Jani-King (GB) directors Paul Haworth and Ian Thomas are proud of their track record after 15 years developing their brand in the UK commercial cleaning market.

They say: "Our success is not just due to our background with world-class companies like Procter & Gamble, Mars and PepsiCo, but also to three key Jani-King track record benefits. First, its almost 40-year pedigree in commercial cleaning and franchising.

Secondly, the fact that its systems have been applied thousands of times over by franchise owners worldwide, and thirdly, the top US business magazine has ranked Jani-King the No. 1 commercial cleaning franchise an amazing 12 times since 1987."

Having taken on the UK master franchise in 1992, Paul and Ian have worked hard with Jani-King international to develop a franchise product tailored to the UK market.

Explains Paul: "We shaped an infrastructure, package and system into a workable management franchise opportunity - and what customers want from a commercial cleaning service. That's why we've built a credible product where others have failed."

Contracts delivered by a dedicated sales team

Jani-King (GB) employs a nationwide team of sales professionals who generate new business for the franchise network, freeing the management franchisees to concentrate on managing and growing their businesses. So confident is Jani-King (GB) in the power of its sales machine, that it offers franchisees the facility to nominate and purchase a guaranteed level of turnover for their geographical area. This is backed by a commitment to refund the estimated profit margin on any agreed turnover level not delivered.

Paul explains: "If we fail to offer £264k of annualised turnover (subject to the franchise agreement signed by the franchisee) in 18 months, we literally pay franchisees a pro-rata loss of margin payment on any shortfall until we deliver the offer. The plan is that once you reach that turnover level, we will help you to move on to the half million mark - and then the magic one million mark."

All plans offered by Jani-King include a comprehensive training programme where the management franchisee not only learns the operational skills necessary in the commercial cleaning industry, but also customer relations skills, vital for maintaining a strong, loyal customer base. And once training is complete, Jani-King continues to provide additional customers for the franchisee to service and offers ongoing advice and technical backup.

'No two days are the same!'

Our 2007 vision: Ray and Karoline Finch

"Jani-King has committed to helping us build the business up to £42,000 per month in 2007," says Ray Finch, whose Preston franchise is currently achieving sales of £36,000 per month. "We're consolidating our business to ensure it is focused around the Manchester area, which in turn will ensure our overheads are lower."

Ray came across Jani-King in a copy of The Franchise Magazine at his Army resettlement centre, after a 22 year career in the forces. "Jani-King offered the opportunity to meet different people and tackle different challenges," he observes. "In fact, I can schedule my work so that no two days are the same!"

While Ray guides the business from his Preston office, his wife Karoline and another Area Manager are out in the field running the day-to-day business. "My wife works really hard building relationships with customers," he reveals. "I liaise with Jani-King head office, who are concentrating now on winning big national accounts for us. When they say they'll get an account they'll go and get them so we should be achieving about £50,000 per month by this time next year."

'...where the big money is.'

My 2007 vision: Joe McGuigan "My aim for 2007 is to reach a £400,000 annual turnover," says Joe, who joined Jani-King in September 2005. "My turnover is growing ahead of expectations and I'm currently at £25,000 per month, which translates to £300,000 per year. However I aim to continue growing and want to build to around £35,000 per month by the end of 2007."

Formerly a franchisee in a different industry sector, Joe sold his business on and wanted to plough his capital into building a management business - Jani-King fitted the bill. "I'm very impressed with the list of blue chip clients Jani-King serves," he observes. "They're where the big money is."

As well as taking on contracts won by Jani-King head office's sales team, Joe has committed his own time to building his business and, as he prepares to take on his second Area Manager to increase the capacity of his business, the year ahead looks set to be one of expansion and growth for Joe's business.

'Growth is inevitable'

Our 2007 vision: Ket Patel & Sandip Chauhan With their Leicester franchise already achieving an annualised turnover of £500,000, Sandip Chauhan and Ket Patel have started a second territory covering Sheffield to help them achieve their growth targets. "We want to move our annual turnover up to £1 million in the next two to three years," says Ket.

"We achieved half a million in just over two years, and we hope our weekly turnover to have grown to an annualised figure of £750,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2007 with the addition of the Sheffield territory."

Sandip and Ket have put a middle management structure in place in their business to handle the step up in turnover, and with the day-to-day management taken care of they plan to devote their efforts to business building in 2007.

"What's required is to follow the system - if you build trust and relationships with your customers then demonstrate that you can do a good job and provide value for money to that customer, they are willing to trust you and pay premium prices for additional services," says Ket.

"As well as commercial cleaning we have won specialist cleaning contracts for wooden floors, carpets, etc, which repeatedly earn high margins. This is as a result of our networking within the local community and we are ready for our next surge of business. Growth is inevitable."