| | The redesigned playground at Lake Eola Park features a decorative yet functional design by Sky Shades. |
LONGWOOD - Joe McKenna is switching the focus at his company from distributorships to franchising, a strategy he hopes will be lucrative enough to have it made in the shade.
The 42-year-old executive vice president and co-owner of Sky Shades USA, a Longwood company that produces free-standing awnings that provide sun and weather protection primarily for commercial applications, is in the process of setting up the necessary paperwork foundations to become a franchisor. To get started, prospective franchisees will need $50,000 placed in escrow for the purchase of materials, plus there are certain financial requirements thereafter.
McKenna says he already has received inquiries from interested parties in India, Europe and Asia, as well as the United States. He also hopes to turn 15 existing distributors into franchisees.
"Our mission is to spread far and wide," says McKenna. "We came here to shade America, but we now want to shade the world."
McKenna and his principal partners - Australian business and rugby entrepreneur Barry Maranta and famed pro golfer Greg Norman - started the company nearly three ago.
Sky Shades generated revenue of about $200,000 the first year, $800,000 in 2005 and $2 million in 2006, selling primarily to locals such as Images Car Wash & Detail in Orlando, Cypress Harbour by Marriott in Orlando and All Saints Episcopal Church Child Care in Winter Park, as well as the city of Orlando.
"It's saved me a lot of money," says Jeff Bonynge, owner of Images. "You get the benefits of an enclosure without the expense."
Sky Shades did a $180,000 project -- covering 15,000 square feet -- about 18 months ago to help protect Bonynge's staff of 40.
The company's largest project to date is a $340,000 project Sky Shades is currently working on for NAVAIR, involving several different locations.
A typical commercial project runs about $70,000, but even a small project for a residence can cost about $16,000. Sky Shades imports the shade fabric from Australia, but outsources the steel and structural portions of the product to a manufacturer in Apopka.
As the Longwood company preps for its franchising thrust, there are some potential challenges, says Terry Hill, spokesman for the International Franchise Association in Washington, D.C.
Hill says the rewards of franchising can be fantastic, but "you need to test it in different markets, among different cultures, to make sure it will work in all ways."
On the international level, it also becomes more complicated because of language, cultural and distance factors, he adds.
There are between 2,000 and 2,500 registered franchise concepts in the United States with at least one franchise unit. About 900 of those became registered in the last three years, Hill says, noting the increasing popularity of franchising.
McKenna remains upbeat that the company will have success franchising Sky Shades, and regardless of how that goes, he notes, the firm will be just fine on its own: After all, the company, which employs 14 people locally, expects to generate $6 million in revenue this year.
| 
