You probably know people who run an independent cleaning business, maybe as a side hustle or part-time gig. So if you can do it independently, why would you consider owning a cleaning franchise? As one of the largest cleaning franchises in the U.S., we often field questions on how cleaning franchises work from people who are interested in owning a Merry Maids. Here's a brief overview.
How Franchises Work
When you become a franchise owner, you are buying into a proven business model. Instead of having to figure out marketing, cash flow statements, accounting, administration, and other aspects of running a business, the franchise model typically does that work for you. You pay a fee to operate the franchise and you pay low-percentage royalties for ongoing support and training.
Role of a Franchise Owner
The franchise owner is responsible for meeting the responsibilities of the franchisee in the franchisor-franchisee relationship. These responsibilities are explained in a franchise disclosure document (FDD), a report that franchises are legally required to produce and update annually.
With Merry Maids, the ideal owner is a business-minded individual with management, sales, and customer service abilities. Experience in the home cleaning industry is helpful but not a requirement. Most of our franchisees come from corporate America, hospitality and sales as well as janitorial. If you’re looking to leverage your skills to build a business for yourself, you would be a good fit for Merry Maids.
Are Cleaning Franchises Better than Independents?
When you're starting a business, getting the word out about your services is critical. A cleaning franchise helps with that in the marketing package they provide. Merry Maids provides marketing support before opening to build your clientele and then continues that support while you're operating. Some of the ways we invest in marketing include online searches and advertising, social media, cleaning franchise reviews, and a call center. As an independent, marketing is a costly expense and often the reason why new businesses don't last in this competitive industry.
Merry Maids also provides three months of business coaching to franchisees to ensure they’re well-supported. As an independent, the onus of understanding all the details of business operations and profit development is yours to figure out.
The main difference in how cleaning franchises work versus an independent is that franchises have a proven business model, a reliable way of doing things that yields financial results.
Side Hustle or Full-Time Business
Many independent cleaning businesses are side hustles — work that someone does on the side to earn extra income. This may be in addition to working a regular job or filling in the time between other household or family commitments.
An article in Harvard Business Review surveyed people who work a side hustle and 45% said they do it to earn more money. Another 34% said they wanted variety and freedom and 14% said they did it for work security. Those are all good reasons to pursue a cleaning franchise.
The challenge with a side hustle is that it always competes with your time, and you’ll have to make decisions on what takes priority when schedules conflict. Will you sacrifice a new client because the hours don't fit your current work schedule? Will your business remain small because you don't have time to manage others to do the work for you? These things prevent a business from growing and can lead to burnout pretty quickly.
The Merry Maids Advantage
Merry Maids requires operating a full-time cleaning business. Most people have their homes cleaned during regular working hours, which allows for free evenings and weekends. We train franchisees to run the operation, not be the cleaners, so your focus is on business-building and growing your profits.
Cleaning can be a part-time gig, but to truly capitalize on the $1.2 billion residential cleaning service, you need to make a full-time commitment.
Explore a Franchise Opportunity with Merry Maids
Merry Maids is ranked No. 119 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list, which evaluates more than 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. We have a 40-year track record supporting our franchise model.
Our franchise disclosure document notes the average gross sales for all 975 franchisees was $256,865 as of October 31, 2021. The top 10% of franchisees recorded $730,790 in average gross sales. We offer an opportunity to build a business that gives you the income, flexibility, and freedom that you deserve.
Contact Merry Maids to get started on exploring your life as a franchisee today. Once the franchise agreement is signed, you could be your own boss in as little as 90 days.