re: Starting a business from scratch or a franchise?

Pest control.

I think you could do that without going the franchise route if you are already knowledgable about the business. Most people are not snobby about who they use to control pest and it could be a great business to build locally ( within 50 mile radius of your home) of done right.

You need a good business and growth plan to start. Concentrate on developing a solid logo mark and a catchy tag line. Get this right and take your time doing so. Make every attempt to make your company appear more established than it truly is. Have an advertising flyer made up (500-1000 is not expensive) to hand out door to door if that is what you need to do. Ask for and earn their trust. Spend the little bit of money required to have shirts, hats, etc made with your logo Mark and tag line. Do the little things to appear professional and to give the impression that you are a legitimate service provider. Unless you are sitting on a serious stack of cash....Rome wasn't built in a day. Grow your own brand. It will not be a short term windfall but it should be far better at the 5,10,20 year threshold.

I have started 2 businesses this way. It is a slow roll approach for someone who is not sitting on a large sum of capital and also does not want to sell ownership stakes in the brand. But if you go this route, invest the time and money in creating your brand identity and your logo mark. Have a flyer made and put one in every mailbox you can. Not some crappy paper flyer but a professional flyer on gloss paper. Have a few thousand top quality gloss business cards made ( 2 side print) and hand them out to anyone who is willing to accept one. Do the same with refrigerator magnets. These things are relatively inexpensive. Remember that visuals that draw the eye to your marketing material will help you get started as much as anything. Absent of an initial huge start up marketing budget you will have to make up the difference by out hustling your local competition. The quality flyers, cards , magnets etc will be the tools you use to accomplish this as long as you are willing to put forth the effort. You can get started with all of these items for less than a total of $600.

Good luck with whatever you decide.