[Carl@Cwc]

just curious really .
is this a 10 van franchised system ?
i love a success story and wondered if this is the real deal 10 van wise in a few years?
that must take a massive action plan to get that stage.
if u read this ian id love to talk with you personally

[Dani J]

just curious really .
is this a 10 van franchised system ?
i love a success story and wondered if this is the real deal 10 van wise in a few years?
that must take a massive action plan to get that stage.
if u read this ian id love to talk with you personally

just give him a call   

[Smudgeoff Cleaning Services]

just curious really .
is this a 10 van franchised system ?
i love a success story and wondered if this is the real deal 10 van wise in a few years?
that must take a massive action plan to get that stage.
if u read this ian id love to talk with you personally

just give him a call   

As above very nice and helpful chap..

[Ian Lancaster]

Thanks for the endorsement, Dani J and Smudgeoff

Carl@Cwc:  It does exactly what it says on the tin.  There's no 'massive business plan' - it's simplicity itself:  Instead of employees you appoint franchisees (you need a proper Franchise Agreement for this, included in my Jolisian package).  One at a time, build up their round till they have as much work as they can handle then appoint another one, and so on.  The sky's the limit.  I only stopped because I'm 69 this year so I reckon I've done my bit.

I took on my first one in 2006  (at nearly 62) and completed my sixth in early 2010, a few months over my projected target of one every six months, but I am getting on a bit

The other four were appointed by my Master Franchisee who replicates my business in the Medway Towns.  

There's no investment needed from you: each franchisee pays an initial fee which covers all equipment, uniform signwriting etc and he provides his own van.  Theres a few thousand profit left over from that and then he pays me 20% of his turnover on a weekly basis.

What could be simpler?

If you want to chat, I'm always happy to talk about it

Cheers,

Ian

[Carl@Cwc]

thanks Ian.
do u canvass or use canvassers or leaflets etc to grow  more work.

hats off to u mate. thats some massive growth really.

[Ian Lancaster]

I do very little canvassing these days, the 10 vans bring in enough enquiries to keep us topped up.

I used to leaflet an area, then canvass a couple of days later.  My Master Franchisee doesn't bother with leafletting, he just cold-calls.

I only once used a canvasser, when I appointed my second franchisee - the canvasser spent a few days knocking then told me our area was saturated, he couldn't get any more work from it.  I went on to complete the one he started, then canvassed a further four rounds in the 'saturated' area.

I believe you are the best person to canvass, you know what kind of customer you want and you are passionate about your business (or should be!!)

If you have the drive to expand, you have the drive to acquire your own customers.

[poleman]

Ian, my business is doing well, however the long term plan when I get older will be to go down your road and Franchise

Do you need to employ a solicitor for the franchise agreement!

[Ian Lancaster]

Ian, my business is doing well, however the long term plan when I get older will be to go down your road and Franchise

Do you need to employ a solicitor for the franchise agreement!

If you insist on having your own agreement!  I've already spent several thousand with a Franchise solicitor getting my Agreement as watertight as possible and the most up-to-date version is included in my £1,500 package so that's all you would have to spend.

[dave0123]

What happens if you want to slightly edit a some things? would this not just unwind all the water tight stuff that your solicitor has made?

[Ian Lancaster]

Only if you significantly change important bits.  It would be OK if, for instance, you wanted to make the term of the Agreement five years instead of my term of three years.  You can also change the royalty rate, mine is 20% but if you wanted you could ask for 30% or even more - doubt anyone would go for it though!

Where you would be on dodgy ground would be if you wanted to change things like post termination conditions - these are the conditions that Franchisees agree to when they first sign up which are valid after their contract finishes, for whatever reason, and include things like they can't approach any one they know to be customers of mine for a period of 1 year after termination and they can't set up their own window cleaning business within a radius of 10 miles from the base they operated their franchise from (usually their home address) within a year of termination.  These and similar conditions are what a judge would find fair and reasonable in the event that an ex franchisee broke them after termination.  Changing them could make the contract unfair and so it would be unenforceable.

Generally speaking any terms and conditions you want to include must be fair and reasonable and both parties must sign that they agree to be bound by them.

Even if you wanted to make some fundamental changes the solicitor who wrote it for me is willing to advise for his usual hourly fee - which is a h*** of a lot cheaper than having a new Agreement drawn up from scratch.

[dave0123]

thanks for explaining that ian.

i was thinking more of along the lines of the small things like franchisor supplying the water like u initially did instead of them having there own RO etc..

[Carl@Cwc]

what does a typical franchise of yours supply ian besides customer base ?    van and kit wise  etc etc
and what is a typical franchise cost from yourself ?

[Ian Lancaster]

thanks for explaining that ian.

i was thinking more of along the lines of the small things like franchisor supplying the water like u initially did instead of them having there own RO etc..

Anything like that is OK.  It's an agreement between you and the franchisee, provided you both accept all the points and there's no attempt to gain an unfair advantage there won't be a problem.

[Ian Lancaster]

what does a typical franchise of yours supply ian besides customer base ?    van and kit wise  etc etc
and what is a typical franchise cost from yourself ?

Mine is not a typical franchise.  Most franchises provide the knowhow to run the business, the advantage of a brand already well known and the right to use the franchisor's logo, business methods and the reassurance of being part of a tried and proven system, thereby reducing the chance of failure.  The franchisee then has to do his own marketing and develop his own customer base which still belongs to the franchisor!

We provide everything that any other franchise would but also guarantee as much work as the franchisee can handle - not many franchises do that!!

