ZOOM DRAIN, the drain- and sewer-cleaning experts, has announced the addition of its Chicago franchise, helmed by Pamela Belyn. Her team takes care of the drain-cleaning needs of homeowners and business owners in the Chicago metro area.

Belyn, a former corporate lawyer, spent much of her career assisting blue-collar business owners in the commercial services industry with various corporate law issues, as well as middle-market mergers and acquisitions. What she saw was a lucrative industry that helped people.

“I realized that these owners have it pretty good,” Belyn said. “They're making money and they're living the lifestyle they want to live. One client, in particular, brought it home for me. I used my skills as a lawyer to help him sell his company. He wasn't getting the price he wanted. But we pulled the listing, cleaned up those items that business owners routinely ignore and put him back on the market. He ended up getting $78 million for his janitorial services company. Not sexy, not fancy — but $78 million.”

After some discussion with her husband, Belyn began to look at companies where she could use her legal and operational strengths as a business owner. Belyn used to follow her grandfather around on his various handyman jobs, so she’s no stranger to hard, physical work. She narrowed her focus to infrastructure firms — which is when she came across Men in Sewers and acquired it in 2016.

Men in Sewers, a sewer construction and maintenance firm with a commercial and industrial focus, did not cover any residential sewer service, except for friends and family. And no homeowner would be comfortable with the much-larger vactor equipment used on commercial jobs showing up for a toilet rodding.

So Belyn began the search of adding a residential component to her business. She met and talked with ZOOM DRAIN President Ellen Rohr at a WETT Show in Indianapolis.

“When I bought Men in Sewers, the former owners ran it like a lifestyle business,” Belyn explained. “They had some commercial buildings that needed this service. They could never find anybody reliable, so they started doing it for themselves. There were no systems in place. It was a hodgepodge, but it worked for them. They weren't trying to grow a sustainable model.

“I came in and professionalized operations, and it was a monumental task. And knowing that we needed to add a residential piece, I didn't have the mental or physical capacity to build something from scratch again. That's what made ZOOM DRAIN appealing. I felt it had a better and more supportive model than anything else I had seen. And they also share my philosophy.”

Belyn employs two technicians for her ZOOM DRAIN franchise — and she’s hiring. Call 1-800-CALL-ZOOM for employment information.

ZOOM DRAIN can guide franchisees through the maze of business development, sales and marketing (residential and commercial), fleet and warehouse, acquisition strategy, customer service, employee documentation, human resources and recruiting, training and apprenticeships.

“Somebody else already invented the wheel, I just needed to buy the wheel,” Belyn noted. “So, I bought the ZOOM DRAIN wheel. For me, it's like, buy into the system, learn the system, use the system.”

Additional ZOOM DRAIN locations include Orange County (Irvine), California; Sacramento, California; Central Florida (Leesburg); New England (Westbrook, Maine); Baltimore; Omaha, Nebraska; Northern New Jersey (Clifton); Southern New Jersey (West Deptford); Long Island, New York (Bohemia); Rochester, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina.; Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Norristown and Allentown/Bethlehem); Salt Lake City; and Seattle.

You can listen to Belyn's episode of the PHCPPros Behind the Wall podcast at www.phcppros.com/behind_the_wall.