[Tadgh O Shea]

Begrudges oh dear lol

Say it out loud to yourself, Ian i don't begrudge all the success you've built up over the years and i wish i could've done it myself, but fair play to you after all the obstacles you had to breakthrough you deserve it

[NWH]

Lol I think I've just ped my pants,one born every minute.

[Tadgh O Shea]

Lol I think I've just ped my pants,one born every minute.

No your just not saying it loud enough to yourself keep trying and it will eventually get through to you.

[Walter Mitty]

I have thoroughly enjoyed every post on this thread, including my own

Regardless of all the misinformed, self opinionated outpourings decrying franchising and purporting to prove why it can never work or be successful can I just add a simple comment from the point of view of someone who actually has experience (a) as a franchisee and (b) as a franchisor?  (For three years in the late 90's I was a franchisee of a company called FiltaFry who serviced deep fryers in catering establishments)

Franchising works

That is a fact.  Denying it is akin  to telling the Wright Brothers "It'll never get off the ground"

Mick Kent may have been talking tongue in cheek when he said: in 10 years i could have 30 franchisee's cleaning 120k a month with 30k in royalties to me a month.  It is perfectly possible.  The only reason I haven't progressed nearer this goal is that I started this when I was 62 with the intention of retiring when I reached 65.

I appointed franchisee no. 1 in September 2006, over the following three years I appointed a new franchisee every six months so that when I reached retirement in late 2009 I had 6 franchisees and an income of £50,000 plus per year in royalties and my State and private pension.

I did it all myself with the help of my wife.  I canvassed the work, trained the franchisees, did everything necessary to ensure I had a solid successful business.

If I had continued then in 9 years I would have had 18 franchisees and an income of  £150,000 per year.  Had I started this when I was a young man I would quite literally be a millionaire.

My wife then had the idea that I should condense all my experience into a business package and market it.  This also was successful - I have sold 25+ of my packages at £1,500 each.  Several of my customers have commented on this thread, including probably the most high profile one: Vin Kennedy.

I owe a debt of gratitude  to NWH whose increasingly desperate attempts to convince you all that franchising is a waste of time have had the opposite effect:  I have had four new enquiries about my system from people who could see that if he is so illogically intent on 'proving' how useless it is, there must actually be something in it.

Keep up the good work

For anyone who would like to hear the opinions of someone who actually has experience of franchising, and has succeeded in it, rather than the endless negative content of some of the posts on this thread, just click on the link at the bottom of my posts:  www.jolisian...........

Nicely written Ian.  The bit that appeals to me most of all is the part that you haven't written.  You have the personality for this sort of thing.  None of the Billy Bignuts stuff, but just quietly getting on with it with dedication and an appropriate level of humility.  And in case anyone's wondering, yes we have met a couple of times.  I may not be a natural businessman but I can usually figure people out when I meet them.

[Dave Willis]

I'm a begrudger - who wouldn't be?
Ian earns a cracking wage without needing to get off of the sofa!
Brilliant, fair play to you Ian.

......... and if you can get it to work then the package is very good value too for anyone going down the same route.

[8weekly]

The thing in the end that put me off is that you need a massive amount of customers to be able to stop being "on the tools". Not that I want to stop totally, but it seems too far in the distance. It struck me as a better plan to initially employ and then franchise bits off as it seems appropriate.

[Walter Mitty]

The thing in the end that put me off is that you need a massive amount of customers to be able to stop being "on the tools". Not that I want to stop totally, but it seems too far in the distance. It struck me as a better plan to initially employ and then franchise bits off as it seems appropriate.

I've not thought this through particularly,  so apologies if I'm way off here.
Could the way you've described above lead to a conflict of interest - like being in competition with your franchisee(s)?  I suppose it could be overcome with goodwill on both sides and/or by starting the franchisees in areas that your own business doesn't normally cover.  Maybe I'm talking rubbish (nothing new there then!) but those are my first thoughts.

[SeanK]

I'm a begrudger - who wouldn't be?
Ian earns a cracking wage without needing to get off of the sofa!
Brilliant, fair play to you Ian.

......... and if you can get it to work then the package is very good value too for anyone going down the same route.

+1  When you first look at it seems completely stacked in  the franchisers favour but dig a little deeper and it definitely has
its plus points, a ready built well paying round where any messers will be dealt with and replaced instantly, ok it might not be
suitable for anybody looking to build an empire but if your looking for a stress free as possible round then why not.

[Perfect Windows]

The thing in the end that put me off is that you need a massive amount of customers to be able to stop being "on the tools". Not that I want to stop totally, but it seems too far in the distance. It struck me as a better plan to initially employ and then franchise bits off as it seems appropriate.

I've not thought this through particularly,  so apologies if I'm way off here.
Could the way you've described above lead to a conflict of interest - like being in competition with your franchisee(s)?  I suppose it could be overcome with goodwill on both sides and/or by starting the franchisees in areas that your own business doesn't normally cover.  Maybe I'm talking rubbish (nothing new there then!) but those are my first thoughts.

