Would you buy a franchise?

[kevinecoffey]

I am trying to decide if it is worth buying a franchise (Heavens Best), or if I should just start a carpet cleaning business on my own.  Several years ago I had an Orbot and did ok on my own (part time)...nothing spectacular.  I had to get out of the business for various reasons, but I want to start again full time.  It seems I can buy higher quality equipment on my own for much cheaper, but  I am wondering if the franchise would get me to a living wage faster.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[lee@deepclean.us.com]

Hi Kevin,

Seems to me you know the basics of the business already.  
You need good equipment and supplies which you can get from Excellent Supply.
I believe where many drop the ball is in sales.  I would take the money your franchise would charge and develop a logo, build a great website and buy some marketing material.
Then join a BNI group and also get out there and cold call on folks you want to work with.  

There is no magic just lots of hard work and having a plan for marketing and sales.  
And then actually following through on that plan!
That's how I did it.
Carpet Cleaning is the easy part!

[Charles]

Bought a Franchise years ago getting into this business. Kept it 2 years. 
I would never buy another franchise. 

[Lounge Lizards]

I also would never buy a franchise.

It may be different in the 'states, but down under, this is why:

They tie you into a harsh agreement that costs you plenty.

You have to purchase and agree to use only their products which you must purchase only from their store.

You have ongoing expenses for advertising, much of which you may not need.

For every job you do, a % of that job must go back to them.

Many franchises have a bad reputation for cheap & shoddy work, you would be included in that general viewpoint even if your work is exceptional.

When you wish to get out of the agreement, you generally find (in the small print), that you cannot start up a similar business in your area or contact your previous customers for work.

At the end of your agreement, equipment is to be returned to them.



Buy quality equipment & Excellent Solutions, do quality work and have a great website as Lee suggested.

Buy the CMS marketing systems from Rick and follow it.

Continually follow-up on your contacts, keep in touch and tell them everything that you can do for them.


Basically, it is up to you, get hungry & get good paying repeat jobs.

Wish you all the best in your NON-FRANCHISE BUSINESS.

[MikeHabib]

The only franchise that I have thought of was Jani King if I wanted to get into commercial janitorial work. There are many way's to start your carpet cleaning business.

1) Real Estate agents & Property managers.
2) Home Advisor , Craigslist , Thumbtack.
3) A Website
4) BNI
5) Flyers around neighborhoods.
6) Door knocking.
7) Constant Contact with your previous clients
8) Reminder mailers for your previous clients.

I am now doing this part time but can stay as busy as I want to just by doing what I listed above. With a franchise , they pretty much tell you what you can and cannot do.

[encapman]

Excellent comments above. I think that franchises might work for some people, in fact they do, Mcdonalds is proof of that. I'm just not cut from that cloth. However it may be perfect for you. You already had a go at business and you apparently felt it wasn't as successful as you would have liked. Perhaps a franchise could provide the structure that would help you achieve your business goals. Like I said, it's not personally my cup of tea, I tend to be more in line with the comments above. But I think this is a personal decision that you'd need to make based on your personal circumstances, as well as your tolerance for risk. Your situation will naturally be different than someone else's. Whatever you decide, I wish you success. It's nice to see your entrepreneurial spirit.

[CleanItGreen]

I chose not to do a franchise because I didn't want to be limited to a territory. Telling me that I wouldn't be able to clean my relative's Carpet if they were out of territory seemed absurd. Go on your own and then do a lot of networking. Google adwords is also great.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk