82 Business View - January 2015
Franchisees are helped on the ground level by the
company’s relationships with entities like Corporate
Messaging Services Inc., a Georgia-based firm that
helps handle some of the basic administrative tasks.
“CMS acts as the overflow receptionist for franchises
all over the country,” said Richard Bensman, its presi-
dent. “With our combination of a superior customer
service team along with specialized training and cus-
tom call center software, we assist Tailored Living
business owners by handling their incoming customer
service and sales calls. Whether CMS handles calls
24/7 or acts as the overflow point, we get the phones
so that the owners can get the business.”
Branding from one Tailored Living location to another
is nearly exact, Tafoya said, and all franchisees work
from “D’Vinci,” a proprietary 3D software program that
allows them to both design organizational structures
and order the necessary equipment from an online
catalog. A vendor alliance of manufacturers across
the U.S. also enables the operation to maintain con-
sistency from design to manufacture to end product.
Neither franchisees nor their employees are mandat-
ed to have past experience in home improvement or
similar industries, thanks mainly to an intensive 11-
day training program that gets all newcomers up to
speed on design principles – and follow-up offerings
that include regional and national meetings, 24/7 ac-
cess to business coaches and in-the-field assistance
as needed.
Prospective franchisees are required to have a mini-
mum $150,000 net worth with $100,000 in available
liquid cash. The fee for a renewable 10-year agree-
ment is $14,950 and the total investment ranges be-
tween $111,130 and $254,495. Three-quarters of all
franchisees own multiple units and 95 percent of cur-
rent franchisees are owners/operators.
Entrepreneur magazine included Tailored Living on its
FRANCHISE
