Market Focus Minster Cleaning Services
How have you found running your franchise so far?
When I started in 1992, the UK was in the middle of a recession, so the first couple of years were the hardest. Starting your own business is not for anyone who is afraid of hard work and, despite what you may read in some adverts, there is no magical ‘get- rich-quick’ formula. But the support I had from the team at Minster was superb and, whatever problems you may encounter, help is always available, either from head office or from another franchisee.
Rob Wilson
Rob ran his own retail business for 20 years before taking over Minster Cleaning Services’ vacant Essex territory. Having started in 1992, he is one of Minster’s longest-serving franchisees and has an annual turnover of £1.8million.
What attracted you to franchising? I’d been running my own frozen food and video rental businesses for 20 years, but declining markets in the retail sector and the prospect of even greater dominance by the multiples persuaded me to look for an alternative. I set out to find a business proposition that offered ample opportunities to satisfy my personal ambitions in a more stable marketplace. I identified franchising as the best option because of its relatively high success rate.
What transferable skills did you have? I had extensive people-management experience and organisational skills from many years running my own retail business.
Why did you choose this sector, and why Minster Cleaning Services? I thought that a management franchise would make the best use of my management skills and, as an essential business service, there will always be a large market for office cleaning. I spent over 12 months planning my career change, visiting exhibitions and franchise companies, before deciding that Minster Cleaning Services was right for me. Minster Cleaning Services had a
proven business model, where systems were in place and all the groundwork had already been completed, and large territories offered virtually unlimited potential.
What are the benefits and challenges of running a management franchise? Provided that you have a sufficiently large territory, a management franchise can give you the opportunity to build up a substantial business which, with the right management team in place, is a valuable, saleable asset. Most of the challenges come from
managing people so it is important that you have the right skills to cope with this.
What kind of training and support have you received from the franchisor? Minster’s comprehensive support package takes care of all the main day-to-day business activities. This covers operational management, administration, bookkeeping, IT, marketing and the complex fields of employment law, health and safety and environmental legislation.
How has life changed since you set up your business?
In 1999, the national minimum wage was introduced and this has been raised every year since and has now been replaced by the national living wage for over-25s. Primary medical and dental services now have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and their premises must meet a number of required standards. By delivering a cleaning strategy that covers all key elements and functional areas, we are helping over 40 NHS practices in our area to combat healthcare-acquired infections while fully complying with CQC requirements.
What qualities do you feel are important in order to achieve success as a franchisee? You must be resilient to be able to withstand the normal ups and downs of running your own business. You should be trustworthy and aim to provide a high-quality service that is reliable, consistent, flexible and great value for money. In a busy management franchise like Minster you need excellent people-management skills in order to be able to deal with your staff effectively, to understand the requirements of a diverse range of clients, and to maintain good relationships across the board.
What are your future plans for the business?
I am optimistic about the future and see no reason why the business shouldn’t continue to keep on growing using Minster Cleaning Services’s tried-and-tested formula. With nearly 350 contracts and an experienced and long-serving management team, I could probably take things easier, but I have no thoughts of immediate retirement, as I still enjoy the challenge of running a growing business.
April 2018 |
BusinessFranchise.com | 63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132
