Gabor Ivan and Hayley Ward joined Dublcheck already possessing a good working knowledge of franchising, having previously owned a pizza franchise. After selling the business, the couple decided to look for a new franchising opportunity. Initially the couple looked at coffee shop opportunities but, after conducting research for alternative business ventures at a franchise exhibition and online, were inspired by professional commercial cleaning company Dublcheck. The company's promise of a guaranteed turnover in a recession proof industry instantly appealed and shortly after hearing the positive experiences of existing Dublcheck franchisees, Gabor and Hayley joined the network.

Since the launch of their Cardiff-based franchise in February they have received a lot of interest from customers in their territory, generated through Dublcheck head office's marketing programmes. In fact, in under two months Gabor and Hayley have already secured £30,000 worth of contracts and they are confident of achieving their guaranteed turnover level of £62,500 within the next few months as new contracts continue to come through.

"Our decision to buy into the business at an annual turnover level of £62,500 was based on Dublcheck's sound advice," explains Gabor. "The company suggested we invest a small sum to start off with to see if we liked the industry and could cope with the transition from the food sector to the cleaning industry. Obviously the larger your investment the more business you are guaranteed by Dublcheck. By investing a small amount we have been able to take things at our own pace and once we are ready to take the plunge we know we can invest more money and obtain a higher guaranteed turnover.

"At the moment we are establishing the business with Dublcheck finding the contracts for us, but our aim is to build it up and eventually take control of the sales and marketing side completely, perhaps with the aid of telesales. We have considered investing in a higher turnover level in the future and hope in two years to have a turnover in excess of £200,000."

The Dublcheck franchise package includes comprehensive training covering all aspects of the business and a close-knit support network, which includes an experienced mentor to help oversee the establishment of the franchisee's business within the first year. Hayley says: "We feel safe in the knowledge that whatever problem we have can be resolved quickly either by speaking to our mentor, the head office or another franchisee on the phone. Our mentor often pays a visit to ensure the business is doing well and the support package has made the whole experience of starting our own management business painless."

Text: Jess Sturman