Work for yourself, not by yourself. That’s the message from Mastercare Franchising, the franchising arm of commercial cleaning giant, Mastercare Property Services.
“When I talk to potential franchisees, one of the questions I get all the time is about support,” says Mastercare’s managing director, Colin Walker. “Buying into a franchise is an important investment decision, and people want to be sure they’re aligning themselves with a company that can offer them training and back-up as well as a strong brand and, of course, a reliable income. So, when they call Mastercare, I always tell them they’ve come to the right place!”
Commercial cleaners are always in demand
Mastercare is a relatively new entrant into the franchising sector, although the company has worked in all aspects of the commercial cleaning and property services industry for over 40 years.
“When the global financial crisis hit, we were relatively untouched by it,” says Colin. “After all, it doesn’t matter what’s happening in the stock market; companies will always need a cleaner. We felt it was a great time to enter the franchising market, because so many people were looking for a new direction or to invest redundancy payouts. They wanted to be their own bosses, but they didn’t want to take a risk on an untried business idea. We realised that our offering would be perfectly suited to those people’s requirements.”
Help and training when you need it
“We offer support during the whole of our franchise relationships, from start to finish. At any time, our franchisees can phone to ask any question and we’re here to help. We’ve been in the cleaning business for a very long time, and we know the pitfalls!” He adds, “We have area managers in the field who are always happy to talk to franchisees and help them out if they come up against any problems. In some circumstances, we’ll even pay for equipment and chemicals. We don’t believe in leaving anyone in the lurch.”
When it comes to training, Mastercare Franchising lists it as a priority, and offers full induction and site-specific training, plus manuals and a structured training program containing 36 modules in four categories.
Colin is keen to emphasise that environmental responsibility is another focus of Mastercare’s training. “We have a clear responsibility to adopt sustainable practices wherever we can. We teach our franchisees how to implement recycling strategies and to reduce carbon footprints.
The Right Stuff
And finally, what sort of person does Colin want to work with? “At Mastercare, we’re all about great customer service, ethical business practices, risk management, and being thoughtful about the environment. If potential franchisees are equally interested in those things, and they’ve got a great attitude, we want them on our team.”