Triple Revenue? Add 60 Employees? How Bug-N-A-Rug Did It Using FieldRoutes

Consider this North Carolina pest control company's position inside the PCT Top 100 as snug as a bug in a rug.

Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators, based in the port city of Wilmington and serving customers in a fast-growing region of the Tar Heel State, continues its climb among the nation's pest control companies generating the most revenue.

Bug-N-A-Rug, owned by Stan Hollingsworth, ranks No. 74 in the newest list, released in May and based on 2024 revenues of nearly $11.5 million. That's a 14% increase and a climb of seven places year-over-year, and the revenue gain totals 93% since the company made its debut at No. 99 in 2021. 

In fact, since Bug-N-A-Rug began operating in FieldRoutes^® software in 2018, the company’s annual revenue has almost tripled, growing 187%.

But for Stuart Flynn, the general manager, growth means more than even that remarkable revenue.

"When we started, we had 40 technicians, 50 employees total,” Flynn told the Bug-N-A-Rug team at an annual meeting, referring to 2018 and the beginning with FieldRoutes. "Look what you guys have done over the past six years. You created 60 jobs, which is just incredible.” 

He adds: "Being able to scale with FieldRoutes and add all of those jobs has been really impressive to me."

Efficiencies in routing and scheduling, an enhanced experience for customers, insight gleaned from reporting tools, and putting paper in the past are among the game-changers for Bug-N-A-Rug.

“We're a totally different company now than we were before FieldRoutes," Flynn says.

And they’re about to become even more different. Bug-N-A-Rug will soon open a second office in Brunswick County, the company’s fifth. 

Loyal customers and loyal employees

When Elliott Hollingsworth, Stan’s father, founded Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators in 1996, the three coastal counties in the Wilmington metropolitan statistical area were home to nearly 250,000 residents. 

By 2024, the population in those counties had nearly doubled, to 480,000.

Besides those areas, the company also operates an office to provide pest control services in two more counties to the northeast of Wilmington, extending the reach of its Race Red truck fleet and 65 red-clad technicians from Morehead City to Myrtle Beach, SC.

So perhaps it wasn't too big of a leap of faith but simply a strategic business vision for Elliott Hollingsworth. Although make no mistake: Faith was part of it. Some of Hollingsworth's first customers, still customers today, shared a pew with him at Myrtle Grove Presbyterian Church.

"We really stress making everything easy for the customer, not giving them information they didn't ask for," Flynn says. "'Hey, here's what we do. Here's how much it costs. And here's when we can be out.' 

"And that's it."

About 90% of Bug-N-A-Rug's business is residential, with quarterly general pest control as its "No. 1, bread-and-butter" service, Flynn says.

But the company also has taken advantage of a housing boom to build a termite customer base that can begin with new construction and convert to recurring clients. The housing stock in Brunswick County, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, showed the nation’s second-largest increase at 6.4% from 2023 to 2024.

The area also is a retirement destination, particularly Brunswick. The median age in the county, according to Data USA, is 56.1; the median ages in each of North Carolina’s three most populous counties are below 38.

So Bug-N-A-Rug must remain flexible in how it serves its customers, maybe more so than companies in most pest control markets. While digital solutions are elevating customer experiences in pest control and all around us, Bug-N-A-Rug pays keen attention to its segment of older customers who might prefer interior service, communication via phone, and paper statements, Flynn says. Where populations skew younger in Wilmington and elsewhere in the market, exterior service, credit cards on file, and less direct communication are more the norm.

Because of competition from smaller companies, Bug-N-A-Rug keeps prices competitive for its customers. And where a customer can’t afford, say, a $90 charge but maybe just $80 of it, Flynn says, “We're going to take care of Ms. Johnson.”

Combined with team members’ involvement in the community, Bug-N-A-Rug is closing in on a third full decade with an established foothold in this coastal corner of North Carolina.

“We have super-loyal customers and really loyal employees who really care at the end of the day, want to do their job well, and want to be proud of where they work,” says Becca Young, the systems manager.

How Bug-N-A-Rug uses FieldRoutes software

While Bug-N-A-Rug’s commitment to service excellence delivers revenue and five-star Google reviews, the company also takes advantage of its software tools to fuel success. Among the ways that Flynn and Young say FieldRoutes software is making a difference for this Top 100 company:

1. Enhanced efficiency and streamlined operations: Bug-N-A-Rug left behind a computer-based software system in 2018 when it decided to partner with FieldRoutes and its cloud platform. 

Crucial to growth aspirations, onboarding new customers and getting them scheduled for service on the same or next day is now a quick process. FieldRoutes software enables Bug-N-A-Rug to track sales and set goals and expectations for customer service representatives.

“A big game-changer,” Young says.

