour third i would hardly call that training, i was left alone on my first day after only be taught for 2 minutes, third my so called manager apparently doesnt know how to properly put a ladder so it wont fall because on my second day it hit me in the back of the head. some may disagree with me, it may just be my manager or it may be the company but honestly thats ridiculous, do not say the hourly wage is 10.50 when you arent paid by the hour
While College Pros may be a great learning experience for college students, the corporation should work with homeowners when their franchise managers fail to succeed or do the job well. My neighbor had their home painted by a college pro painter and i witnessed the franchise manager yelling, screaming, and basically abusing the homeowner after damaging her shutters. He also oversprayed my entire car with red paint and refused to provide his insurance information to share with my insurance company. I had to canvass the neighborhood to get the information I needed. (He damaged another neighbors gutters). The GM (Matt Ackerman in the above post) ignores phone calls from customers or neighbors who have had their property damaged. College Pro Painters makes a significant profit from these students and leaves homeowners in the dust when they fail conduct their franchise management ethically or honestly.
I’m in my 2nd year as a manager and previouly worked 2 years as a painter.
There is a definite culture of hard work that you need to embrace to make the franchise manager position work. It shouldn’t be sold as a summer job really but more as a career training experience. A paid internship perhaps.
The royalties and costs are a reality and aren’t always as explicitally stated as they need to be. As far as I know, a first year manager will be paying around 20-24% royalty plus 6% in call center and quality assurance fees etc.
This amount scales down as you produce more work. A very productive manager can get royalty down as low as 3%(plus 6%)
It is far from a scam. The turf I work in has been producing good painting for 14 years and we generate around 30-40% of our work from word of mouth alone. (This area typically does around 200k as summer.)
If you are thinking about working for college pro as a painter or manager, be sure to keep in mind when you are doing the interview that it’s a 2 way street. You need to interview the franchisee or General Manager and make sure they are a good fit for you and your goals.
I have a bonus structure, education scholarship and various events throughout the year to ensure my painters enjoy themselves and get paid properly. I also spend time increasing the skill level of my workers and teaching them all I can about the business.
Last year 2 of my painters went on to become managers who will each produce over 100k in sales this year.
It works, its a great business model for those with the energy and tenacity required.
If you have any problems, call the call center 1-800-32-paint and they will make sure it gets dealt with.
I’m a JSM for them. It kinda sucks mostly when you don’t hit budget and get minimum wage. Otherwise being anything other than a franchisee isn’t too bad. This job got me in pretty good shape and I make okay money. Franchisee position is definitely not worth it though.
***To those of you claiming ONLY lazy, unmotivated people that can’t hack it in the business world fail as CPP franchisee. You must be naive, crazy, or brainwashed….
I was a franchise manager four years ago, after being a painter for a year. I made some pretty decent money as a painter because “I worked my ass off” like a lot of the above comments state. I was aware up-front (as a painter) that it was piecework, so I only got paid $12/hr for the WORK-OURS I completed. I learned following, my franchise experience, that the franchisee that I worked for as a painter went bankrupt in order to pay us our wages. I was going to Europe for a month at the end of my summer as a painter. Right before I left, the “Vice President” of CPP called me up and asked me to be a franchise manager the following summer. He made it sound like an AMAZING opportunity so I told him I’d think it ocver while in Europe and get back to him…. He showed up the day before I left with contract in hand, saying I had to sign before I left or he would need to sign “one of the many others waiting for my spot”. I looked over the contract with my Dad (a business professor/Financial Planner) and it seemed fair at 25% royalties, so I signed. I didn’t hhear from CPP again for months. Just before Christmas, I got a call that I would need to come to Vancouver (4 hour drive) for three weekend-long training sessions in January and February. Paid for by me, of course. I learned during these meetings that some fancy wording in the contract stated I would be paying 25% royalties PLUS and additional approx. 10% in hidden fees. Oh, and you also have to pay us back for “recoverables” to the tune of $5000. But don’t worry we will just take it off of each job cheque in payments. I alos learned that I would have to be putting in about 60 hours/ week in marketing, on top of school and working part time job (to pay for all the hidden expenses of “franchisee training”). Even still, the “Vice President” explained that they had to give us the worst case scenario so we weren’t screwed if it actuaally happened. I decided to buckle down and get ‘er done.
