[DP]

Yup I tend to agree with the low numbers, however lets not get too carried away with this 50K salesman thing and I think it was + 6% commission as an example.

Although I have come across them, I don’t know many small to medium companies who would singularly pay that kind of money for an employed salesman and especially not an additional 6% commission on all sales.

Maybe after the first £3-500k but not a wage and commission as well from ground zero, but maybe my interpretation of this is wrong and I will concede if it is.

But on an expenditure of £50k plus at 20% gpm you would be looking at approx £250- £300k increase in turnover P/A just to break even, so there would be little benefit unless you are aiming for increases way above that which would be compounded if commissions were to be paid below these numbers.

However there are far more economical and common salesmen type packages out there and variants like telesales, and before we get into the "Good sales personnel" argument, there seems to be a great number of companies out there managing just fine on considerably less outlay than £50k plus for any one sales individual.

Divided amongst a number of companies, maybe!

So I really don’t think the figure is a real demonstration or comparison for anything at this level, unless of course the example was  aimed at the higher turnover businesses?

DP

[alexander young]

hi i have noticed all the comments about jani king relate to 2004.
any one any fresh advice as i am thinking about joining the team of JANI MILLIONAIRS as they say. any advice good or bad please

[alexander young]

THey seem to have a few adds in the franchise mags about how fast they achieve sales targets. what persentage of franchisees are on target and how many fail and dont meet target? anyone know where i can find out?

[CMS]

Can't see how I missed this post.......................

Please, please, please don't go down the Franchise route.

I used to be a Director of one of these companies and believe me we didn't care what crap we sold to you, the Contractor/Franchisee.

I got out because I wanted to actually provide a service, not just rip off peoples life savings.

[alexander young]

thanks cms but are they all the same ?
does anyone have any experience of jani king?
I have looked at a few franchises, none seem to have a turnover as impressive as jk and a fast track system to get you there or is it just to good to be true.

[CMS]

I have a lot of experience of Jani King. Please don't go down that route either.

I wish I could say more but I can't............

Please don't look at Franchising.

[martin19842]

hi there,

cleaning franchise companies have a different reputatin in the franchise amrtket to other industries such as sandwiches, burgers, drain companies as an example.

cleanig franchise ( or supposed franchises) trade on a very low tech basis.

they have the ability to obtain a cleaning contract from Client Ltd.  they then assign the burden of that contract to Cleaner Ltd. 

the assigning of the contract earns the selling companyh an amount of money, in some form or other, whether that be in a "finders fee" or "management fee" however they want to dress it up.

the franchise company then collects their money , and pays the rest to the sevice provider (namely the cleaner)

what then happesns id the END CUSTOMER at some point in the future will decide to terminate that cleaning requirement.

and the only people that loose out are THE CLEANERS.

where as how many burger, or drain cleaning companies do you see closing down, not many.

yes it is very easy to look at these franchises and see them as an EASIER route to market, an easier way to generate sales, and therefore cashflow.

maybe in the short term cheaper than doing the selling yourself or employing someone to do the selling for you.

A lot of companies on this forum, do not need hundreds of customers, they need a number of clients, that you can look after and build that reltioanship with over a period of time, so that you protect your client base.

yes getting customers takes time, effort and money, 

why are you working for yourself?  CAUSE YOU DONT WANT TO WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSES BENEFIT.  sadly in the clenaing industry the franchise route SOMETIMES does that

Yes there are some very good franchise companies in the market place today, rainbow, chemdry-- these are organisation that in a totally different league to the procare, global, dublecheck, and jani king of the world.

regards

martin

[Happyeater]

Oh I hope he didn't do it? 

Any news on what happened with Alexander?

[kench.philip]

This seems to be a good forum.
Q Does anyone know about NIC Contract Cleaning ?

[ronnie paton]

i see that most people have had bad experiences with franchises.

I am currently looking at buying into a franchise eco clean any one had any experience with them???
The guy who owns it has had it for three years and it all seems decent enough.

