PowerUP: How Trey Powell’s Mosquito Joe franchise became third in the nation

The journey of a local business never begins with “On this date, I started my business.” It starts with experiences that lead you to where the path to
that business begins. That’s what professionals learned from Trey Powell, owner of Mosquito Joe of Lake Murray, on Wednesday morning at the PowerUP
luncheon hosted by Empowered Young Professionals.

Trey’s first introduction to being self-employed was selling Cutco knives at age 17. That summer, he was promoted to branch manager and began hiring students
and teaching them how to sell. Two summers and a promotion to district manager later, Trey had learned how to sell himself and a product, take rejection,
connect people and speak publicly.

Moving forward, Trey joined Dale Carnegie Training as an area manager where he called on businesses and organizations selling training courses and eventually
became an instructor. “The biggest thing I learned from that experience was what the problem was with all companies: people and their lack of ability
to get along, deal with one another and communicate,” said Trey.

Next, Liberty Tax Service(LTS) recruited Trey to sell their franchises by promising Trey he would never have to do a tax return himself! After two months
of selling franchises, Trey realized he could own a franchise himself and decided to purchase one and later added two more locations. He eventually
ventured into area development for the entire state of South Carolina and other territories, building up franchises and then selling them back to LTS.

“There’s a difference between owning a job and owning a business.” Trey Powell, @mosquitojoe of Lake Murray

— Lexington SC Chamber (@lexchamber) November 15, 2017

Trey was ready for his next adventure and he found when he and his family moved into their new Lake Carolina home and encountered bugs. Not just any
bugs: midgets and millions of them that are one of the biggest problems for lake home owners. After a friend had recommended he start his own Mosquito
Joe franchise, Trey called him back to have him take care of his pest problem. When Trey witnessed the power of Mosquito Joe’s product (the bugs
completely lost the battle!), he was sold and wanted everyone to know about their work.

He told his four neighbors (who are still customers to this day) about Mosquito Joe and then started his own franchise after moving to Lexington. Within
a few years, Mosquito Joe of Lake Murray will be close to $1 million in business in its single
territory.

“If you get involved in owning a business, make sure it’s a business that has some equity or something that you’re gaining like a stepping stone to
something else,” said Trey. “The real wealth in America is built through equity rather than cash flow.”

Trey’s secret to success: finding the right goal and having the passion and drive behind it.

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