The Maids Franchise -Business Opportunity for 2010

Don’t have the time or energy after a hard days work to clean your entire house but aren’t sure someone else will do a good enough job for you. If so then The Maids, with their ‘22-step Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System’ , may be the right way to go. And if your interested in owning a residential cleaning franchise then The Maids Home Service franchise is worth looking into.

Already an entrepreneurial success at the age of 21 with his janitorial company ‘Bishop Building Services’, Daniel Bishop created ‘The Maids’ in 1979 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Maids was so successful he was able to start franchising right away in 1980. What made it so successful? Well, the fact that he already had extensive cleaning experience and that he had researched cleaning processes. The research lead him to believe that the best way to clean was through team cleaning (teams of 4 people instead of 1 or 2) and helped him come up with his ‘22-step Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System’ (which is a fancy way of saying we clean 22 places. Sink, range top, vacuum stairs, under bed, etc.) Even though the 22-step cleaning process isn’t a new technology or very original, the cleaning process is very detailed and more complete than most other services out there and concentrates on four main tasks; dusting, bathroom cleaning, kitchen cleaning and vacuuming. The Maids specialty claim is their extreme attention to detail and being thorough every time.

FACTS AND FIGURES

The Maids franchise has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine as the #1 residential cleaning franchise 2007-2009 and rated the fastest growing four years running. The company is still only located in the U.S. and Canada but has 1,027 franchises currently running.

The Maids as a franchisor wants the franchisee to work ‘on’ the business and not ‘in’ the business. This means the extensive 8 week training, mostly at the franchise location but some in Omaha, NE, will be focused more on how to run your crews and teach them the cleaning practices and other functions of the franchise rather than on teaching you to clean. The franchise will require about 2 full-time employees and 6 part-time. Each team of four will have a leader that is trained to direct the crew and double check to make sure all the work was done up to The Maids franchise standards. While passive ownership is allowed, which means the franchisee doesn’t need to be involved directly with the daily activities, it is discouraged.

The average total investment is $225,000 with an initial cash investment of between $100,000-$150,000. The Maids Franchisor expects you to have a net worth of at least $350,000. An initial franchise fee of over $10,000 is included in the total with an ongoing royalty of up to 6.9% plus 2% for advertising.

The Maids requires a building site that differs from most franchises. While the average franchise requires a free-standing building, The Maids requires a warehouse or light industrial site with about 1,000-1,200 square feet for the storage of equipment and vehicles. A corporate staff of about 35 will help with many of the necessary tasks needed to run the franchise. Tasks like advertising and marketing materials, data processing, equipment purchasing, training, inventory and an 800 help line are handled by the corporate staff.

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