What do you need to know before you sign up to a cleaning franchise? Here are some top tips to help you understand the business better.

1. Find out what is unique about the business

A cleaning franchise could be a business working with residential clients: house cleaning or pool care.

It could be a business model based around commercial cleaning – offices, healthcare centres, transit hubs, hospitality venues.

The business could be niche – ovens, blinds, air conditioning units, tiling or pressure cleaning.

Whatever the market, there needs to be something distinct about any business that will give franchisees a competitive advantage.

You need to find a business that will give customers a reason to use your services – more than once. That could be a competitive price, fantastic service, an eco-friendly product range or outstanding hygiene protocols.

A good franchise will be able to pinpoint its unique selling point (USP) – then you can do some research on whether that translates into regular and repeat business.

2. Discover how profitable it is

Get to grips with the numbers. If you are buying an existing business there will be financial records to pore over . If the business is a new location then the figures the franchisor shares with you are likely to be typical of a similar operation.

It’s crucial to share these figures with a financial advisor who understands franchising. That way you will get a sense of any underlying issues that may not be obvious to a lay person and be able to confirm a franchise’s profitability.

When you consider the income you’ll need to achieve profits, check what restraints there are on fellow franchisees operating in your area. Do you get an exclusive territory or a marketing area? How will you get leads? Can you service a national brand, for instance?

What will be included in your fee and what extras will you need to pay for?

Remember as a mobile business you’ll need to allow time to journey between clients, so there’s a limit to how many appointments you can make daily.

3. Understand the franchisee’s role

Just as a cleaning business could be servicing corporate, medical, retail or residential clients, the role of the franchisee will vary according to the particular business model.

Some franchisee roles will be hands-on, allowing the franchisee to build up a business from the frontline. The alternative option is where the franchisee is effectively overseeing operations.

Which will suit you? Do you want to be out and about doing the work yourself or would you prefer to manage a team of cleaners and focus on growing the business?

4. Check the support available

When you start out in a new business you will have some specific challenges – understanding the technical aspect of the work, learning processes, building the business.

Many franchisees come to their business with little or no experience at business ownership. It’s also common for individuals to start up in a whole new sector when they move into a franchise.

What’s important in both these instances is the depth and breadth of support provided by the franchisor. This starts with initial training and a new business marketing campaign and continues throughout the franchise term with ongoing support.

Speak to other franchisees to see whether or not the franchisor delivers on the promises.

Then consider if the support on offer help you fill gaps in your knowledge and experience.

5. Work out whether you can achieve your financial goals

Taking all the above points into account (USP, profit, wages costs, training and advice available) and projecting expenses and income over the period of the franchise term will suggest whether a business can give you the level of profit you need.

And that will depend on your own goals. Becoming a franchisee might be as much about taking control of the day-to-day in your life and achieving a flexible lifestyle as hitting a high profit level.

You can find cleaning and maintenance franchise opportunities here.