With franchises continuing to advance as a player in the restoration industry, it can be difficult for an independent company to flourish, especially if that company is newly established and doesn’t have long-standing relationships with area adjusters, property managers and clients or a sizable marketing budget.

That was the predicament that Jerry Temple, President, Total Restoration Services, LLC (TRS) found himself in when he formed the company in March 2012 and committed full-time to developing TRS just a few months later. He did 1-2 water damage jobs per week in addition to other services and grossed about $250,000 in about four months of work in 2012 – not bad considering his company was new, operating out of his garage and only had a handful of techs. While a promising start, Temple also wanted to perform reconstruction and develop the company into a true full-service restoration business.

“I understood how difficult it was going to be for me as an independent restoration company trying to compete with these large national franchises,” Temple recalls.

So he joined just about every group out there that could refer him work. The likes of Code Blue, Restoration SOS, National Restoration Network and CSI all began to bring in more jobs. Temple also became a More Floods member and took advantage of the company’s unique system and training opportunities to increase his restoration workload.

“We take every bit of advice they offer and apply it - that’s it,” Temple says of the More Floods program. “We have an amazing team that can grasp concepts and follow directions.”

In 2013, Temple says TRS did about $1.2 million and brought several more techs aboard. In 2014, Temple expects to hit $2.5 million. In just 24 months, TRS, a start-up independent restoration company, went from 1 to 18 trucks on the road and are soon to move into a 16,000 square foot facility.

 Today, TRS is a full-service restoration company that performs about 25 water damage restoration jobs per month. He says of the 25 water damage jobs they receive, they get 19 reconstruction jobs. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with going the franchise route as far as restoration business ownership is concerned, TRS is proof that you can still make it as a newer independent – you just need to have the right programs and partnerships in place.