If you live in a first world nation, refrigeration is nothing new; in fact, it's so old that most people walk past refrigerators day in and day out without ever giving them a thought further than wondering what tasty treats await inside. It's this very same ubiquity that makes refrigeration a booming industry and a growing environmental concern in the United States.

Because the average industrial and commercial refrigeration units use various chloro, hydro and fluorocarbons as refrigerants, and these chemical compounds have been found to have damaging effects on the ozone layer and contribute to global warming, the government has responsibly put numerous regulations on how they're used and how they're disposed of. Unfortunately for many companies that rely on refrigeration for the life of their business (supermarkets, for example), these regulations are strict and require a great deal of verifying follow-up paperwork, all of which is hard to attend to as in-house projects. As with most things, this hard task has produced an entire industry dedicated to refrigerant abatement, which is the proper, safe, and legal removal of expended refrigerants.

As with other environmentally hazardous substances, when a refrigeration unit of any size is at the end of its life cycle and needs to be disposed of, the material must be recovered, and properly handled per EPA regulations.. Whether the facility using the refrigerant compound has the means by which to contain it or has to bring someone in to extract it from the system, it is far easier to call professionals for handling refrigerants rather than attempt it alone, and that is precisely where Rapid Recovery enters the picture.

One of the most effective and trusted brands in the market, Rapid Recovery has mastered the business of serving both clients and franchisees as though nothing else matters. According to one franchisee, Dylan LaMere, "for those seeking self-employment with an opportunity to expand and be able to run your business the way you want, there is no better franchise opportunity. Over the past few years that I have been working for myself, I have seen tremendous growth in refrigerant abatement, and it is another way to do your part in keeping the world a safe and healthy place to live for future generations."

Being handed generalizations about the whole industry and this franchise opportunity in particular, though, shouldn't be enough to sway any good entrepreneur to purchase a franchise. To get a better idea of what makes this franchise business such a worthy investment, it's vital to get a glimpse of an ordinary day's work, the services provided, and the day-to-day relationship with the franchisor.

Part of the beauty of Rapid Recovery franchises is the variety of work that each franchisee gets to do on any given day. With a large home territory, the franchisee receives client calls through the company call center, and the customer needs that come with these calls can range from pre-demolition refrigerant abatement to recovery cylinder abatement to onsite recovery with custom-built, one-of-a-kind Rapid Recovery machinery. Whether the client is a demolition team who doesn't want to address the hassle of removing, recording, reporting, and disposing of environmentally damaging refrigerants, or a naval battleship that has to offload their cooling agent while in port, the Rapid Recovery franchisee can handle their call.

Whatever the call of the day, Rapid Recovery can and does attend to it better and faster than anyone else. But the client is not the only one that Rapid Recovery serves at full capacity; the franchisee actually receives as much valuable attention from the franchisor as the client does from the franchisee.

According to franchisee David Wallace, "the biggest challenge is the amount of responsibility you carry. As the owner, there is no one to take your place, so when something needs to get done that's really inconvenient, it usually ends up being you that carries the burden." And, because the franchises are both owner and operator by the design of the franchise, David is correct, responsibility does fall squarely on the shoulders of the franchisee. However, other franchisees giving their two cents also bring up an important point: Matt Jahn adds, "you also get tremendous support and advice from the corporate office and staff. It's great to know that you can concentrate on doing just a few things very well, all the while knowing that the support staff will take care of handling a lot of extra work, such as billing and invoicing, bill collections, insurance, and payroll," not to mention "training and certifying all employees." Another franchisee, Terri LaMere adds, "the corporate office is great to have for all questions and doing most of the bookkeeping."

It may sound too good to be true, but in fact, the franchisees are being completely honest. The central staff of Rapid Recovery serves basically as an office staff for all their franchises, taking care of invoicing, bill paying, collections, receiving client faxes, and directing calls. As well, the business has a standing relationship with Administaff, who attends to franchisee payroll, tax, and benefit needs, so that they don't have to. Quite literally, all the franchisor wants franchisees to deal with is the day-to-day task of fieldwork, giving their full attention to clients during the week.

Of all business opportunities, this franchise has developed a system that makes refrigerant recovery as quick and painless as possible for everyone involved. It is a business that is mandated by the government, so there is no potential end or diminishment of jobs in sight, and with a central staff this good taking as much weight off the franchisee's shoulders as possible, there is no reason to think anything but the best of this business. And according to David Wallace, neither of those are even the best part of the business; "the income is the best aspect of franchising with Rapid Recovery."