Terry Bruns is the sole investor in the local Two Men and a Truck franchise, which he opened June 4 in Garden City.

With nine people working for him, including six movers and drivers, Bruns expects to break even on startup costs this fall.

The company does home and business moves and sells boxes and packing supplies.

Bruns lets customers cherry-pick the services they want, so if a family wants to use its own vehicle and just pay movers to unload it, that’s fine, Bruns says. They’ll also put together or take apart furniture.

Q: What did you do previously?

A: Most recently, I was in the real estate business. However, I have worked extensively in both construction and sales. I also served in the U.S. Air Force as an electronics technician.

Q: How much do you charge?

A: Standard rate is $89 per hour, with a weekday discounted rate of $82 per hour.

This includes two professionally trained, insured and bonded movers, a truck and all required professional moving equipment such as pads, dollies, straps, bands and stretch wrapping.

Q: What led you to open this business?

A: I spent an extensive amount of time searching for a business to purchase ... [that] also suited my interests and values.

Eventually I began looking at franchise opportunities and took at least a cursory look at 100 or more, and a detailed look at about 10 or 12, franchise opportunities.

I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the Two Men and A Truck organization — from the people at the home office to the other franchisees.

Q: How did you accomplish this goal?

A: Financially my wife, Lynda, and I have always lived below our means and saved, which put us in the position to open a franchise.

As far as getting the actual franchise, Two Men and A Truck is pretty selective on who they take on as a franchisee. I think my combination of operational experience combined with sales and marketing experience helped immensely.

Q: What challenges did you face?

A: I had hoped to open with used moving trucks to avoid taking on debt, but there is a shortage of moving trucks, new or used. Given that, I had to buy new vehicles and still had almost a three-month wait. Also, the first office space I was hoping to rent wouldn’t allow us to park the trucks on-site, so I had to continue my search.

Q: What do you hope to achieve in three to five years?

A: I hope to grow a loyal customer base to the point where we are the largest moving company in the Treasure Valley. We should see growth to where we have six to 10 trucks and 30 to 40 employees.

Audrey Dutton: 377-6448