Yes, there will be conflicts of interests for most franchisors, if only because most people will still be cleaning when they kick off franchising.  So, if a new job comes in to us and I know it's a nice Bovis home in an easy to park street, do I give it to a franchisee and get 20% or do it myself and keep 100%?

My rule is that I'll take it if it's a house I can clean without a move from one of my existing customers.

There has to be total trust between franchisor and franchisee.  It's why I have this above my desk so I see it several times every day:

[NWH]

This all depends on areas and type of work you lot do,you could get your 800 a month if 1 of your blokes does his for example 4 grand. What about if you can go out and do a few jobs and earn the same,quiet a bit of hassle if earning 800 is easy for you to do. It's ok saying I'll replace a 10-20 quid house but what about if get a call saying sorry I no longer want your service anymore I'm not having him do my Windows he's clueless there's a 200+ job down the toilet

[Perfect Windows]

This all depends on areas and type of work you lot do,you could get your 800 a month if 1 of your blokes does his for example 4 grand. What about if you can go out and do a few jobs and earn the same,quiet a bit of hassle if earning 800 is easy for you to do. It's ok saying I'll replace a 10-20 quid house but what about if get a call saying sorry I no longer want your service anymore I'm not having him do my Windows he's clueless there's a 200+ job down the toilet

You have to keep your eyes on what's going on.  Every cleaner (I don't care who they are) gets the odd complaint.  If I was regularly dealing with problems it would point to a lack of training or a change in attitude.  Either one needs to be addressed immediately.  Franchising isn't a way of making money for doing absolutely nothing (what is?).

If push comes to shove, the franchise agreement has clauses that allow the franchisor to part company with the franchisee if performance drops too low (measurable numbers, losing X customers in Y weeks).  However, I want the franchise agreements to gather dust in a drawer; I consider that I'd be failing in my duties if I ever needed to get it out and use it.

Your comment about going out and doing £800 of work rather than having a franchisee doing £4,000 works as long as you're not full.  The only ways to get past that  point are to employ (your choice) or franchise (my choice).

Vin

[NWH]

It's more viable for some to employ get them to know your customers so eventually they can service your work for a wage,if you have the right work 1 person out working on there own could bring you the same revenue as 4-5 franchisees in turnover-profit after you've paid them. Now some knockers will say this is not achievable or impossible but again this all depends on your work,to go off the tools in some cases may only take as little as a year if the right person is working for you and the work you have is very good paying.

[Dave Willis]

Nigel, you don't seriously consider cleaning windows to be a difficult, skilled job surely?
Have you ever had a 'proper' job in the past or have you always been unskilled?

[NWH]

No I used to be a field service engineer for 5 years servicing IBM Compact and NEC computers in inner London working from a base in reading,I see what your saying Vin about being full you need to think of something to spread your wings but I'm saying for some of us employing is easier as the amount you get for individual jobs is far far higher than that of other cleaners. You can see from my point of view if I'm doing a single job on its own and I'm getting it done with less energy used and quicker than another cleaner doing 5 houses losing that kind of work worries me,to send out someone I know will lose it for me in a heartbeat concerns me at the end of the day if hey have in there head no matter he will get me another job,more to this franchising than we think.

[Perfect Windows]

It's more viable for some to employ get them to know your customers so eventually they can service your work for a wage,if you have the right work 1 person out working on there own could bring you the same revenue as 4-5 franchisees in turnover-profit after you've paid them. Now some knockers will say this is not achievable or impossible but again this all depends on your work,to go off the tools in some cases may only take as little as a year if the right person is working for you and the work you have is very good paying.

I don't think anyone on here is saying that employing doesn't work.  However, I must point out that your earlier posts on this thread were about the failures you've had as employees, people who you took home on their first day (IIRC) and people who take years to find their way around the round.  For that hassle you get a greater share of the money.

The kind of person who wants the halfway house of being a franchisee are, in general, going to be of a higher calibre, more motivated and be more capable of doing the job well.  For the lack of hassle you get a smaller share of the money.

Vin

[NWH]

It would take ages to learn my work some areas I go to are back and beyond some times you have to get to them from another town village ie another way in to that particular work,some occasions certain jobs are not done that month so it means going via another route,someone not knowing my area would struggle and they certainly wouldn't learn it in a few months enough to be up to speed.

[Dave Willis]

A franchisee will always be more motivated than an employee - he's got more to lose.

[ChumBucket]

Who has the highest number of franchisees?

[NWH]

How many do you need you mean to make it viable,I reckon you would need at least 10-15 to be totally dedicated to getting work and be off the tools and build from there but like pyramid selling.

[Perfect Windows]

How many do you need you mean to make it viable,I reckon you would need at least 10-15 to be totally dedicated to getting work and be off the tools and build from there but like pyramid selling.

5 would be earning you as much as you could earn on the glass yourself, so I'd say that's perfectly viable.

My target by retirement (13 years away) is 44 franchisees.

Vin