By building our franchise program around our dealers’ needs and asking them for their involvement and support in providing for those needs, our operational costs are lower, which makes our franchise fees lower for our dealers.
Trooper Earle, Founder and President, Premier Companies

See Premier Rents Ad in the March issue of RTO MAGAZINE.

Premier Rental Purchase recently announced plans to expand its franchise operations from Rent to Own into four companies, to include Wheel Rentals, Home Furnishings and Cash Services. “Our franchising program for Rental-Purchase has been so successful we have decided to branch out into other related industries and form The Premier Companies Group,” explains Trooper Earle, president of Premier Rental-Purchase.

Over the past several years, Premier has applied its unique franchising approach, which is geared toward seasoned RTO professionals, to establish itself against its larger public competitors. “Our rapid franchise success is based solely on the satisfaction of our dealers,” says Trooper. “When we began franchising, we took different approaches to the traditional ways most franchises operated. We solicit our dealers’ support and active involvement. By building our franchise program around our dealers’ needs and asking them for their involvement and support in providing for those needs, our operational costs are lower, which makes our franchise fees lower for our dealers. We focus on feedback from our dealers and provide for their needs. They have tremendous influence on the overall direction of Premier.”

According to Trooper most franchise organizations have either created, or act like they have created, their industry. They dictate the rules by which a franchisee must operate, says Trooper. “Over time some even quit listening to their franchisees. At Premier, we work actively with our dealers to develop those rules and consider our dealers our business partners. Our success only comes when they achieve their success,” says Trooper.

And now Premier is translating this same success to other related industries.

The Premier Wheel Rentals franchising operation was the first foray into a related industry. It was separated from Premier Rental-Purchase operations in October 2005. Scott Savell, one of the wheel rental industry pioneers, joined the Premier team in May 2005 and will head this company. “The wheel rental industry is vastly different from typical RTO,” says Trooper. “We recognized to promote and support the wheel rental concept properly we had to franchise and manage it as a separate company.”

Premier is also taking its franchising expertise and support philosophies into the home furnishings industry by partnering with Premier dealer Jim Schebler and the owners of Sam’s Furniture and Appliances in Ft. Worth, TX, Herb and Seth Weisblatt. Sam’s has long been recognized in the industry for having one of the largest volume RTO stores in the country.

“What Jim and Herb are doing is unique. They break all the standard RTO rules I have come to know over 20 years in the RTO industry,” say Trooper. “It has taking me a long time to fully understand and appreciate what they are doing and why it works so well. Their business model is unbelievable, and Premier plans to combine our franchising philosophy with their business model and franchise it as another separate company, Premier Home Furnishings.”

Now Premier plans to jump into the cash services industry and begin franchising Premier Cash Services with the addition of Tom Wurm to the Premier team. “Tom is widely recognized in the RTO and pay day loan industries,” says Trooper. “His knowledge and experience in both is extensive. For years I have seen the pay day loan industry expand, and it is a natural fit for RTO companies. We estimate that as many as 50% of our current RTO customers have pay day loans with other companies. By providing that service to our customers within our existing RTO stores, we expect it to greatly enhance the profitability of all our Premier locations.” Free standing or attached locations will also be offered.

As president of Premier Rental-Purchase, Trooper Earle has seen the growth of his company explode over the past year.

Premier Rental-Purchase
As president of Premier Rental-Purchase, Trooper Earle has seen the growth of his company explode over the past year.

“The interest in our company is phenomenal,” says Trooper. “This past year we had more than 200 formal inquiries. Premier fills a niche focusing on seasoned RTO professionals that has been overlooked by our franchise competitors. This is because our only franchise competitors also operate company-owned stores. To develop a program geared to seasoned professionals would encourage top management within their company-owned stores to leave and go on their own.”

Trooper continues, “I jokingly tell people Premier doesn’t play fair. Those we most often help are seasoned operators who leave their current employment with an RTO company and open their own business nearby. They are often tenured or highly talented employees with their current employer, so when they leave there is often temporary turmoil. When they soon open their own business nearby, customers naturally find out and move their patronage. In addition, most of these talented operators have trusted employees that want to follow them. What more can any new business owner ask for than a customer base and seasoned employees to start?”

While beginning with customers and employees is a huge benefit for new dealers, most start-up businesses fail because of lack of funding and poor location, Trooper explains. “Premier helps all our new dealers secure funding from $500-600K to open their new business. In addition, we help our dealers locate and negotiate leases on the top locations in the market,” says Trooper. And when it comes to financing, Trooper warns new dealers not to be misled by funding differences. “Just getting the amount of funding isn’t everything,” he explains. “We help our dealers secure seven and 10 year term loans from their local banks. What that often means for a successful new store is they will have excess cash flow in their second year to be able to open additional stores from positive cash flow, not more debt.”