I worked from February through April and booked about $50,000. I must also point out that the training I received on how to properly estimate a job was dismal. The GM is supposed to go to at least three estimates with you and make sure you can do it competently. He came once, my estimate was about $1500 lower than his… but I passed estimate training and was on my own after that, regardless of my attempts to receive more training. It became more and more difficult to book work as the summer neared, and I was estimating for fewer aquaintances and more strangers. I chalked this up to my sales abilities, but later learning (from a homeowner) thhat the CPP franchise had been known around town as bad news for years. Apparently my predecessors had cultivated a bad name for the company. It turned out this was the case for painters too. I had a hard time hiring, because no one wanted to work for CPP. I asked to quit at this point, but was told I would have to pay a $10,000 fine for breach of contract. Because there were no other franchise managers in my city (there was”turf” for five but I guess all those “waiting to take my spot” back in August died??) that I could sell my booked jobs to, paying the $10,000 wasn’t an option.
The painting season began, and I was doing ok…. until my first check came in. I thought I would get a break on CPP payments because I was training my painters and the job took quite a bit longer. I didn’t want to sort change them, but I also had equipment expenses and car insurance etc to pay. I would have been fine, except CPP (who gets you to authorise automatic withdrawls from your bank account in January) took $1278 from a $2500 job. I paid my painters with the remaining money.
I thought things would get better once my “recoverables” payments were over, and my painters were trained. They did not. I spent the rest of the summer working 80-100 hour weeks. Marketing, planning, liasing with homeowners, doing UNDERestimates, and painting (because my estimates were all low, my painters were on jobs longer than planned, so I had to do jobs myself in order to stay on schedule). I was also still working weekends at my part-time job to pay my phone, insurance and gas bills.
I was overwhelmed with the whole experience. I ended up having to fire a number of painters throughout the course of the summer for various reasons (I didn’t have many choices when hiring and some turned out to be pretty sub-par). By August I had fallen behind on my schedule and some customers started to complain. I tried to explain the situation, but I think it probably just sounded like whining. Out of nowhere I got a call from my GM in mid August saying he had contacted my remaining customers, paid back their deposits (which I now owed him for) and cancelled the jobs, and was collecting my pending payments. WTF!!!! And I couldn’t do ANYTHING about it. I got locked out of the CPP system that had all my contact numbers, the GM wouldn’t return my calls, and I didn’t know what to say to my remaininh painters.
After all this I found out the franchise manager from my painter days had been paid $1000 to ‘recruit’ me. He basically lied to my face about how successful his summer was. He took the $1000 because it was the only money he would have after filling for bankruptcy! I also learned that my “super supposrtive” GM had totally bashed me to all my remaining customers saying I was incompetent and an idiot, after I had called him in tears about my scheduling difficulties. I had tried to reschedule a customer to a week later, but he got upset and called corporate. This GM could have explained that sometimes jobs get behind, but that was because I wanted to provide a quality job to every customer, instead of rush jobs. The least he could have done was told the customer he would straighten things out and have me call him back. But he felt the need to turn me into a troll, I’m assuming to save the “good name” of CPP.
After this experience I tried to work off the debt I had accumulated over the summer. By December I knew I was in a hole I couldn’t dig myself out of and I had to file for bankruptcy. This was the lowest I’ve ever been in my life. I really did believe it was all my fault, and that I didn’t have any skills as an enterprenuer. I pulled myself out of it by January, graduated with honors, and have run a very succesful business for the last 18 onths (even with the current economic climate).
The “business experience” I got from this whole charade was learning:
1) The CPP people are scammers. It’s not hard to find scum in the business world though. Most just don’t prey on kids……
2) Paying a lawyer look over any major contract you sign is always a good idea.
3) ALWAYS google those you plan to do business with. Sometimes their skeletons are easy to find and pretty effing fresh!!
And I should add that the “Vice President” (there are literally dozens) dropped out of school after his first summer with CPP. He was pulling in nearly six figures annually but more than half of that is bonuses for signing franchisees. I assume he lies for this reason, and the green outways the guilt. He told me at one point that he had been trying for a year to find another job, but noone would hire a CPP vice-president. Pfft, shouldn’t that tell you something? He was also the guy who took on franchisees who became skeptical. He made them believe they were pathetic for questioning the opprtunity, and that he must have made a huge mistake in hiring them because they obviously weren’t good enough!
