If the salary is capped, the restructure is coming, or the work no longer matters, ownership can be the next chapter. David and Hannah Beal in Knoxville went from cleaning houses to owning a Mobility Plus showroom and home-services business — without a mobility background.
10% franchise fee discount for honorably discharged veterans
Press play. The video loads only after you click.
“I have not had one day since we started that I get up and think I don’t want to go to work. That’s pretty awesome. That’s pretty incredible.” Hannah Beal, Mobility Plus Knoxville
This is not a trend business. Families need stairlifts, ramps, bathroom modifications, and lifts installed so they can stay in the home they already love. Seniors need scooters and power chairs so they can stay active and connected to their community.
Every day more than 10,000 baby boomers turn 65. By 2030, all baby boomers will be 65 or older. Most will want to remain at home and stay active in the community. Many houses are not ready. Falls, unsafe stairs, isolation, and the cost of assisted living are the practical reasons people call.
Primary customers are seniors 65+ and adults living with chronic conditions. Secondary customers include family caregivers, veterans with disabilities, post-surgery patients, and people recovering from injury. Demand is need-driven, which is what career changers leaving a cyclical industry usually want to see.
75% of adults 50+ want to remain in their current homes as they age. 44% of households with someone 65+ need home safety modifications. Mobility disabilities affect 12.2% of U.S. adults. Those are market facts, not a forecast of your results.
One franchise. Two businesses under one roof.
The local destination for mobility equipment, staffed for consultative selling, service, and rentals.
A mobile crew that goes into the community, from the first assessment through installation and service.
The Beals did not come from healthcare or mobility. They came from 17 years of cleaning houses and pressure washing.
Hannah started cleaning houses as a stay-at-home mom who did not want a full-time job. David pressure washed and cleaned houses for 17 years. They wanted a business they could run together. A health issue made the old work impossible. They found Mobility Plus online, talked with founder Rich Peter, and jumped in.
“We went from cleaning toilets and cleaning houses to having our own franchise,” Hannah says. “We’re able to cover our needs. The most important thing to us is that we can help our community and pay our bills and put food on the table.”
Their results are theirs. Past performance is not a promise of what another owner will earn.
A customer who had lost her husband called to tell them he had died, because the store had been part of caring for him in his last days. That is the job in one phone call: a product, an installation, and a family that knew who to call.
“It’s a humbling job,” David says. “Just to put a smile on their face every once in a while — it helps.” Hannah’s version of the same point: their customers’ problems are often bigger, and the Beals get to show them products they did not know existed.
This is the objection that stops most career changers. Hannah had none. She says so on the video: no background in mobility products, constant questions, and corporate help getting them into stairlifts.
Prior retail, sales, healthcare, construction, home improvement, or military leadership helps. It is not required. Training is the bridge. The Beals’ own line was that they were nervous because of their backgrounds, and that the motto became “make it.”
Ownership here is not “I become the installer.” You lead mobility consultants and technicians, sell in the showroom and the living room, and use the system. You do not have to arrive already knowing a curved stairlift from a vertical platform lift.
Name the background and people self-select. The Beals came from trades and home services. Other owners come from corporate, healthcare, sales, and the military.
People tired of a capped role who still want a team, a P&L, and a place in the community.
Professionals who already understand aging, caregivers, and why staying home matters.
Consultative sellers who can sit with a family and match a product to a real problem.
Owners and operators, like the Beals, who already know homes, schedules, and local reputation.
Honorably discharged veterans may qualify for a 10% franchise fee discount, subject to verification and the current FDD.
People who want a community role they can see, not another logo on a résumé.
The fear is that “franchise” means turning wrenches. The job is leading the people who do the work, and staying close enough to the customer that it still feels local.
Sit with customers choosing scooters, power chairs, lift chairs, and daily-living aids. The sale is a conversation, not a shelf pull.
Stairs, entries, and bathrooms get solved in the house. You or your consultants scope the stairlift, ramp, or lift. Technicians install.
The Beals started as two people and reached the point where they had to hire. Growth means managing consultants and installers, not doing every ticket yourself.
