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, allowing the management franchisees to concentrate on managing and growing their businesses.

Jani-King (GB) 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.

Managing Director Paul Haworth (pictured right) explains: "If we fail to offer £264,000 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 thatonce 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. Once training is complete, Jani-King continues to provide additional customers for the franchisee to service and offers ongoing advice and technical backup.

"A VERY  FORWARD-THINKING COMPANY"
Negotiating with airlines and arranging business travel for high-profile clients such as Harrods, Starbucks and Blackstone was the daily routine for Manu Sareen (pictured right) just a few years ago. After 10 years as a travel agency executive however, Manu felt life had become a bit monotonous. He realised that he no longer wanted to work for someone else and became drawn to the idea of setting up his own operation.

Manu knew nothing about the contract cleaning industry and didn't really fancy doing the cleaning himself. However, when he looked closely at the Jani-King proposition he liked what he saw.

Manu soon decided that a franchise would be his best route into business ownership and he started to look at the range of opportunities available. He knew nothing about the contract cleaning industry and didn't really fancy doing cleaning himself. However, when he looked closer at the Jani-King proposition he liked what he saw. "The brand is well-known and Jani-King do provide good support to their franchisees," states Manu. "I also liked the idea of guaranteed turnover*, where Jani-King ensures each franchisee achieves a minimum turnover level during their first 18 months."

After an initial slow start, Manu's business took off like a rocket. Business started to flow in, particularly when he landed the contracts for five Odeon cinemas all in one go. "I wanted to expand quickly," admits Manu. "If you operate on a small scale you can't put a management structure in place, because a structure costs money - and I didn't want to do the cleaning myself!" Now, Manu has a supervisor and a mobile cleaner who covers sick leave and holidays, as well as a large number of part-time cleaning staff. 'Stick to what you are best at' is definitely Manu's motto. He lets his cleaning staff do the cleaning while he concentrates on talking to his clients, sorting out any problems and doing the back-office work. "There are a lot of different aspects to this job - I have to do the finances, collect the money, resolve complaints, acquire new business, hire and fire staff..." he grins as he reels off all these tasks - a far cry from the monotony that his previous job had become.

With a current turnover of £600,000 per annum, Manu's business has leapt skyward in a very short period of time. While this initially caused some short-term cash flow issues for Manu, he is confident these will soon be behind him and he can start taking on new contracts again. "Taking on five new contracts all at once was a bold decision," he confesses, "but now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. My aim is to be turning over £1 million on an annualised basis by the middle of next year."

Manu has also found Jani-King a good company to be with. "They are a very forward-thinking company," he affirms, "and they have been very supportive to me, both financially and operationally." As a franchise company with nearly 40 years of experience, Jani-King understands the need to support its franchisees if they are to grow and develop into successful businesses.

While Manu is the first to admit that he hasn't yet achieved his lifestyle goals, he is nevertheless confident he will get there. "At the moment I can do all the back office work at home, so that's a start," he remarks. "My wife is keen to help me with the back-office support and it will be nice to make it more of a family concern."

"YOU CAN HAVE A  REALLY GOOD LIFESTYLE"
Anita and Rajesh Rauli (pictured above) have spent much of their 18-year marriage working together, initially running a small newsagent business. They were attracted to the franchise route of running a business by the value in having a proven business model with support at hand and bought the Central and North London Jani-King franchise in February 2004.

"Raj and I are very hands-on people. That's why we enjoyed going through the Jani-King 'Clean to Learn' training programme - we could learn at the same time as growing our business," says Anita. "It's so important to get to know how the business works first-hand and that means rolling your sleeves up!" Jani-King provides all its franchisees with good ongoing training and support, and 'Team Rauli' is no exception. Anita and Raj get continuous feedback from the head office team, with regular KPI meetings every couple of months, which set the agenda for the targets each franchisee's business needs to meet.

The Raulis have grown their Jani-King franchise to a £720,000 annualised turnover with 63 clients and 110 part-time employees in just over three years, and now have the £1 million turnover target in their sights. "All you need is to have the work ethic and to implement the business model," smiles Anita. "One of the attractions of Jani-King for us was their offer of "guaranteed turnover" and blue-chip clients." Guaranteeing turnover means that franchisees know they will get a minimum level of income during the first 18 months when they are building their business, although the Raulis had exceeded this figure themselves after 14 months.

Anita and Raj now have an impressive client base with household names such as Odeon, River Island, Next and Spirit Group delivered via the Jani-King central sales force plus 3-4 other clients which they acquired themselves. "Once the clients trust us with the everyday cleaning work, we build on this to get additional work from them," explains Anita. "This extra work is things like floors stripped and sealed or carpet and upholstery cleaning. That is where the real margin is created.

"As long as you implement the whole Jani-King system, hard work pays off. Compared to when we had the shop, we can now get holidays and take time out. As long as the whole structure is in place, you can have a really good lifestyle."

"NOTHING IS LEFT UNTIL TOMORROW"
Ajaz Ahmad (pictured above) was a successful electrical engineer earning a fine income. Nevertheless, despite giving his family the good things in life, he was at the beck and call of others and found himself working six long days every week. He dreamed of breaking away from wage slavery and finding the freedom to organise his own day but this dream was shattered when the business venture he set up folded after just one-and-a-half years.

In 2003, he started investigating the franchise route into business, and in April the following year he purchased the Jani-King franchise for a wide area in the Midlands including Birmingham. "I chose Jani-King because cleaning is a service that businesses always need," he declares. "They don't want the headache of employing their own cleaners, so they're always looking for someone to outsource it to."

In addition to a strong business proposition, Ajaz found other benefits in being a Jani-King franchisee. "The turnover guarantee that Jani-King offers is very important to a new franchisee," he affirms. "It gives you support and helps build your confidence. Jani-King is a very professional organisation, very on-the-ball. They give us excellent backing, support and feedback. Nothing is left until tomorrow."

Ajaz's franchise has now reached a monthly turnover of £31,000. "Our growth was slow at the beginning, then very fast, and now it's growing at a nice pace," he remarks. He has found it hard to maintain a steady growth rate but takes this in his stride as an aspect of running his own business. Although Ajaz's turnover has built well, he still doesn't consider himself to be successful yet. "I will only think that when I hit the £1 million per annum turnover target,"he confesses.

Interview by Jani-King GB