Clean up with a Detail Clean Franchise

With its first two franchisees trading, 2006 is set to see growing momentum behind domestic and commercial cleaning franchise Detail Clean.

Working couples, single people, new and expectant mothers, the elderly, people who simply don't like cleaning, the customer base for domestic cleaning is growing all the time as having a professional cleaner is no longer viewed as a status symbol restricted to a minority of households, but rather a normal part of many people's lives,' asserts Detail Clean Managing Director Sandra Leggett. 'Combine this burgeoning market with the very valuable and recession-defying commercial cleaning market, and Detail Clean franchisees have a large and varied market at which to target their business.'

In supplying its cleaning services to both domestic and commercial clients, Detail Clean is maximising the business potential of its concept, especially as Detail Clean franchisees get exclusive rights to pursue both sectors within their territories. 'Our ultimate aim is to provide comprehensive and exemplary services to customers nationwide and a network of fully equipped franchisees is the best option for achieving this,' reflects Sandra. 'With an extensively proven pilot company-owned operation, a franchise package professionally developed with the assistance of Franchise Development Services, and our first two franchisees trading, the momentum is with us and we are planning to partner with our first wave of franchisees during 2006.'

The first franchisee is Veronica Miller, who wanted to become involved in an industry offering tremendous growth potential and was interested in working in both sectors of the cleaning industry. 'Cleaning is a multi-billion pound industry and growing,' Veronica states. 'I wanted to work with a franchise that had few franchisees and felt that Detail Clean would do everything they could to help me. With my existing business management skills I felt that I could bring added value to the operation.'

Veronica is targeting areas of affluence in south London. 'As a management franchisee you can grow this business as large as you like,' she states. 'I'm aiming to grow the franchise into a multi-million pound operation. The support so far has been fantastic and I'm confident that myself and the Detail Clean team will work very well together.'

The differentiator of the Detail Clean concept is its investment in state-of-the-art technology that ensures the professionalism of its staff (see box). 'We were one of the first domestic cleaning companies in the UK to adopt a Vehicle Management System,' Sandra confirms. 'This system remote manages the position of every vehicle through tracking devices to allow confirmation of arrival times, reduce insurance costs, provide detailed directions for cleaning crews, and eliminate unauthorised breaks and vehicle use.'

New franchisees will receive full and ongoing support, starting with three days of classroom training covering sales and marketing, recruiting and managing staff, administration and customer service. This is complemented by a further five days of hands-on training at a company branch.

'Franchisees are then ready to launch their businesses,' Sandra continues, 'and we spend six more days assisting at their office pre- and post-launch to vet, hire and train staff, begin marketing and supervise their first cleaning jobs. We're not looking for experienced cleaning managers or a high investment, rather we want honest and ambitious individuals to match our commitment to quality of service and assist in the building of this brand across the UK.'

New Computer System Benefits Franchisees

Detail Clean has updated and improved its sophisticated vehicle management system, including a master system at its head office. 'Using the latest software, GPS Satellite and the internet, the system no longer relies on the use of a sim card to gather vehicle information - all vehicle information is automatically relayed to the master computer every six minutes,' reveals Sandra. 'The information relayed is very detailed including location, journeys, time at location, speed of vehicle and much more.

'The benefit to our franchisees is that they no longer need a separate computer or the lease cost for this. They can now contact the master computer at head office via our IP address to view their vehicles over the internet 24 hours a day. This has reduced the cost of operating the system from £18.47 to £8 per week per vehicle.'

Reported by Stuart Anderson and Rachel Spaul