Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: sunshine windows on July 13, 2016, 08:10:47 pm
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Franchisee number 4 will be on the road very soon. She's my future sister in Law (brother's wife).
I have a feeling she'll be very busy in no time at all.
Big thanks to Ian Lancaster and his franchise package
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=812579955509708&id=118770301557347
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That's cool dude! ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdiRhzTsSnk
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Cheers Smurf.
Love the tune 😂😂😂
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Franchisee number 4 will be on the road very soon. She's my future sister in Law (brother's wife).
I have a feeling she'll be very busy in no time at all.
Big thanks to Ian Lancaster and his franchise package
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=812579955509708&id=118770301557347
Thanks for the plug, Lance ;) glad everything's going well...........................this time next year, Rodney ;D
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What's this franchise package?
Do you have any employees or are they all franchised? How far apart are you all based, surely your not all in the same city?
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Check out my website James - I have 10 franchisees, six in and around Sittingbourne/Faversham and four in the Medway Towns. Always room for another one, I had one who was off sick for four months last year, I gave all his work to the other franchisees then when he was fit again I built him a new round, all new work still in the same area - Sittingbourne/Faversham
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getting family involved with business, yeah good idea,
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You're welcome Ian ;D Couldn't have done it without your help, just wish I'd done it 18 months sooner when we first spoke.
Yes James, all in Swindon. Plenty of work for everyone, as we're all still growing at a steady manageable rate.
Scrimble, not sure if you're serious or just having a laugh, but I've every confidence in it working out. She only wants steady part time work to suit her lifestyle. 2-3 days a week, 3 weeks out of the month.
As for the vans, it gets us seen 😝
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Sunshine, you've been a window cleaner for over a decade; so why did you go down the franchise route?
If I wanted to employ someone, I'd just get more work. If you don't know how to get more work after a decade of window cleaning, then something's not right.
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I decided to franchise, as i'd employed 1 person for 7 years and didn't want the hassle of growing any bigger and being a VAT registered company.
There's no shortage of work, I supply all of the leads and quote many of the jobs that come in.
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Sunshine, you've been a window cleaner for over a decade; so why did you go down the franchise route?
If I wanted to employ someone, I'd just get more work. If you don't know how to get more work after a decade of window cleaning, then something's not right.
Tosh, the point is that we provide the work. Franchising takes away all the responsibilities of employing. Lance (and many others) take the view that it's worth the lower return in exchange for not having to be constantly managing the business. Increasing income is a simple strategy of appointing more franchisees which incurs very little extra admin work. As you say, getting the work isn't difficult if you know what you're doing
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Sunshine, you've been a window cleaner for over a decade; so why did you go down the franchise route?
If I wanted to employ someone, I'd just get more work. If you don't know how to get more work after a decade of window cleaning, then something's not right.
Hi Tosh, just to clarify, Lance didn't buy a "Franchise" per say he bought Ian's "Franchise Package" which is a one off cost and explains how to build a multi van operation using a/the franchise model, i.e. Lance is the "Franchisor" not a "Franchisee". Hope that helps and apologies if I've misunderstood.
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Sunshine, you've been a window cleaner for over a decade; so why did you go down the franchise route?
If I wanted to employ someone, I'd just get more work. If you don't know how to get more work after a decade of window cleaning, then something's not right.
Good point.
I've been going 5 years and I have 4 guys and I'm not on the tools. But we do a lot of gutter cleaning which fills up the days.
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I decided to franchise, as i'd employed 1 person for 7 years and didn't want the hassle of growing any bigger and being a VAT registered company.
There's no shortage of work, I supply all of the leads and quote many of the jobs that come in.
Do you get a monthly cut of the profits?
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Of course, no point doing it otherwise. We charge 20% of turnover payable weekly
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Franchisee number 4 will be on the road very soon. She's my future sister in Law (brother's wife).
I have a feeling she'll be very busy in no time at all.
Big thanks to Ian Lancaster and his franchise package
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=812579955509708&id=118770301557347
Do you have to find yourself the customers for the new franchisee?
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I do think Tosh may have misunderstood the post?
Yes Ben, all customers come through advertising paid for by myself. Obviously we get a few walk up enquiries too, which get dealt with by the franchisees directly. I tend to just give the enquiry details to the relevant franchisee and let them get on with it, although will happily go and quote for them if they haven't the time.
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Well done, its nice to see someone doing well without trying to be the big i am, fair play being a family man too.
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I do think Tosh may have misunderstood the post?