Bug-N-A-Rug uses map-view scheduling in FieldRoutes software, making route-building more efficient and the routes themselves more dense.

"The CSRs are using that map scheduling, making phone calls, sending emails, sending texts to make sure we have a good solid route without cancellations," Flynn says. "Branch managers, office managers, are constantly eyeballing the job pool and trying to use those numbers to figure out the new sales they need to hit goals."

And except where customers request it, the company left behind a “hundred percent paper” operation in which invoices were printed at the end of each day. 

“A breath of fresh air,” Young adds. 

2. Enhanced customer communication and experience: To go with swifter onboarding, Bug-N-A-Rug is able to use FieldRoutes tools to add appointment notes and flags to help serve customers with specific preferences or requirements.

Bug-N-A-Rug relies on email and text to handle the bulk of its contact with customers, such as reminders that service is due, and on email for sending invoices to customers. Payments are easier for customers to make through a portal and arrive more timely for Bug-N-A-Rug.

"The processing of credit cards through FieldRoutes is night-and-day compared to what we were doing before," Flynn says.

Yet the company is still able to maintain that special relationship with customers who haven’t made the leap to the full digital experience.

"We coddle our customers," Flynn says. "(Customers) don't want to talk to a call center; they want to talk to somebody that they're familiar with."

3. Reporting: Bug-N-A-Rug’s previous system didn’t enable reporting, and FieldRoutes capabilities have been important in the company’s growth since 2018 and especially in the last two years. 

Flynn and Bug-N-A-Rug have developed numerous KPIs derived from data available in FieldRoutes to gauge success in meeting the varying goals of all company offices. Among them:

• Recurring revenue: Measures toward the goal of Bug-N-A-Rug adding $100,000 per month in revenue through the business season. "The one-time stuff: We've done everything we can to try to prevent that, to try to get that recurring," Flynn says. 

• Sales vs. lost accounts: Provides a ratio of new sales to lost accounts, indicating both sales performance and retention. Flynn expects the ratio to be 2-to-1 during busy season and 1-to-1 in winter months, and Bug-N-A-Rug achieved a 1.65-to-1 in 2024.

• Month's-end accounts receivable: Measures the percentage of the previous month's services and invoices that have been paid by the first day of the following month. The company goal is to be in the 80th percentile, which he said allows for slower turnarounds involving new construction or HOAs.

• Over-60 accounts receivable: Tracks balances that are more than 60 days past due. Besides the visibility, the KPI drives competition among branches. 

• Production per employee: Measures production value generated per employee, including the Bug-N-A-Rug corporate staff. The goal is to be in the upper $130,000s, and Bug-N-A-Rug has been progressing toward that since adopting FieldRoutes and post-COVID. 

• Monthly production comparison: Compares figures year-over-year for each branch. Bug-N-A-Rug uses this KPI to structure bonuses. 

• Expired termite resales: Tracks the percentage of termite accounts or warranties that expire in a given month and are re-sold during the same month. Bug-N-A-Rug achieved 75% in 2024.

"Before we went to FieldRoutes, we would look at the P&L on the 15th of the following month to even figure out what we did the month before,” Flynn says. “So we've evolved a lot as a company since we joined FieldRoutes.”

4. Support for growth and scalability: Bug-N-A-Rug has averaged about 16% revenue growth annual since switching to FieldRoutes, Flynn says, and the company has grown from about 50 employees to more than 100.

A second office in Brunswick County will relieve pressure on Bug-N-A-Rug’s first office. 

"It'll allow us to grow faster in the southern part of the state and in coastal South Carolina," Flynn says. 

5. Employee empowerment and satisfaction: The FieldRoutes^® Mobile app is a key component for Bug-N-A-Rug technicians.

“They all like it a lot,” Flynn says.

The app enables ease of sales for technicians in addition to their ability to have access to customer information, attach photos to accounts, and keep a connection to the office team.

“And it gives more value to our customers because, instead of seeing some scribbling on a piece of paper, they're seeing something more professional with a better description of what was performed,” Flynn says.

Continuing the climb

The numbers are not only adding up, but they’re multiplying for Bug-N-A-Rug. Software tools that have helped create efficiencies and reveal results in real time are helping Bug-N-A-Rug meet a goal of 15% revenue gains annually. 

"We've sustained double-digit growth every year since we've been with FieldRoutes," Flynn says. 

And those FieldRoutes tools are helping Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators continue the climb among the nation’s top revenue-producing pest control companies.

BUG-N-A-RUG EXTERMINATORS

Locations: Soon to be five service locations. Offices in Wilmington, NC; also Cedar Point, Hampstead, and Bolivia; coming to Sunset Beach. 

Year opened: 1996.

Owner: Stan Hollingsworth. 

Staff: 65 technicians, 30 office staff, 5 sales reps.

Learn more: BugNARug.com