Trooper adds that the maximum interest rate under the SBA program is 2.75% above prime. Premier dealers usually secure between 1.5 percent and 2.25 percent. “Just recently a dealer got 1% below prime for seven years! Those differences are huge,” Trooper says. “So when you are comparing funding for your business, you must consider interest rate and terms too.”

Trooper goes on to say that “for most of our new dealers, if they have a customer base, some trusted employees, sufficient financing and a great location to start; they don’t need much more to be a success.” While those are initial key elements for new dealers’ success, Premier continues to provide ongoing support for legal, advertising, HR and payroll management, purchasing and general business ownership support. Just recently, Premier developed a cooperative purchasing program for their dealers that will be second to none in the industry, says Trooper. By combining their purchasing power, Premier dealers will have access to product lines they wouldn’t have on their own. They will get upfront discounts they woouldn’t otherwise have. And, all purchasing rebates based on the Premier volume will be distributed back to their dealers. “Our coop purchasing program will provide our dealers with a strategic advantage in the market,” says Trooper.

For more details on the Premier Rental-Purchase franchising program, visit www.premierrents.net.

Jim Schebler, a seasoned RTO operator, joined the Premier family with the desire to concentrate on home furnishings and expand his customer base by offering retail and leasing as well as rental options.

Premier Home Furnishings
Jim Schebler, a seasoned RTO operator, joined the Premier family with the desire to concentrate on home furnishings and expand his customer base by offering retail and leasing as well as rental options. He had to adopt a unique approach to a unique operation and be prepared to deal with a wide range of customers and accommodate high volumes. He was cutting new territory where there were no rules, no business plan to follow, and as far as he knew no one to mentor him. Despite that, he found immediate success.

Then he and Trooper met Herb Weisblatt and his son Seth of Ft. Worth, Texas. The Weisblatts had owned and operated Sam’s, a one-of-a-kind home furnishings superstore in an untapped market, for almost two decades. Where Jim had taken his RTO experience and transferred his knowledge to retail and leasing, Herb had taken his family’s retail business to tremendous heights with the addition of leasing. Herb had grown steadily and saw no end in sight.

With Herb’s leasing and retail experience, Seth’s savvy in computerization and infrastructure that make high volume possible, Jim’s experience in processes and operations and Trooper’s proven success in franchising, they had the makings of an incredible partnership. They formed Premier Home Furnishings.

“We are different from rental purchase,” says Jim. “We operate differently, have larger showroom floors and greater variety of merchandise, from medium-end products to high-end products. We offer a lot more options to the customer in both product and financial arrangements than a typical rent-to-own or retail store does. We have a wider distribution, and we are distinguished by an expanded customer base with which we must build a relationship. Typically retail guys and RTO guys don’t understand each other. They have different mind sets. Herb and I have adopted a philosophy that embraces both. We are more than a typical retailer and more than a typical RTO dealer. Our clientele is varied, and we need to be skilled at dealing with a variety of needs. While I wasn’t quite sure in the beginning if I was heading in the right direction to take on such a project, Herb validated what I am doing.”

Herb was interested in Premier because he had long said, "This is too good of a business plan to stay with one store in Fort Worth, and I do not have the drive or desire to expand to a multi-store operation. Trooper and Jim add value to the Premier Home Furnishings idea, taking Sam's basic concepts and combining those with Trooper’s knowledge of franchising and Jim's energy to help dealers across the country adapt to the role of running a successful store with thousands of active, paying, happy customers.”

Seth adds, “This new relationship provides a great network and infrastructure for the model that Sam’s has used all these years to be carried out nationwide. We will all benefit from utilizing what Premier has established as a resource for likeminded entrepreneurs.”

Jim notes that Herb and Seth bring to Premier Home Furnishings cutting edge systems and IT processes they have developed that make it possible to handle the complexity of large volumes. No one has ever been to Sam’s volume level and the Weisblatts still don’t know where their volume cap is. The cap usually is driven by the ability of a store to manage the business, and for Herb that ability doesn’t appear to be maxed out even with an unbelievable 40-50 deliveries a day - and that’s proper deliveries, Jim stresses, comparing the volume managed by an RTO store, which may make 10-20 deliveries.

While a Premier Home Furnishings franchise will require more initial capital, Jim’s plan is now to take his concept and franchise it to other markets and other RTO dealers as well as current retailers looking for an opportunity to expand their revenue base.

“This is a different kind of business than what RTO people are used to,” says Trooper. “But there is tremendous potential here, and we can offer great support and expertise to help people succeed, whether they want a Sam’s style superstore or something smaller.”

