[carpetworx]

As many of you know, i've only been in this business for about 9 months.
I do a lot of contract work for a well known and respected carpet cleaning company,that have been around for 25 years,they are very happy with my work,i have just bought a new TM, and done letter drops,and i'm in Y/P,but finding it hard to get my own regular work right now.just arranged to get the van signwritten this week,then this morning,the company owner rang and offered me a free fanchise!
this could be a great opportunity,as they get plenty of work,and the're not cheap.so i would have the chance of making good money now,or struggle on for however long before i get established.Also spending less on advertising.What would any of you do if you were in the same boat?. Part of me does'nt really want to give up my baby,but that could just be my ego.

[Jim_77]

Free lunch eh?  No such thing :

What franchise?  Chem Dry if i recall from your posts?

What area?

How many are operating in it already?  I don't think Chem Dry licence exclusive territories to their franchisees, they stuff as many into an area as they think it can cope with, then a couple more for good measure.  Northants YP has at least 6 in it.

Don't presume that joining a franchise will automatically mean that work will rain down out of the sky at you.  Most of the national account work you do will be crap and low paid.  You'll be sent out to fix problems that can't be fixed and just end up with a petty little report fee for your troubles.

Probably the biggest benefit will be that you'll have your name on the care label of G-Plan suites, but not being exclusive to an area you only stand a 1 in X chance of being called by a customer in your YP area.  I pick up every single M&S suite owner that reads the label and gets out the YP, because I'm the only franchise operator in their area.

I also pick up a fair few G-Plan suite owners who don't read the label and go straight to the book!  Nothing's written in stone...

Do you do restoration work already?  Is the licence for restoration or just cleaning?

Fire & flood involves much larger turnover but you need manpower, storage and workshop space.  Not the most natural onward step for a 1 man band working from home (no offence intended).

[Jim_77]

P.S. Yes, insomnia, switched the PC back on :p

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I would recommend you make yourself the biggest and best internet company in your part of Australia, doing this is my area has transformed my business.

Cheers

Doug

[Ian Gourlay]

Doug

If you do not stop plugging your Web Sites you will have no time to clean Carpets

PS. your email system on Green Carpets only works if you have an outlook account

[clinton]

Sounds like your in a good position.

I also used to do sub work for a large c cleaning company but i always wanted to work for myself.

So i did the sub work for a few years and also did my own and built my client base up on the way so i had enough work to go on my own.

With your set up am sure you can give it a good go and do well mate..

[carpetworx]

Jim what planet are you on!,it's not a chemdry,it's steam cleaning,hence the new TM,any way it's not free,there are fees of course,going to see the company wed nite and get all the info.yes Clinton i do subby work for them at the moment,but soon as i said i'm getting the van written,he's made this offer.

[Jim_77]

I seemed to recall that I'd seen you mention chemdry in another post, must have it mixed up.

So what franchise is it?  Whereabouts?

Don't listen to any bull they try to sell you about expected turnover.  You need to use your meeting to find out more about the operational side and all the terms and limitations of the contract you'll be signing.  Ask for a sample copy of the franchise agreement.

The money part is irrelevant, you'll make as much as you're personally capable of making.

Obviously there's a set percentage of your turnover you'll have to pay to them, normally around 10%.  You need to know if there are any other statutory charges such as additional management fees or a contribution you have to make to marketing efforts on top of your "flat rate".

Release of contract is important too.  Do they make franchisees sign a release of contract preventing them from being involved in another competitive business for a set period after the licence agreement has ended?  The last thing you want is to sell up the licence and find you can't work as a carpet cleaner for another 12 months.

How long is the licence agreement for?  Standard is 5 years in a lot of franchises.  Can you sell the licence on at the end of your term?  If so you're on to a winner, especially if you choose to include goodwill along with the sale.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

What about the ongoing work which they may give you like insurance and chain stores?

Do you have to buy their chemicals and how much of them per month? (usually their 'special' chemicals are over priced and you may find that you have to buy a certain amount each month.

Also do you have to do projected sales forecasts for the week or month ahead? this works in their favour not yours as you have to email them in at the start of the week and are obliged to meet them.

Do you have to buy their latest machine and upgrades all of the time?

Possibility of a buy back clause if you don't like it? or if you are doing too well then they could do it to you!!

Shaun

[derek west]

i thought about franchises before i started. they told me they would get 20% of work for me and the rest i'd get myself, they said i turn over around 80 k a year, so they would in theory get me 16k of work, the fees were £3600 a year plus 30k of set up costs, (not including the van)so when i sat back and thought about it i decided that if i have to get 64k a year myself then that will do me nicely anyway, unfortunately its gonna take a while before i hit that figure but surely that would of been the same if i'd gone with a franchise. anyway this is getting to hard to explain in writing but to cut a long story short, i decided against it and i'm glad i did, work is coming in slowly but surely, referals are at 50% allready so it'll take a while but i'll get to that 64k target eventually and won't have to worry about renewal fees in 5 years time, remember most franchises are for 5 years and then reviewed. not sure if you have fees again but i'm sure they'll sting you for something. ask that question wednesday night. sorry if this doesn't make any sense, could explain it better over a few viking lagers.
derek

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Ian

There are areas of the UK and I'm sure elsewhere, where a determined CC could tie up his area while his competitors remain blissfully unaware.

My problem is having too much CC to sort out all my websites :

Cheers

Doug

[Ian Gourlay]

Hoping mine will be revamped this weekend but wife keeps coming up with other activities.

Think I better stop waisting time on here and get writing the words

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

And don't forget, franchisors want a certain number of franchisees to fail.

Then they can sell the franchise area again.

[carpetworx]

Can you stick to the subject Ian.

[garyj]

Ahhh, cut him some slack, he is old and a bit senile 

[Kev Loomes]

And don't forget, franchisors want a certain number of franchisees to fail.

Then they can sell the franchise area again.

Got it in one

[Jim_77]

What makes you think that a Franchisor WANTS a franchisee to fail?!!  The Franchisor makes a lot more profit out of a profitable franchise than one that goes under!

It consumes management time and central funds to market and sell a franchise again, plus the time that the franchise isn't running is lost revenue.

If a franchisee takes on a licence and succeeds, the franchised area is consuming an absolute minimal amount of the management resources whilst providing a significant net profit to the franchisor.

[Kev Loomes]

Ok, maybe that wasnt quite right. Lets just say that a franchisor isnt that bothered whether a franchisee fails or not. Unsuspecting franchisee's (newbies) are usually promised great deals and loads of help and support - which rarely happens. I have known many ex and current franchisee's, and even successful ones who have come to the conclusion that it all isnt worth it, pack it in and go on their own.

Franchisors are safe in the knowledge that they can re-sell, sometimes without much problem.

[Len Gribble]

Done a search in my area looks like a franchisor setup ho based in Southgate N14 some of their address look suspect. One only round the corner from me so may give them a knock 


Doug

Not that unaware but if I advertised via this method there phone would be ringing, it funny got a letter from them today dated July 08 signed Jason Smith Advertising Director now that’s the man I want to speak too if I decide.


Jim

Been there and yes my fault didn’t read the small print. Bit like Solutions UK ltd regarding AS but that time word of mouth.

Given the nod today two of the franchisors bankers won’t give loans to potential franchisees fail rate added to there losses, am now looking into it sold a pig in a poke

Len

[carpetworx]

Had the meeting last nite,decided against it,as it was too restrictive,and all in favour of other party.
Thanks for the replys.