David Ambinder spent more than 25 years on Wall Street, most recently as a senior vice president of global support services for Lehman Brothers. When he got a pink slip last summer – just months before the investment bank filed for bankruptcy – he turned his attention to more humble endeavors: fixing up people’s homes.
Ambinder, whose retirement package was hard hit by the economic downturn, dipped into savings and mortgaged his home to start a Union, New Jersey branch of a longstanding franchise called Mr. Handyman. The business sends skilled craftsmen to do a variety of household jobs ranging from installing toilets to cleaning gutters.
“It’s very exciting to build a business; for me it’s the right move,” says Ambinder, who opened his doors in November after evaluating several franchise choices with a broker. “People aren’t going to be moving and they are going to need their homes repaired. I feel there’s a niche for it.”
Ambinder declined to discuss specific costs of his business but Sara Faiwell, a spokeswoman for Mr. Handyman, said the average cost of a franchise is about $110,000 with a franchise fee of $14,900.
Among the rolls of laid off bankers, executives and blue collar workers – as well as the gainfully employed who can see the writing on the walls – are many aspiring franchisees looking to make the leap into entrepreneurship under the safety net of a tried-and-true business umbrella. They’re sick of watching their 401Ks get hammered in the stock market and are looking for a structured plan that offers the promise of financial independence.