How to Create a Cleaning Franchise

The Ask a House Cleaner Show and Podcast with Angela Brown

Ever wonder how to create a cleaning franchise? If you want to create a cleaning franchise to achieve financial freedom, you need to know how to clean. You'll also need franchise training to learn how to market your cleaning business.

Ever wonder how to create a cleaning franchise? If you want to create a cleaning franchise to achieve financial freedom, you need to know how to clean. You’ll also need franchise training to learn how to market your cleaning business.

Listen: 9 Secrets to Create a Cleaning Franchise

Watch:9 Secrets to Create a Cleaning Franchise

Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.

How Do I Create My Own Cleaning Franchise?

Today, a house cleaner has a great question, “How do I franchise the business that I’ve created?” Forget everything that we’ve talked about in the past which is about being a solo entrepreneur and getting your business up off the ground.

This is a whole different ballgame. This is at a corporate level, huge expansion.

Franchising Starts from the Beginning

From the start, if you’re thinking about franchising, you want to have systemized everything. Because as you sell your franchise, you’re selling the total package.

You can’t sell something you don’t have. This is one of the reasons that we go back to the basics in the beginning; so you’ll have something to sell later on.

The First Thing You Need is a Business Plan

In the beginning, we say just get started and then you can figure out the business plan as you go. It’s different when you are franchising.

You cannot start a franchise unless you have a business plan. You need to know how the business started for the new owner. You also need to know how to go all the way through to the point where they have a successful business. You have to have a business plan.

Make Your Franchise Legal

Second, you need all your legal docs in a row. You can no longer be Jones Cleaning, doing business as Sunshine Cleaning, or whatever. You need to have all your legal documents together. You’ve got to be an LLC or a corporation.

So, you need to protect all your assets and you need to know what your assets are. As you’re figuring that out, you’re going to want to also lock all your financials in place. You can’t turn around and sell something to someone without them going over all your books. They will need to make sure that what you’re promising them and selling them is a profitable business.

So, you need to have a profitable business, first, before you can turn around and franchise that. You can’t expand on something you don’t have. So, you’ve got to have your financials in place. You’ve got to have your legal stuff in place.

Create Your Franchise’s Brand

The next thing that you need to have in place is all your branding. Because what the franchisees, the people that are buying from you, is your brand.

So, you’ve got to have an amazing logo, and you have to get it trademarked. Also, you have to register it.

You’ll also need business cards and business packets. If you’re doing wrapped cards, you need those. If you have a website, all your social media and everything for the franchisees need to be in place.

You also have to have brand colors and a brand font. And we’ve talked in other courses about having a press kit. Your press kit will have all that information in it. But what you’re selling is the total package. It’s the look, the feel, the brand, the name, it’s the reputation of your company.

Know How to Run Your Franchise Successfully

So, you have to have all your systems in place. You need to know how you will hire people, train those people, and fire those people. And you need a system in place where you write up employees if you have challenges or problems with them.

You have to figure out how to troubleshoot client problems.

One of the systems you need in place includes training systems to train the buyers.

You have to train the new franchise owners so they can turn around and train the people they hire. So, you need a train the trainer’s program.

Support Your Franchisees

The next thing that you need is the ability to support your people that buy the franchises from you. For that, you have to use some kind of a training and support system, and that’s an ongoing thing.

When you buy a franchise, there’s somebody that is your mentor. They help you get your business off the ground.

So, as the franchisee or the guy selling the franchise, you’ve got to have some kind of support system in place. That way, when they call and they’re like, “Hey, something weird happened.” You’re the guy they’re going to go to or the girl they’re going to go to. And so, you have to have all those answers already worked out.

If you’re just starting and you’re not quite there, don’t even think about franchising. Think about getting your own business off the ground. Put all your docs in a row. Build the foundation, and create something you can sell to someone else.

Pick Your Products

Next, you have to figure out what products you are going to use. You can’t just use any random products you want. You have to have a cleaning system in place.

You must also have a cleaning series of products that you recommend. That way, your employees are doing it all exactly the same way.

If you go to one McDonald’s, and their burger isn’t the same as at another McDonald’s, that’s confusing. You go there and you say, “Hey, I want a Big Mac.” And they say, “No, we don’t sell those here. We only sell something else.” That would confuse you because Big Macs are part of their brand and you expect that when you go to McDonald’s.