Those above claiming a 96% succes rate must blindly believe every statistic you’ve ever read. CPP must only take into account the franchisees left at the end of the summer. As I stated above, both myself and the previous franchisee in my city were forced into bankruptcy through the experience. Two of the franchisees from my year sold all their bookings to other franchisees after a month or less of painting. Others I’ve seen since also had the business yanked from under them before the end of the season (it’s interesting that CPP doesn’t have to pay us the $10,000 breach of contract fine when they do this….) and a number of them made a ‘profit’ of $1000-$5000 after all was said and done. So yeah, if you kick out everyone that wont make a profit, and count people who made $0.50/hour for a summer then I’m sure that 96% profitability is accurate. Guess what?? McDonalds is hiring and they GUARUNTEE 100% profitability! You won’t work for a single day that you’re not paid for!!
I’m not saying everyone who works for CPP is evil. Just the ones who know whats going on, and ignore it. As I said before, I made good money as a painter and enjoyed me summer. I was not exposed to the brainwashing, deceptive underbelly of the company until franchisee time.
And to those franchisees defending the company: Have you talked to everyone else in your area? Are they all happy too? Are the ones that aren’t happy ‘incompetent idiots”? Hopefully you have a GREAT GM. I did not have the same experience as you. I was forced to pay ridiculous amounts of money for business advice and coaching that I did not recieve. I was grossly misinformed about the turf I would be working in, and the succeses before me. It was an overall awful experience! I even heard through a friend in Winnipeg about a franchisee there who ended up in the psych ward for weeks after a mental breakdown caused by the stress of CPP!!! I have a feeling you probably feel special because the GM and VP in your region spend all of their time talking about how awesome you are, how stupid those failing are, and how you’re so superior to everyone in order to keep you happy and posative about this scam…. good luck if you’re ever on the other side.
And if you’re actually making $50,000 in four months, why don’t you just keep it up all year? $150,000/year would be pretty decent for a 20 year old and then you could travel instead of going to school!!! Just start painting interiors to. Hahaha
I can’t believe we all fall for their crap. I’m glad I only wasted a year.
I can say without a doubt that college pro was the worst company I have EVER worked for. We didn’t get paid on time, we also didn’t get paid the amount that was advertised. In fact I only worked there a month and every paycheck was convinently late. IDK why. But it is a bootleg, underhanded company, don’t work for them franchisee or painter you’ll get screwed out of time and money.
My son totally got screwed by cpp. They claim my son owes them $4500 after booking $30,000 in sales. They made $25,000 of my son and they think we are going to give them $4500. My son didn’t make a dime and actually owes money. WTF! I am going to the college fair at UW Eau Claire next Thursday Sept. 29th and veer students away from their booth and their bullshit tactics. They also serve minors beer and take them out to Buffalo Wild Wings as part of their sneaky ways to get kids to fall for their crap.
I am franchisee and i can honestly tell you that yes, a franchise is for some people. They teach you a lot and offer their support. BUT it is not for a true entrepreneur. They expect you to call them exactly by the minute otherwise they charge you $50+ for being late. They charge top prices for all the equipment you HAVE to buy off them and not to mention 26% in royalties. Plus another 5% for liability and their call center. Their recoverable range in the 2-3 thousand. They also charge you for their customer list which is another 5%. All the small cost they throw in there adds up. In the end, for each job they take 36% automatically not including the thousands of dollars in fixed costs they make you pay. You also have to attend their events and if you dont go, or cant go, they will charge you anyways. They are shady in the way they over charge multiple things by $10-20 (which adds up to sometimes $500.) Dont get me wrong, i have been with them for 2 years and learned a lot, i dont mind because i wasn’t doing this for the money from day one. I liked my general manager as well but now that he has left the company, i greatly dislike some of the people i have had to deal with thus far. They tricked me into signing a contract which is barely admissible in court and now that i want to get out of it, they are charging me $1000. If you want to learn about business College Pro can be the place, but be warned that this knowledge they provide comes at a VERY VERY high price.
I can’t believe I’m actually replying to these comments, but this is getting ridiculous. It’s all very simple: College Pro is a FRANCHISE system. If you don’t know how that works, look it up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchising.
