Jani-King, the king of clean

Cleaning up after other people can sweep in financial success as Jani-King has proved over its four decades in business.

It is 40 years since US entrepreneur Jim Cavanaugh founded the concept that would I become Jani-King in 1969, with $US3000 borrowed from a school friend. Jani-King Australasia General Manager Mark Gosling says the cleaning franchise company was thrilled to be celebrating its 40th year.

"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 says.

"The Jani-King franchising system evolved from humble beginnings in Oklahoma after Jim Cavanaugh began marketing janitorial services during the day while at university and then servicing his clients at night.

"The franchise is now so popular, robust and recession-proof 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 business cleaning franchise operations were founded by Ben Stoltz and Brian Morris in 1993 in Perth and are now nationwide in Australia 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 4325 clients and over 1200 franchisees. We added 96 new franchisees in the 2007/08 financial year and we want to continue our success in 2009 with a growth target of 11 percent.

Gosling believes the success of the cleaning services franchise is due largely to its low-cost business model and winning 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.

"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.

"Discretionary spending is usually hit the hardest when the economy heads down south but a clean, tidy office is not a luxury – it’s necessity Glosing reveals.

"Business owners may reduce their cleaning budget but they are almost never able to eliminate the cleaning of toilets and restrooms and that's where we build our business. In some ways, the commercial cleaning market is near recession-proof."

"The reason we can bring on new franchisees is because there is huge demand for our products and services. Our services are cheaper than employing in-house cleaners and we can offer our clients increased specialisation and improved performance and communication.

"In uncertain times people are also looking for guarantees that a franchise is going to give them the returns they want. We provide guaranteed income for two years which helps potential franchisees overcome their fear of not being able to make the business work,"

The company was named in Entrepreneur Magazine's Annual Franchise 500 rankings as the top commercial cleaning franchise, a spot it holds for the 22nd consecutive year.

It was listed as the top home-based franchise, the second low cost franchise and the 11 th fastest growing franchise for 2009, taking 15th slot in the overall franchise listing.

Plans are afoot to establish another 130 cleaning franchises in Australia in the 2008/09 financial year.

"We added 96 franchisees in the year up to June 2008 and we haven't experienced any slowdown in the number of franchisees joining the system or clients requesting our services," says Gosling.

"We also recorded a turnover of over $81 million to 30 June 2008 and we're expecting to add significant numbers of franchise owners through the current financial year, making us one of the largest commercial cleaning franchises in Australia."

This article appears courtesy of Franchising Magazine