To contact Jim Schebler about franchising opportunities, visit www.premierfurnishings.us or give him a call at 1-800-2-PREMIER.

Scott Savell remembers a time when people thought he and two partners were crazy to launch the first ever wheel and tire rental company.

Premier Wheel Rentals
Scott Savell remembers a time when people thought he and two partners were crazy to launch the first ever wheel and tire rental company. But for over a decade Scott has developed that niche market and watched it grow. Now he has started a new chapter in his career and in the industry as co-founder of Premier Wheel Rentals.

Scott began a successful RTO career just out of college 20 years ago and enjoyed the challenge of launching his own RTO business. In addition to RTO stores, Scott gained valuable experience as a partner in Tire Time Rentals and later a solo run as American Tire Rentals with three stores in Texas and a fourth in Atlanta, Georgia.

Scott began thinking about new ideas in franchising and discovered that Trooper was getting into wheels and tires at Premier. Scott knew of Trooper’s success with franchising in the electronics, furniture and appliance rental purchase industry.

“But operationally, a wheel and tire business is different from rental purchase,” says Scott. “With tires, there is that element of custom fit, of knowing what will and won’t work when ordering something not in stock. It’s important to understand wheel and tire applications. The learning curve is to the extreme. I called Trooper and suggested we combine my knowledge of my industry with his expertise in franchising. We had two proven commodities and together could be second to none.”

“Scott has more knowledge of the wheel and tire rental industry than anyone in the United States,” says Trooper. “Premier has a proven franchising program that is working incredibly well for us. Combining our franchising program with Scott’s industry expertise was a natural for both of us, and we both expect big things from this partnership. Together, we will continue to offer to our dealers all the great franchising support (which includes startup assistance, financing, marketing, HR services, buying power, advertising and sales strategies and more) along with the best operational support and expertise available in the industry.”

Scott and Trooper introduced Premier Wheel Rentals last April. Franchisees will benefit from a variety of support services. According to Scott and Trooper, operational training will be conducted in actual wheel and tire rental stores to give a franchisee the best possible hands-on training available from the tire machine to customer service.

Scott adds, “There is a tremendous demand in the market for customers who love to customize their vehicles. Therefore there is tremendous potential for our success.”

To contact Scott Savell about franchising opportunities, visit www.premierwheels.net or give him a call at 1-800-2-PREMIER.

Tom Wurm sites Kroger as a good example of what he plans to do in the RTO industry as the new president of Premier Cash Services.

Premier Cash Services
Tom Wurm sites Kroger as a good example of what he plans to do in the RTO industry as the new president of Premier Cash Services. This former CFO for Rentway studied how Kroger, Wal-Mart and other predominant retailers rose to the top of their industries by offering convenient, one-stop shopping for services such as floral, banking, wire transfers, movie rentals and dry goods, giving customers one more reason to make repeat shopping decisions. Tom’s vision is to provide similar one-stop conveniences to RTO customers by offering them cash services right in the store. Linking with Premier Rental-Purchase, he is spearheading a new company that will make franchising opportunities available to RTO dealers who want to add short-term loans and other cash services to their line-up.

“This is a new concept,” says Tom. “We are forming a new business unit under the Premier franchise group that will enable dealers to provide new services and extend their customer base. Premier Cash Services is unique because we are combining payday loans and other financial transactions with the RTO business, or in certain cases right next door. We feel Cash Services customers have a lot of similarities to our RTO customers and that both will benefit from the convenience of having it all under one roof. We will offer something that banks can’t: small loans up to $500 that are repaid out of a customer’s next paycheck with a 15% interest rate.”

“It makes a lot of sense for a consumer who has a short-term need or an emergency bump in the road,” says Tom. “We feel a significant number of RTO customers will use this service at some time or another. Dealers will have a way to reduce any risk to make it a win-win situation.”

Tom began talking with Trooper a year ago, and they both agreed that combining their efforts had the potential to take the cash services business to a new level. Tom’s impressive credentials and experience in the industry and Trooper’s reputation and skill in franchising were unmatched.

“Trooper has a great focus on customers and customer relationships based on trust and honesty with his franchisees and associates. I liked his leadership and involvement style, his vision, and I was excited about really jumping into the opportunity to get involved with the best franchise driven organization I’ve ever seen.”

“Tom thrives on challenge, innovation and creativity,” says Trooper. “He has a history of success with start-ups, turnarounds and growth. He is a strategic and tactical planner with a decisive methodology that is needed for the success of this venture. This is a fast- growing and profitable business and the Premier family values Tom’s expertise in bringing us into it.”

For more information on Premier Cash Services, email TomWurm@premiercashservices.com or call (757) 592-2719.