I ran a College Pro franchise in 2010. How can you say that a company who has been around for over 40 years with an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (at least in Wisconsin) is a scam? Are that many people really that stupid? Don’t you think the company would be out of business by now?
Maybe it’s how I was raised or how my values and ethics or maybe it’s my generation. In real life there are no “participation ribbons”. There are winners and there are losers. If I want to run a business or start my own and I go to the bank for a bunch of money, I absolutely should read the fine print and know what I’m getting myself into. The main source of complaints here seem to fall into 3 categories:
1) UNINFORMED – say something like “it’s a SCAM fo sho” – That’s not even proper grammar or English, let alone have any other purpose than to sling mud.
2) UNHAPPY FRANCHISEES – You thought you were going to make a million dollars or at least it is very clear from your tone that you feel like you are OWED something. Do you really think that if you buy a McDonald’s franchise (yes, you usually have to purchase a franchise but College Pro gives you one for free because most do not have the money in college) that McDonald’s OWES you? “I didn’t watch my bottom line, listen to any advice my GM gave me or be frugal with my money and now my GM is telling me I won’t make an acceptable profit.”
So, you just randomly woke up in the middle of the summer and had no idea until the end of the year how much money you were going to make? NEWS FLASH: Check your bank account, run the numbers, look at your statements and invoices. I suppose Sherwin Williams was lying to you as well since you owe them for the paint you purchased in running your franchise. You are the source of the 3rd type of complaint on this website: Pissed off homeowners/employees who didn’t get paid or received bad customer service.
If you don’t take ownership over your business, it shows. If you are not bright enough to run some simple business calculations everyday and actually lead your employees toward a very simple goal of painting a house, do not blame someone else. You should not have been hired as a franchisee and you should not run a business. Even if you had a bad experience and end up owing money because of your stupidity, at least you learned you are not cut out for running a business before you have to sell your house on a failed business venture with a million dollar loan some day. This comment right above makes me laugh, “i greatly dislike some of the people i have had to deal with thus far”. Boo hoo, your life must be terrible. Go work at McDonalds or do manual labor and see what you say after that. I was in the military prior to running a College Pro franchise and I can’t believe I was willing to risk my life for you.
3) PISSED OFF HOMEOWNERS/EMPLOYEES – You have a right to be angry, sometimes. There are all kinds of things that happen and it is how a company reacts and fixes things when it goes wrong. College Pro resolves ALL complaints and employee issues. If there is a bad franchisee, the GM steps in. We are not perfect, for that we are sorry and constantly working to improve.
Super moms – I understand your over-protectiveness, I have a kid also. However, your child is an adult who makes decisions every day of his/her life. Do you boycott college if your kid gets a bad grade? You are paying college with no chance of getting it back. College Pro is providing a real world education in business where your child can make money. Part of the process of hiring a Franchise Manager is to talk to the parents, if the candidate does not object. If you didn’t ask questions then or teach your kid not to eat food off the ground, don’t blame everyone else when you find out your kid is not going to be amazing or an astronaut. I’ve dealt with angry parents who blindly attack the company and every time I explain the situation, the parent realizes their kid was the one who didn’t understand the situation or ask for help.
Please ask questions and support your kid if he/she is a franchisee. Encourage him/her to regularly check numbers, finances, plan out the business. I really do love my mother, trust me. Support your child, don’t make all the decisions for him/her.
Absolutely every successful company in history has some kind of negative following and 99% of the time this comes from people within the organization either past or present. College Pro is no different. 100% of the scam hatred toward College Pro originates from the small percentage who have failed within the company.
I have ran a franchise with college pro for 5 years and worked alongside 100s of franchisees. Every franchisee has a thousand ways to impact there year-end result and there is absolutely no one to blame for failure except yourself.
My biggest frustration is the naysayers that complain about all the money that College Pro “takes from you”. Seriously? Have you ever heard of a franchise system? This is like saying Mcdonalds is a scam because they take royalties. Let me put it this way; go pick up a paint brush and start ABC painting company and see how much money you make in year 1, 2, 3 (the average startup company breaks even in year 2 or 3). Would you rather take a complete financial risk on your own and hope customers take a liking to your name and hope to be profitable after a couple years OR take a name like College Pro that every customer recognizes, have the coaching and support on how to run a business, and have the opportunity to make good money in year 1.
