Some people prefer a turnkey solution, others dont, there are many ways to enter the world of business, including the cleaning business.
At the end of the day, you always get what you pay for, for you to invest £20k , then ask the forum if this is a good idea, rings alarm bells for me, investing that amount of money, without any sort of background checks, is in my opinion foolish. You should have already checked out the franchise company in minute detail, financially, marketing, training etc. From your post, i dont believe this to be the case, you should have taken advice from your bank, accountant and the other franchise holders, and not just the names the company give you either.
The other advice on here, that all you need to do is buy a hoover, mop bucket etc and away you go, again is the wrong way to enter the industry, at least 80% of all self employed or so called companies within this industry start out this way, now dont get me wrong, some advice given on this forum is good, but most is tosh, the blind leading the blind as it were.
You can find this type of advice by the bucket load on this forum and others, most of it, i will concede, given with only the best of intentions, now please dont get me wrong, i am not a millionaire, nor am i an expert in all areas of cleaning or Health & Safety, employment law, but if i dont know, i entrust experts instead.
What I am certain of, is that we offer our clients a top notch service at a price that is both fair and reasonable, tailored to their exact requirements.
So my final advice would be to check out your franchisor, utilising the expertise of others, and dont rush in to any deal, keep reading the forum and asking questions, and only when your satisfied that you are making the right decision go ahead and decide if this is something you want to persue, the best of luck.
Regards,
Rob