Following an extremely successful reorganisation of its network to make the business more customer-focused three years ago, Jani-King has consolidated into 42 established management franchisees, all of whom are developing their businesses toward a target of £1 million in turnover.

The customer focus now concentrates on major blue chip chains, which has grown from less than 45 per cent of the business mix to over 75 per cent. This business is generated by Jani-King's sales force. "Our training is designed for people with no cleaning background, so we are concentrating our franchisee recruitment on finding people with the right attitude and work ethic," reveals Director Paul Haworth. "Management and customer relationship skills are key here, but above all what really matters is that you have a positive attitude and desire to implement a proven system - I cannot stress that enough."

With Jani-King aiming to complete its nationwide network presence with between 40 and 80 additional management franchisees (depending on the size of area invested in), many lucrative opportunities remain available. A huge attraction for prospective 'Janillionaires' is the fact that Jani-King's head office team takes care of winning the business, and literally pays franchisees a pro-rata payment on any shortfall under £264,000 of annualised turnover in the first 18 months. "The guarantee provides peace of mind," reports Preston-based Jani-King franchisee Ray Finch.

"Jani-King have set goals to achieve for my business and they're big enough to pay me if they don't achieve them." Paul explains: "Subject to the franchise agreement signed by the franchisee, if Jani-King should have offered a franchise owner £22,000 of business by a certain month but has been unable to offer them any business, then Jani-King's guarantee is that they will pay the franchisee £2,200 per month. That's an extremely powerful safety net. The plan is that once you reach that initial guaranteed £264,000 of annualised turnover, we will help you to move on to the £500,000 mark - and then the magic £1 million mark."

This is how management franchise Jani-King backs up its tremendous confidence in its business system that has been refined and proven in Great Britain since 1991. "Jani-King's dedicated sales team does all the selling, and if my margins drop below their guaranteed minimum for reasons other than non-performance, Jani-King will make up the loss to me personally," concludes Ray. "Having come into this with no previous experience of the industry or running my own business, that's an important guarantee."

TARGET: £1 million in Profit One of the best endorsements a franchise can enjoy is when its own support staff invest in its franchise. Such is the case with South African former teacher Ian Fick, who originally joined Jani-King as an Operations Manager in 1998.

"When the opportunity came up to acquire a franchise in 1999 we grabbed it and never looked back," he relates. "We took on a territory in the South East stretching from Tunbridge Wells up to Hastings and got off to a great start with a £4,000 turnover in our first month. In fact, Jani-King fulfilled its 12 month obligation to build our turnover within the first six months!"

Originally running the business with Louise Walburg-Fick, who later became his wife, a car accident which resulted in serious head injuries in 2002 required Louise to withdraw and Ian to take over the full running of the business. "The support of a franchisor was valuable in such a situation," Ian reflects. "However, I got my head down and worked hard and long hours to build the business on my own efforts while still attending to my wife. My focus is to ensure the client is satisfied with the service provided, and in the last four years I haven't had a single complaint."

Because of this focus on quality of service, Ian's business has been able to branch out into providing housekeeping services to hotels - a move that has yielded substantial rewards. "Managing housekeeping services to hotels is very difficult, and I've had to build a very strong management team to ensure standards are kept to," Ian reveals. "The ongoing training and support for your staff partially provided by Jani-King is the key to doing this. "I originally set a target of reaching a turnover of £1 million, but went past that long ago. The business is now achieving £1.6 million a year in sales, and I've set a new five year target to become a genuine millionaire - that is to achieve £1 million per year in profit! With my margins running at 17 per cent I'll need to reach £5 million, which I am on course to achieve within two years."

Currently, Ian reveals, his superb efforts are joined by a team of 9 managers, 13 supervisors and a staff compliment of 153, which include a full-time administrative manager, private assistant and audits manager at the business' Head Office in East Sussex.

"It's worked for me, it's worked for others, and it will definitely work for new franchise owners if they follow the system. Over the years Jani-King has come up with good systems which, if followed, will enable your business to succeed. They've adopted a system that works."

For Ian, another five years of growth is ahead before he contemplates taking a lesser role. "I'm 47 years old," he reveals. "Age 52 will be a good time to stand back and enjoy my success. However, I have no desire to sell it - it's been good to me. I'll take a lesser role, put more efficient managers in place, get my kids involved, invest in other ways of providing more services to my current customers and fit in a few rounds of golf on a regular basis."

'I was able to draw profits by month four' A former gold mine worker in Africa, Barry Bruce has hit the jackpot with his Jani-King franchise. Since launching his Bristol franchise in October 2003, Barry reports turnover has now reached £26,000 per month, and he is now setting his sights on a £1 million a year turnover.

"I hit the ground running and haven't stopped," he reports. "Under Jani-King's Plan 22 my margins were guaranteed on hitting a £22,000 turnover, which I did within eight months. In fact, I was able to draw profits out of the business by month four.

"Once you get the structure in place things start running smoothly, and I now have my wife Marcia working in the business full-time and employ two area managers to help operate the business. I've only needed to rely on Jani-King for supplying the contracts, and on the whole the quality of the contracts has been good. My aim now is to reach a turnover or £1 million in a year, which I aim to achieve in the next two years."

"A GREAT RETURN ON OUR INITIAL INVESTMENT" Having invested in their Jani-King franchise in 1996, Keith and Gill Burgess built it up to about £500,000 in their first few years. "Then Jani-King introduced its new Management Franchise programme and our business surged forward to over £1.5 million turnover," recalls Keith. "At its peak we were making in excess of £200,000 profit which was a great return on our initial franchise investment of £30,000!" Gill adds: "When we felt the time was right to retire, we accepted an offer on the business for a very substantial sum. While it doesn't quite make us millionaires, it's not far off!"

Paul Haworth, who granted Keith and Gill their original franchise and brokered the re-sale, comments: "I'm delighted for Keith and Gill and hope they have a really great retirement. They've earned it!"