Lice Removal Franchise May Be Coming To Ns

HALIFAX (Saturday, July 07, 2007) - Head lice can be a parent's worst nightmare, and they've always been in Nova Scotia. But help may be on the way.

In 2001, Dawn Mucci of Toronto founded a head lice removal service called Lice Squad. The company performs its service for schools, camps and daycare centers, but most of their work comes from individual house calls. Today, her company has 15 franchises in Ontario, and she's looking to expand to other provinces, including Nova Scotia.

Mucci attributes much of her success to date to low overhead practices mandated in her business plan. Employees of Lice Squad come to their patients, eliminating the need for expensive offices, and they receive the company's line of removal products at cost. A typical house call from Lice Squad costs about $55/hr and usually lasts around two hours.

Because Nova Scotia has a relatively small population, Mucci says she is looking for a single franchisee for the entire province, and she has already had some interest. She says a woman familiar with her service from Ontario who recently moved to Nova Scotia told her "once I get settled, I want to start a franchise here."

Halifax-based St. Joseph's Early Childhood Center closely monitors children who attend their facilities, and recently sent a cautionary letter home to parents regarding head lice. The center's director, Belinda Leck, says that head lice are common, mainly with older children in elementary school. But there is currently no lice removal service offered in Nova Scotia. Public Health nurses visiting schools can help with the diagnosis, but when it comes to treatment, Leck says, "it's the parent's responsibility, they can go to the department of health for the medication, they can go to the doctor…or they can purchase it themselves."

Mucci says she can relate to Lice Squad's customers. As a young mother, she got lice herself. "I went through that whole stigma. I couldn't get anyone to help me," she says. "I didn't want to use chemicals, but that was all that was available; it was just a nightmare."

Mucci discourages pesticide treatments, currently a common method for dealing with head lice, because she's "not a big fan of using chemicals on kids." And chemicals can kill the lice, but leave the eggs untouched.

Reflecting on her own troubles with head lice, she realized there was a market for their removal. She points out that making sure someone is "lice free" is a labour intensive process. "People don't have the time, inclination or desire to deal with this."

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