Jani-King blows out the candles on four decades of franchising

Jani-King will join the likes of McDonalds and Subway in the coveted “longevity hall of fame” this year, achieving 40 years in the franchising industry.

Two thousand and nine marks 40 years since US entrepreneur Jim Cavanaugh founded the concept that would become Jani-King in 1969 with US$3,000 borrowed from a school friend. General Manager of the commercial cleaning franchise in Australia, Mark Gosling, said the company was thrilled to be celebrating its 40th year at Jani-King locations around the world.

“Over four decades in franchising is no mean feat and it’s a testament to the quality of Jani-King’s franchising system and the demand for our commercial cleaning services,” he said.

“The franchise is now so popular that there are more than 12,000 Jani-King franchisees serving thousands of customers through a global network of more than 115 regional support offices.”

Jani-King’s Australasian operations were founded by Ben Stoltz and Brian Morris in 1993 in Perth, and now the cleaning franchise covers all states in Australia, the Northern Territory and across the Tasman in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

“Since its introduction to Australia Jani-King has achieved incredible success and has become one of the fastest growing commercial cleaning companies in the region, growing from zero in 1993 to a turnover exceeding $80 million in 2008.

“We currently have over 4,325 clients and over 1,200 franchisees. We added 96 new franchisees in the 2007/08 financial year and we want to continue our success in 2009 with a with a growth target of 11 percent.”

Mr Gosling said he believed Jani-King’s success was due largely to its low-cost business model and winning business services franchise concept.

“Most people are surprised when they find out how little it takes to get started with Jani-King. Our franchises start from just $12,800 ex GST so almost anyone can purchase their own business with a small loan and we also provide guaranteed income for two years.

“Jani-King was the first commercial cleaning company to start selling franchises and its franchise concept was the first to obtain accounts and offer the franchisee an initial customer base to service.”

“Jani-King continues to achieve success in its 40th year, recently sweeping the competition at “Entrepreneur Magazine’s Annual Franchise 500” rankings earning the #1 Commercial Cleaning Franchise spot for the 22nd consecutive year.

“To still be rated the #1 Commercial Cleaning Franchise and 11th Fastest Growing Franchise says a lot about the future of Jani-King and the strength of the commercial cleaning industry. We look forward to seeing where we’ll be in the next 40 years.”