Yes Ben, all customers come through advertising paid for by myself. Obviously we get a few walk up enquiries too, which get dealt with by the franchisees directly. I tend to just give the enquiry details to the relevant franchisee and let them get on with it, although will happily go and quote for them if they haven't the time.
if the franchisee get a new customer himself,do you get a comission on that?
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Thank you Mick, I've never really pushed the business to its limits. It's just grown organically and I had to make a decision to either make the most of it, or start turning work away. If I had the drive of certain other members on here, I'd probably be retired by now.
Yes Ben. I get 20% royalties on all customers, no matter how they are acquired. The way to look at this is, if it wasn't for me setting the franchisee up in the first place they wouldn't be gaining any new customers.
It makes me really happy knowing that at least 2 of the franchisee have at least doubled their previous annual wages, even after deducting my 20% fee. Seeing the difference in their lifestyles and what they can now afford to do gives me a great sense of achievement.
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What happens if a Franchisee gets full up with work and wants to expand? Has anyone had experience of that?
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He/she can then become a master franchisee. I've already spoken to one of mine about this. They would then get 20% off each franchisee they set up and build work for. I would would then get 20% from this meaning a 16/4% split from each of their franchisees.
I know Ian has already done this and has a master franchisee with at least 3 other franchisees under his belt
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Ah right. Thanks.
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Or they have the alternative of employing themselves, as there's nothing stopping them from doing this.
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Thank you Mick, I've never really pushed the business to its limits. It's just grown organically and I had to make a decision to either make the most of it, or start turning work away. If I had the drive of certain other members on here, I'd probably be retired by now.
Yes Ben. I get 20% royalties on all customers, no matter how they are acquired. The way to look at this is, if it wasn't for me setting the franchisee up in the first place they wouldn't be gaining any new customers.
It makes me really happy knowing that at least 2 of the franchisee have at least doubled their previous annual wages, even after deducting my 20% fee. Seeing the difference in their lifestyles and what they can now afford to do gives me a great sense of achievement.
20% sounds good, good job.
What's the initial payment to set everything up? What do you supply?
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They pay a franchise fee and supply a suitable vehicle.
I respray/signwrite the van. Install system and provide all equipment for wfp & trad cleaning. Workwear, stationery, cleaner planner advice, operations manual and 2 months of side by side training to get them up to speed before they go it alone. Ongoing help is always at hand if they need it.
As well as providing them with a good round base to get them started. Normally at least £2k monthly but my sister in law is different as she wants to work part time.
It's working very well in covering each other for holidays too, which has always been a problem being self employed.
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They pay a franchise fee and supply a suitable vehicle.
I respray/signwrite the van. Install system and provide all equipment for wfp & trad cleaning. Workwear, stationery, cleaner planner advice, operations manual and 2 months of side by side training to get them up to speed before they go it alone. Ongoing help is always at hand if they need it.
As well as providing them with a good round base to get them started. Normally at least £2k monthly but my sister in law is different as she wants to work part time.
It's working very well in covering each other for holidays too, which has always been a problem being self employed.
That's ideal!
I hope ti would be ok to get in contact for more advice in the future?
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Of course James. I'd happily have a chat to talk you through things, although Ian Lancaster is the man to deal with directly for all the documentation.
Why are you thinking along these lines if you're already employing? I should have thought the profits from employing would make it worth the head ache?
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It pretty much runs it self here. Soon, I will have someone out quoting as well, so not much for me to do.
We cover the whole of Devon, but prices go up for the customer the further we travel. It would be nice having a franchise around 50 miles away taking care of an area so it will bring the prices down.
Btw we don't clean windows all over Devon only in Exeter, but render, gutter and pressure washing we travel for.
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They pay a franchise fee and supply a suitable vehicle.
I respray/signwrite the van. Install system and provide all equipment for wfp & trad cleaning. Workwear, stationery, cleaner planner advice, operations manual and 2 months of side by side training to get them up to speed before they go it alone. Ongoing help is always at hand if they need it.
As well as providing them with a good round base to get them started. Normally at least £2k monthly but my sister in law is different as she wants to work part time.
It's working very well in covering each other for holidays too, which has always been a problem being self employed.
Which equipment do you use in your van? thanks
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Hi Ben,
First 2 systems are 400 ltr Purefreedom delivery systems. These are now 8&9 years old and have had barely any replacement parts.
The most recent 2 & the 5th will be from Stephen Scargill (Aquaeous Plastics), as he's based in Swindon it's very convenient having them fitted on the doorstep. I spoke to ionics but they couldn't get anywhere near his prices.