If you were to ask 100 janitorial companies if they use employees or franchisees, 95% would probably say employees. If you went on to ask these same companies, how many are dealing with personnel problems, the same 95% would have to step forward. Do you see a correlation there? In the janitorial industry, the Employer-Employee model is the most common one, but it comes with a price. Here are just a few: 1. High turnover. Typically, a janitorial company will experience 50% turnover within a given year. Half of the employees that begin the year, will not be there at the end. This means that the owner has to hire someone to replace them, track down any keys and equipment that they still have, inform the customer that a new person will be starting, deal with the learning curve that this new employee has, etc. 2. Low wages. In order to be competitive and to have funds in reserve, employers typically pay their employees as little as possible. A study shows that the average janitor makes somewhere between .50-.75 (fifty to seventy-cents) above the minimum wage. Another study also concluded that the closer an employees wage is to the minimum wage, the more likely that employee is to quit and/or to steal. Which takes us to point 3 3. High rates of theft. Many janitors know that theyre going to quit weeks before they actually do. This gives them time to strategize their exit (i.e. plan on what theyre going to take with them. After all, the janitor is in the building at night, usually with little or no supervision, and that they are expected to go in and out of the building while removing trash. Unfortunately, what they call trash is sometimes a customers laptop or television. When something comes up missing, the janitor is usually blamed. And 9 times out of 10, theyre usually guilty! As the owner of a janitorial company that uses the Employer-Employee model, none of this surprises you. But, what if you could change things, so as to decrease your turnover, increase wages, and all but eliminate theft, while being more competitive and profitable at the same time. Now you can! 5% of janitorial companies have discover a better business model, the Franchise model, and theyre laughing all the way to the bank. The Franchise model establishes a Franchisor-Franchisee relationship between you and the people that clean your buildings. Companies like McDonalds, Subway and Dunkin Donuts have been using the Franchise model to grow their business for years. In the janitorial industry Jani-King, CoverAll, and VanGuard cleaning have been leading the way. Why do these, and other companies, use Franchising? Because it works! A Franchisee is the owner of their own company. They simply use your name, reputation, experience, etc. to get started. In return, they agree to pay you a certain percentage of the gross billing. And, this percentage is taken off the top, allowing you to be paid before they do. Since the Franchisee is paid on the production of the account, and not by the hour, theyre motivated to do the job right the first time. Furthermore, since they are the business owner, they have to buy their own equipment and supplies, once again, removing that expense from you. If an account is too big for them to clean by themselves, they (not you) can choose to hire employees. The Franchisee is responsible for training, supervision, payroll and misc. duties, as pertains to their employees. However, if for any reason you or the customer is not happy with their work, you have the legal right to remove them from that account, and replace them with another Franchisee. For more information on how Franchising can make your business profitable visit http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com Some of the largest and most profitable companies in the industry are using Franchisees to grow their business. Perhaps you should consider modeling your company after their example. D. Brownlee http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com |