People come to your brand because there’s something specific that you offer. So, you must have your unique selling proposition in place. What is it that makes you different from everyone else? You have to know that code. Then, you have to sell that, package it and sell it to someone else. At that point, they can sell it to their employees and their customers.

Research the Competition

Now, there is research and development that you have to do so you can build a franchise. You need to know who all your competition is. So, what territory are you going to be in? What areas are you going to market? Who is already there? Which other franchises are there? And who are the independents in that area? And what is the going rate in those areas?

Because if you sell a franchise 200 miles away, the market might be different. So, you still have to know what the going rate is in that area. You also have to be able to compete on price, value, and services you provide against the others that are there.

If you are a solo house cleaner right now, and you cannot compete on price. You’re getting frustrated thinking, “All these people are undercutting me.” You’ve got to overcome that as a franchise. Because that’s going to be a daily thing that you have to deal with. We’ve got to be able to compete in all these different areas. So, you have to do your homework.

Know Your Business Inside and Out

If you’re thinking about starting a franchise, you have to know that this is what you want to do. It’s going to take a lot of money for you to get it up and running, packaged, and then out to the market. Then, the market can buy it from you.

And this is not something you’re going to do just out of your back pocket as you go. You’re not going to pay as you go, you need to have your financials in place.

Do Not Reinvent the Wheel

There’s no sense for you to go out there and spend years learning how to create a franchise. There are companies that do that. There are links in the Resources section. So, you have a business idea, and they can take that and help you franchise it. That is not cheap, but I recommend that you not skimp on this one.

Bring in the Experts on Creating a Franchise

There are a lot of coaches and a lot of consultants out there. And there are people that are specialists who specialize in a specific area. There are franchise specialists. These specialists can help you make the most of this huge opportunity.

So, if you’re going to do this and you’re going to do it big, time is of the essence. You don’t want to wait 15 years to figure it out by trial and error. Just go to the people that do this for a living and say, “Hey, can you help me?”

They have the training, marketing, and packaging systems in place. They can help you package your idea and help you learn how to present the idea to a possible buyer. Then, they have support systems that will help you. So, you can support the people that buy the franchises from you.

Don’t Go at This Alone

It’s a huge undertaking, and it’s not something that you want to do just, “Oh, hey, I think that this is a good idea.” You need to know this is the route that you want to take because it’s a huge commitment. It’s the difference between renting a house and buying a house.

When you buy a house there are a whole lot of other things that you don’t have to deal with when you rent a house. When you rent a house you call the landlord when something malfunctions. When you buy the house, you are the landlord.

You make all the calls to the repairman, leaky roof guy, plumber, landscaper. Then there’s pest control and window washing, and a whole bunch of other responsibilities. You’re not just the guy that calls the landlord for help.

Learn How to Sell, Sell and Sell Some More

So, if you are the person selling the franchise, there’s are a lot of things to consider. Aside from all the franchise stuff, I recommend that you take several selling courses. You will be selling your idea for the rest of your life.

This is an idea that you’re selling. You’re selling a brand, an intangible product. To sell that, you need to be great at sales. Also, I would suggest that you take a marketing course.

Educate Yourself for Success in Franchising

If you haven’t already, I would also recommend that you take a business course. There are so many facets required every day as you are dealing with other business owners. It’s different from you talking to Mrs. Jones in her living room about cleaning her house. The two of you have no red tape. So, the two of you can make a buying decision immediately.

When you get into the franchise world, there are more legal aspects. It’s your business dealing with another business and all the legal stuff. It’s not as easy as just being a solo operator and doing your own thing. So make sure this is what you really want to do and it is food for thought. It’s something to think about as you build and grow your business.

All righty, so if you found this helpful, please pass it on to a friend. And until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.

Resources

The Franchise Maker – http://bit.ly/FranchiseMaker

Packaging Franchise Opportunity Guide – http://bit.ly/FranchiseOpportunityGuide

Big Fish Franchising – http://bit.ly/FanchisePackaging

Franchise Sample Agreements – http://bit.ly/FranchiseAgreements

Franchise Your Business: The Guide to Employing the Greatest Growth Strategy Ever – https://amzn.to/2Lt8sIZ

Franchise Bible: How to Buy a Franchise or Franchise Your Own Business – https://amzn.to/2HaG1vm

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