Referral partners, caregivers, and families who already know the store. David’s constraint was staying a family business while the phone kept ringing.
Salary people want cash flow, not a slogan about top-line potential. The model has immediate tickets and recurring work. It does not have a guaranteed income.
Showroom equipment and in-home products sold as the customer needs them. Private pay keeps the cycle simpler than insurance billing.
Stairlifts, ramps, vertical platform lifts, and related work. A project fee, then a customer who knows who to call next.
Short-term need becomes monthly revenue. Recovery, travel, and trial use sit alongside purchases.
Maintenance and repair after the sale. Recurring work that does not depend on a brand-new customer every time.
The building and the wrapped van. Retail traffic plus in-home jobs under one locally owned company.
Item 19 of the current Franchise Disclosure Document is the only performance context that counts. Averages and ranges vary. Past results are not a promise.
Leaving a company means giving up infrastructure. The franchise is the replacement: training, launch marketing, systems, and people you can call.
Products, consultative selling, installation oversight, service, showroom operations, and rentals. The Beals asked how to do stairlifts and were walked into the category.
Hannah called corporate marketing daily in month one. She still uses ideas from those calls. Launch marketing is built to fill a pipeline, not to leave you inventing ads alone.
They were given QuickBooks help for the simple things that stall a new owner. Systems cover operations, inventory, and customer experience.
Showroom branding, focused inventory, a wrapped service van, and a microsite on MobilityPlus.com.
Vendor relationships, best-practice sharing, and a team that still answers when the question is basic.
Hannah’s description: a group that wants the next owner to do as well as the last one. That is the practical version of “you are not on your own.”
Career changers freeze when the numbers are buried. These are the figures published for the current model. The Franchise Disclosure Document controls.
$324,575 to $454,575
Includes the franchise fee. Covers showroom, inventory, vehicles, marketing launch, and other opening costs. Exact figures vary by territory and the choices you make. Source: current offering terms, confirmed in the FDD.Most candidates look at an SBA 7(a) loan, a retirement rollover (ROBS), or both. Mobility Plus is SBA-eligible under Identifier Code S4390. That is eligibility, not loan approval. Opening often takes a few months after award. Your timeline depends on site, funding, and build-out.
Explore Financing Options →The exciting part is not the brand name. It is being the trusted local provider — the store and the van people already know. Knoxville is the Beals’ market. Yours would be mapped to population, available territory, and the way you want to operate.
Availability changes. The map on the franchise overview is informational. Franchise Development confirms what is actually open before anyone talks about a specific market.
David’s warning is useful: they were busting at the seams after a year and still wanted to stay a family business. A territory is a place to build, not a reason to outgrow the one-to-one service that makes the model work.
This is not passive income. Mid-career buyers have been pitched before. The honest version is simpler.
If you want a logo and a mailbox, this is the wrong chapter. If you want a local company with a showroom, a van, and a reason to go in tomorrow, it is worth a conversation.
No. It helps, and it is not required. Hannah Beal had no mobility-product background. Training, vendor support, and field coaching are how new owners learn stairlifts, scooters, ramps, and the rest.
The model is a showroom plus a mobile installation and service team. Owners lead sales and operations. Technicians and installers do the field work as the team grows. Early on, some owners stay closer to the work.
The franchise fee is $60,000, with a 10% discount for honorably discharged veterans. Typical initial investment is about $324,575 to $454,575, including the fee. The FDD has the complete breakdown. Figures vary by territory and opening choices.
Only Item 19 of the current Franchise Disclosure Document. Averages, medians, and ranges are not a promise. The Beals describe covering their needs and being busy after a year. That is one location, not a system-wide claim.
Mobility Plus primarily operates as a private-pay model. That avoids insurance delays and keeps the sales cycle moving. It is not a government-contract business as the core model.
A call, then a confidential Request for Consideration, then a brand and territory review. You receive the FDD before any commitment. Award and fee payment come only after mutual fit and formal review.
Tell us about you. We will schedule a conversation and answer questions — including veteran pricing if you qualify. No obligation. Territories are discussed after fit is clear.
