A little history of how we got here...
About 10 years ago, I started a cleaning business after being downsized by a fortune 500 company that I worked for for 9 years. A year later by the next employer, I was forced out by an impending buyout in which I had a 6 month notice to find something else. I made the decision that I was tired of making someone else rich and began looking for something more stable. Then, I set off to find a business I could start off part time while I was still working
with the plan it could turn into full time. A business that was flexible, adaptable, and family-oriented was what I wanted. Also, a business where you only have to close on the sale once and as long as I serviced it properly, I would have that check coming in every month. A business that is always in high demand.
If you look around, in every town and city there is cleaning that needs to be done.
So I decided on the commercial cleaning business but I knew nothing about the business. Because of that, I looked for a franchise that could get me training and accounts. All I had to do was focus on cleaning and let them take care of the rest. It all seemed good until later when I looked back on how much it cost and what I was really receiving for my investment. The cleaning franchises are really expensive. The ads don't make it look that way when
they say $500 down and they finance the rest, what it really includes is a $1,000 month account that will cost around $6,000 which does not include interest over 24 month period. Plus you give back 15% of that monthly amount as franchise fees in addition to the payment that equals about a total of about 35% of your monthly amount. After I became the third top franchisee, I was giving up $4,500 a month in franchise fees plus anything I financed (you pay three times the monthly billing for future business). I didn't receive much in support in return and also there is not a lot of loyalty if you don't keep buying. If I were having some trouble with an account, rather than trying to work it out, they would pull me out of the account and SELL the account to another franchisee. That is really the type of business they are in, to sell "packages", not so much to service the accounts in the cleaning business.
I had enough! After three years of being with a franchise, I made the decision to start my own commercial cleaning business with my partner, Nick Bobich, who worked as an employee of the "master franchise" to the tune of 80 hours a week.
Nick Bobich was in the cleaning business for 15 years before we went into business together. He believes in this as much as I do because he has seen how he can determine his own income and make it work with his family. He enjoys the flexible hours and interaction with the customers.
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