What do the military and franchising have in common?

At ServiceMaster Brands, our mission is Making Everyday Heroes More Heroic™. That’s why we love featuring the bravest of everyday heroes: our military. We’re proud to support veterans and active-duty military members. In honor of Veterans Day, we’re highlighting the service members who joined our family of franchise owners.

Terry Bruns has been a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK (TMT) franchisee for 11 years. Before joining the TMT family, he served in the USAF from 1983 to 1987, where he worked as an electronics technician. Despite having spent most of his years at the USAF in that job, Terry also worked in Job Control for 1.5 years during his time there. After leaving the military, he spent 25 years pursuing other endeavors. In 2012, Terry finally found and joined the amazing TMT system.

It was neither easy nor quick for Terry to find his way to TMT after serving in the military. “It took me a long time to find TMT as I exited the USAF in 1987 and joined TMT 25 years later in 2012,” he explains. For someone who worked for the military, becoming a franchise owner isn’t always the obvious choice. However, Terry’s previous experience and strong connection to TMT showed him a great path: joining the TMT franchisee team. As Terry searched for a business opportunity, his connection to TMT’s values and experience in logistics he gained at the USAF were the perfect combination to help him run a TMT franchise.

Once he became a part of the TMT family, Terry noticed many similarities between running a franchise and serving in the military. For instance, he points out that having systems and set ways of operating helps a lot in both environments. Terry explains that “everything is not cookie cutter,” so it’s essential to have the ability to adapt to the situation in either organization. “A solid training program is also needed in both systems,” he says. Although TMT franchises and the military are different worlds, it wasn’t difficult for Terry to find things in common.

Besides the similarities between both organizations, another factor motivated Terry to run a franchise with TMT: the veteran incentive that has been offered since 2005, which is 10% off the franchise fee. He describes that opening a business can feel like a huge step, so it was meaningful for him to know TMT appreciates the time veterans served enough to offer that discount. Terry needed a significant amount of money to open his franchise, especially because he never had a high-paying job, so it took him a while to save enough money to start his business. “Money is the lifeblood of the business, and having that extra on hand gives you that little extra assurance,” he describes. We’re glad that the incentive helped Terry realize his dream of franchise ownership.

After being with TMT for so many years, Terry has great things to say about his experience. “You get a much better feeling of comradery with TMT than really any other work I had outside of the military, and I think that is something many former military personnel really miss when they get to the civilian world,” he explains. Terry also says that he really identified with the values and purpose of TMT, and he has a feeling other former military personnel would have a similar connection.  TWO MEN AND A TRUCK believes in Moving People Forward™. We’re proud to continue doing that for Terry and many other veteran franchisees.