The new franchisee pays an initial fee (currently £8950) and from that we provide all the equipment necessary as well as uniform, van signage, subscription to 'Aworka' and full training etc - everything the new franchisee needs to go out and start earning.  The franchisee has to provide his own van but this need not be new, just clean, legal and suitable for the purpose.

[Carl@Cwc]

what does a typical franchise of yours supply ian besides customer base ?    van and kit wise  etc etc
and what is a typical franchise cost from yourself ?

Mine is not a typical franchise.  Most franchises provide the knowhow to run the business, the advantage of a brand already well known and the right to use the franchisor's logo, business methods and the reassurance of being part of a tried and proven system, thereby reducing the chance of failure.  The franchisee then has to do his own marketing and develop his own customer base which still belongs to the franchisor!

We provide everything that any other franchise would but also guarantee as much work as the franchisee can handle - not many franchises do that!!

The new franchisee pays an initial fee (currently £8950) and from that we provide all the equipment necessary as well as uniform, van signage, subscription to 'Aworka' and full training etc - everything the new franchisee needs to go out and start earning.  The franchisee has to provide his own van but this need not be new, just clean, legal and suitable for the purpose.

thanks ian.
i was unsure of the van supply part.
with your experience what monthly turnover is a new franchisee looking at accrueing. 

[bobplum]

can i ask ian,how many people use your system
bob

[Ian Lancaster]

what does a typical franchise of yours supply ian besides customer base ?    van and kit wise  etc etc
and what is a typical franchise cost from yourself ?

Mine is not a typical franchise.  Most franchises provide the knowhow to run the business, the advantage of a brand already well known and the right to use the franchisor's logo, business methods and the reassurance of being part of a tried and proven system, thereby reducing the chance of failure.  The franchisee then has to do his own marketing and develop his own customer base which still belongs to the franchisor!

We provide everything that any other franchise would but also guarantee as much work as the franchisee can handle - not many franchises do that!!

The new franchisee pays an initial fee (currently £8950) and from that we provide all the equipment necessary as well as uniform, van signage, subscription to 'Aworka' and full training etc - everything the new franchisee needs to go out and start earning.  The franchisee has to provide his own van but this need not be new, just clean, legal and suitable for the purpose.

thanks ian.
i was unsure of the van supply part.
with your experience what monthly turnover is a new franchisee looking at accrueing. 

They all have their 'comfort level'.  This varies from about £750 per week up to £1,200.  We guarantee to reach whatever is agreed as 'the target' though this is often not as high as the new franchisee originally requests!  We don't continue canvassing beyond the point where the franchisee can comfortably achieve the available workload.  We also don't guarantee the time span required to achieve their target level, we just say we will make every effort to achieve it within a reasonable time, given the current circumstances.

[Ian Lancaster]

can i ask ian,how many people use your system
bob

There are currently 10 organisations up and running and at various stages of development

[Carl@Cwc]

what does a typical franchise of yours supply ian besides customer base ?    van and kit wise  etc etc
and what is a typical franchise cost from yourself ?

Mine is not a typical franchise.  Most franchises provide the knowhow to run the business, the advantage of a brand already well known and the right to use the franchisor's logo, business methods and the reassurance of being part of a tried and proven system, thereby reducing the chance of failure.  The franchisee then has to do his own marketing and develop his own customer base which still belongs to the franchisor!

We provide everything that any other franchise would but also guarantee as much work as the franchisee can handle - not many franchises do that!!

The new franchisee pays an initial fee (currently £8950) and from that we provide all the equipment necessary as well as uniform, van signage, subscription to 'Aworka' and full training etc - everything the new franchisee needs to go out and start earning.  The franchisee has to provide his own van but this need not be new, just clean, legal and suitable for the purpose.

thanks ian.
i was unsure of the van supply part.
with your experience what monthly turnover is a new franchisee looking at accrueing. 

They all have their 'comfort level'.  This varies from about £750 per week up to £1,200.  We guarantee to reach whatever is agreed as 'the target' though this is often not as high as the new franchisee originally requests!  We don't continue canvassing beyond the point where the franchisee can comfortably achieve the available workload.  We also don't guarantee the time span required to achieve their target level, we just say we will make every effort to achieve it within a reasonable time, given the current circumstances.

THANKS IAN.
is that £750-£1200 per week  that they earn after your cut or gross turnover.
sorry for all the questions but i love learning

[Dani J]

Thanks for the endorsement, Dani J and Smudgeoff

Carl@Cwc:  It does exactly what it says on the tin.  There's no 'massive business plan' - it's simplicity itself:  Instead of employees you appoint franchisees (you need a proper Franchise Agreement for this, included in my Jolisian package).  One at a time, build up their round till they have as much work as they can handle then appoint another one, and so on.  The sky's the limit.  I only stopped because I'm 69 this year so I reckon I've done my bit.

I took on my first one in 2006  (at nearly 62) and completed my sixth in early 2010, a few months over my projected target of one every six months, but I am getting on a bit

The other four were appointed by my Master Franchisee who replicates my business in the Medway Towns.  

There's no investment needed from you: each franchisee pays an initial fee which covers all equipment, uniform signwriting etc and he provides his own van.  Theres a few thousand profit left over from that and then he pays me 20% of his turnover on a weekly basis.

What could be simpler?

If you want to chat, I'm always happy to talk about it

Cheers,

Ian

You know every now and then, we get lucky and some great people like Ian Lancaster and Alex Gardiner come to our industry and we should learn from these giants how to run a successful business.
Any one who say I am to old to do anything in life should site down and take note from Ian who started to expand his business at the age of 62.

THAT’S WHAT I CALL DETERMINATION.

I take my hat of to you.