It may sound a little crazy
to apply the concepts of a sandwich shop, bowling alley or hair salon to the
Emergency Services Field.
According to the
International Franchises Association the first
modern day franchisor was likely Martha Matilda Harper, a Canadian American who
began to franchise the Harper Method Shops in 1891. Headquartered in
Rochester, N.Y., she included in her hair care franchise many of the elements
we have come to expect in a modern commercial franchise system including
initial and continuing training, branded products, field visits, advertising,
group insurance and motivation. Harper started her salon business in 1888
and grew the franchise system to more than 500 salons and training schools at
its peak, with the last location closing in 1972.
The definition of a
franchise according to Oxford Language dictionary is:
“An authorization granted by
a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out
specified commercial activities, e.g., providing a broadcasting service or
acting as an agent for a company's products.”
So, if the need exists for a
service or product and a business has the service or product available for
consumption, then it can be franchised.
The Blue Cell, LLC which
began in 2009 operated for a number of years as a sole proprietor LLC primarily
conducting training courses. As hundreds and eventually thousands of students
attended our courses a small percentage began to inquire about exercise design
and simulation. Over the next few years, a small internal exercise capability
was created. In 2012 The Blue Cell, LLC acquired Command School TTX out of
Lancaster, PA. The acquisition provided a substantial East coast / Midwest
client list going back to 1989 and a lot of H.O. scale buildings, matchbox cars
and vests. The acquisition also came with a full exercise archive, over 25
years in the making.
The archive studied, turned
into intellectual property and re packaged in 2017 into the emerging Homeland
Security Exercise and Evaluation format focusing on three of the seven levels
of exercise and made available for sale as TTX Vault.
In our current post global
pandemic world, the need for exercise is greater than ever, attributed to the
lost time due to the disease, the recognition of response and preparedness
deficiencies and a work force in many cases that really does not want to work. These
elements have created the perfect storm of opportunity.
In April 2023 The Blue Cell,
LLC will present for purchase 10 geographic franchises that will be available
for sale with over 200 pre-canned exercise products through an online store.
The stores will have several adjoining products and services to support the
exercise needs of government agencies (large and small), fixed facilities,
private businesses, airports, hospitals, Colleges and Universities, large
corporate campuses and more. Well on our way to success the International
Franchise ( servicing Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Greece) of TTX Vault has been reserved by a Canadian
Emergency Services firm that will also act as a master franchise holder with
significant input on product re-design, online presence, branding and new
product development.
To learn more please contact
Todd Manns, Founding Owner / Managing Partner- The Blue Cell, LLC. toddmanns@thebluecell.com