Furthermore, when your ABC painting company goes bankrupt are you going to complain by saying: I had to pay for everything!…$15 for all my painters tshirts, $5 for each paint brush, $.15 for each flyer AND I booked 72K in sales and I couldn’t just sit back and enjoy life? You mean to tell me that that after I was fortunate enough to find all that work I actually had to work hard to be profitable on my booked sales??
WELCOME TO BUSINESS
I have been recently offered a franchisee manager position. I currently work part time and go to school for Construction Management. I have mixed opinions and thoughts any help would be nice. There are a lot of negative feedback posts to positive ones.
Hi Mathew.
Having worked for college pro all I can say is if you think you can commit to the amount of work you can be successful. If you can’t commit to it then it wont work out as well as your expectations.
It all depends on the franchisee. My first summer, the franchisee knew very little about painting or running a business. Late paychecks, no paint at the jobsite, inexperienced painters. A poor operation all around. After taking two summers off, I decided to give it another try. The second franchisee was excellent. He placed quality over profits. Never late with paychecks, had a dedicated delivery man, and knew when to ask questions if he didn’t know the answer. It depends on the franchisee. Can CPP paint jobs be compared to an experienced, well established, painting company? Absolutely not. But seriously, if you expect a perfect paint job paying five grand for a three story 1900 Victorian with multiple roof dormers and trim, maybe you shouldn’t be a homeowner.
Warning. The following rant contains expletives unfit for children.
College Pro has been around for 40 years. You don’t fucking survive for 40 years in the business world by cheating people out of money. Are they perfect? No. But no fucking company is. I was a painter two years ago and had a great time. I worked outside with friends and made good money. Is everybody’s experience like that? Again, no. But it’s the individuals duty to decide if working for someone is something they want to do. Nobody put a fucking gun to their head and forced them to work for College Pro.
As far as franchisees, again. Nobody put a fucking gun to your head to sign up. I ran a business this past summer and made 12 grand from a 73 k business. Not much more than my other job, but the experience was invaluable. I applied for an internship in the fall following that summer and mentioned I ran a CPP franchise. Guess what. I got that internship. Real experience matters in this world. College Pro gives you that as well as connecting you to a network of other people who share the entrepreneurial spirit.
And now for the franchisees here that have failed. You guys are part of the same generation as me, the millennial s. Or as some people call us, the “participation trophy, my own fecal matter doesn’t stink, I feel so fucking good about myself, everybody’s a winner” generation. I got news for you. You get out of it what you put into it. Ain’t no fucking handouts here. I’ve seen the people that failed doing this first hand. They were lazy pieces of shit who never took responsibility for their actions. They thought that by just signing up for the franchise they were entitled to profits. Guess what, there are winners and there are losers. You’re a loser.
I remember playing soccer in high school and I was named the captain of the team. Guess what, some people complained, just like what I’m seeing on this website. “Hey man, how come he gets to be captain” You know why I’m captain. Cuz I bust my ass and run a 4.5 fourty, thats why. Or you know what. Maybe I”m just genetically better than you. Either way, shut the fuck up and get the fuck back to work, or better yet, on the bench, where you belong. It’s the same shit here.
There ain’t no participation trophies in real life. When you run a franchise, they’re not going to give you a fake piece of plastic spray painted gold. Instead of finding a fucking mirror and finding a reason why you fucking failed, you just want to go around throwing shit at the company that gave you the opportunity. You’ve had too much smoke blown up your ass that you’re expectations on life are so fucking far away from reality.
I’m sure i’ll get some responses from franchisees that failed. And guess what, they’re going to be negative. That’s what my generation does when they fail and someone else succeeds. But back in the day, it use to be that when you saw someone successful, the dad would go, ” There’s mr. jenkins. He built that company. He built an empire. Look up to him”. Now when people see someone successful, they go, “Ew, look at him, he doesn’t deserve that success. Does he need that? Let’s go and throw shit at him”. For those of you who failed, you failed because of YOU. And it’s because you failed that some painters didn’t get paid and now are mad at the company. I understand the painters complaints, but the franchisees that failed are the same people at Occupy Wall Street( I agree with them about ending the FED) who keep looking for their handout and participation trophy. At least take this one thing out of your experience. You now know you can’t make it in business so go become a teacher, politician or join a public union and try to screw me out of my money that way.
And as far as my grammar, yeah, it’s wrong. It’s a fucking blog post.