[maid4u]

Does the advice of steer clear from franchising apply to Domestic Cleaning as well?
Companies such as My Home and Time For You and Belle Casa boast about large incomes.

[Bertie Boo]

Does the advice of steer clear from franchising apply to Domestic Cleaning as well?
Companies such as My Home and Time For You and Belle Casa boast about large incomes.

At least two of the above mentioned franchises are cleaning 'Agencies', so in effect the fact that the staff do cleaning is neither really here nor there as the franchise owners are looking at a way of making a quick buck, they probably know feck all about cleaning...Apparently with domestic cleaning the problem is usually attracting enough people to work for you.

Of course in some areas there is no shortage of people who are willing to become self-employed and work for the minimum wage (or thereabouts), this is how time-4-you do it, their staff are all self-employed and the client pays the agency fee directly to the franchisee, and the hourly rate to the cleaner, but quite why anyone would want to be self-employed just so they could earn less than £6 an hour (plus travelling costs) beggers belief, not when the likes of Tesco and Asda are always looking for staff. I'd rather be an employee for that money, its too much hassle to be self-employed at times...

I also know that a lot of people who use cleaning agencies also end up 'poaching' a cleaner if they liked them enough. I am rapidly coming the conclusion that the only way of making money in cleaning is to do commercial cleaning. Domestically i think that you stand a chance if you are a small local company or if you work alone, but i'm not sure how some of the franchises get on...I work for a number of ex-Molly Maid clients who said that -for the price they were paying- they didnt feel they got a very good service in return. But then again, reading the MM website, the whole franchise thing is aimed at 'well to do' people who want to run a business, the fact that it involves cleaning has nothing to with it at all, which, in a way, i think takes the pi#s out of an industry that is already trying to make people aware of how important it really is.

stephen

[maid4u]

Stephen
Thanks, I can see the attraction of the Agency route because you have no employees. Do you think that cleaners would be attracted by the cash in hand approach where the clent pays them direct after each clean? The figures seem to add up on the franchisors websites i.e. 100 clients on minimum clean of 2 hours per week paying agency fee of £2.95 per hour etc BUT I don't believe anything I read when franchises are concerned. I was wondering whether it would be easy to set up the agency system yourself as it's not rocket science and would save the £10,000 franchise fee.

Mark

[Bertie Boo]

Hey Mark

For me i would never have the money (nor would i want to if i did) to buiy a cleaning franchise. The principle of a cleaning 'agency' is simple, yes, no doubt about that, but the fact remains that who on earth is going to want to be self-employed for about £6 an hour? Like i said, part-time jobs paying this sort of money are plentiful. I work alone, i work for my salary and not a profit, i enjoy my job as i like cleaning...i have a very loyal bank of clients who seem to take it as seriously as i do. A lot of them have had agency staff and private cleaners, all earning about £6 an hour (private cleaners earning more) and it seems to be the case that they just dont take it seriously, and, quite honestly, i can't blame them.

Cleaning is really hard work and i only do it as well as i do because i like it and because i feel i am being paid well to do it. I take all my own equipment and supplies and this helps me to do a better and quicker job (and charge more for it).

The theory behind the agency cleaning franchises is perfect on paper BUT in the real world you have to factor in the apathy/non commitment of the staff and the fact that some clients wont 'take' to some staff. Letting someone into your home to poke about when you're not there is a huge commitment and people need to get to know and like their cleaner...

Cheers

Stephen

[kench.philip]

Can't see how I missed this post.......................

Please, please, please don't go down the Franchise route.

I used to be a Director of one of these companies and believe me we didn't care what crap we sold to you, the Contractor/Franchisee.

I got out because I wanted to actually provide a service, not just rip off peoples life savings.

CMS,
i was also looking into cleaning franchises and you seem to be correct, most if not all are into selling franchises and making their cash from constant enter/drop out of low investment franchisees.
Chris, the admin of SCSF forum suggested i find a cleaning job first before i look at trying to investigate how to set up a business.

Any helpfull hints for me ??

regards,

philip k.