Franchisee of the month
Sweeping to success
Four years ago, Amanda O’Rourke, the franchise owner for Molly Maid Horsham, decided to trade her career dealing with high value insurance claims for an opportunity to own her own lucrative business and spend more time with her family
Amanda recognised that the time had come for her to bite the bullet and explore other avenues after she went back to work on a part-time basis after having children. She says: “I realised that I was never going to make any serious money working for someone else. My criteria was quite specific, I knew I wanted to do something I could run from home and that was hands-on. After having carried out some research, it quickly became apparent that a management franchise seemed the perfect solution and that it would be a success if I followed the franchisor’s guidelines closely.” A cleaning franchise was Amanda’s number one choice as the Horsham area was in real need of this service.
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“I looked at a couple of other cleaning franchise opportunities, but it was Molly Maid that ticked all the boxes”, she says. “It didn’t take me long to reach a decision.
Soon after visiting the Molly Maid Maidenhead support office, the chief executive, Pam Bader OBE, and the rest of the support team, I was convinced this was the right fit. I loved the way they were so down to earth and it was like meeting long lost friends, which made my decision to become a Molly Maid franchise owner even easier.” Amanda’s confidence in selecting Molly Maid has since been consolidated by the success of her franchise over the past four years, which has seen her expand her territory to employ 11 cleaning staff and operate five car routes.
n 2007, Amanda made a career- changing decision to swap life as an insurance technician by moving in a new direction, which enabled her to achieve the individual goals she felt were important in her life.
But Amanda points out that starting a new business has its challenges. “My first four months were the hardest, learning the Molly Maid guidelines and recruiting staff but knowing that I had someone at support office to turn to, made it so much easier. Since then it has been brilliant and I’m still very much hands-on and often accompany my cleaning staff to see the customers as they really appreciate the personal touch.” Despite being incredibly self-motivated and driven, Amanda explains that Molly Maid also gives its franchise owners extra performance incentives, including holidays abroad and the chance to join the President’s Circle to help achieve those personal targets.
“I love being in charge of my own destiny and the freedom being a Molly Maid franchise owner brings”
“The Molly Maid culture is very special and quite unique”, says Amanda. “It encourages franchise owners to share their experiences and knowledge at regular regional meetings and annual conferences. They are so good at combining their training sessions with social evenings providing the ideal forum for relaxed and informal sharing of knowledge.” Amanda has nothing but praise for how the Molly Maid brand provides its franchise owners with the foundations for success. During the four years since operating her Molly Maid franchise, Amanda has been impressed with the level of support she has
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Businessfranchise.com | December/January 2012
Amanda O’Rourke
been provided, which can so often be a sticking point when it comes to franchising. Amanda adds: “I love being in charge of my own destiny and the freedom being a Molly Maid franchise owner brings. I can meet up for lunch with friends when I choose to and I can work around my children too.” n
In BrIef
Name: Amanda O’Rourke Previous occupation: Insurance technician Location: Horsham Visit:
www.mollymaid.co.uk
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