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Five Reasons to Buy a Cleaning Franchise

Courtesy of housekeeping franchise Bright & Beautiful, these five compelling reasons include a growing market, a future-proofed industry and a chance to cut your commute.

The UK’s domestic cleaning industry is now worth more than £4.7bn, according to recent figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Cleaning franchises offers enormous opportunities to anyone looking for a new and profitable career as we value good service, our homes, our free time and our security more highly than ever.

Here are five reasons why buying a cleaning franchise is a great career move.

1.    Growing market

To paraphrase Maureen Lipman’s adverts for BT: “Anthony, people will always need (clean) plates.”

Housekeeping is an industry that experiences continual growth, with one in three UK households now hiring in domestic help, a trend shaped by how our society and working patterns have changed. More women than ever are going back to work and today’s millennials are too busy and/or unwilling to clean and iron in their precious free time.  

By bringing consistently high standards of service and security to the domestic cleaning market, housekeeping franchises like Bright & Beautiful are in a perfect position to benefit from this increased demand. This means that franchisees can build a scalable business with repeat customers and a proven set of procedures to follow.

2.    Established brand

One of the most difficult things about starting a new business is building a brand. Buying into a cleaning franchise, which has an established brand, vision and values, means you don’t have to spend your time researching, market-testing products, building a website, establishing a Facebook presence and everything else associated with building a brand-new concept.

Think about it: buying a franchise with an established brand could save you 2-3 years of work!

Most start-ups put a lot of time, effort and money into bringing the brand to market before their business earns a single penny. Buying into a well-established cleaning franchise gives you a real head start and means you can launch and take on your first paying customers within a couple of months of launching in your local area.

3.    Future-proofed industry

Cleaning services are not a fad that can be replaced by a digital equivalent – and that’s not likely to change any time soon.

Many busy people now see cleaning, tidying and ironing services as a necessity, not a luxury, because they work hard and don’t want to spend their valuable evenings and weekends on domestic chores.

From cleaning to gardening and dog walking, we live in an unashamedly outsourcing economy. As a result we’ve seen business grow month on month – through the recession and beyond.  

4.    Reduce your commute

Generation X author Douglas Coupland recently called the traditional nine-to-five “barbaric” and we know that people increasingly want jobs that give them more control over their working day.

Cleaning franchises can help ambitious men and women, from a range of backgrounds, to work for themselves. Running a local cleaning franchise can allow you to build a business that rewards you financially for your long-term efforts and, over time, to develop a different way of working. 

Alluding to the ethos of ‘working smarter not harder’, many franchise buyers cite escaping the daily commute as a prime motive for switching careers. This is certainly made possible by buying a cleaning franchise.

5.    Creating local employment

No matter what your career, building a business of which you can be proud is something that most of us crave.

When you research a cleaning franchise, look at the values of the business, its sustainability and how ethical its employment practices are.

Anyone who watches the news will know that there is great debate around the ‘grey economy’ and ‘disguised employment’. The cleaning industry is cleaning up its own act and some businesses are leading the way in making sure that employees receive fair pay, including holiday pay and full employment rights.

You need to ask yourself what matters to you. Find a cleaning franchise which you feel has a culture and values that sit well with you and of which you can be proud.

Just as most of us place great value on the experience of a builder or teacher, there is real skill in understanding how to clean a home properly. Professional housekeepers should be trained to know just how to make clients’ kitchens, bathrooms and carpets looking immaculately spotless.

Positive feedback from clients is arguably the most satisfying thing about running a cleaning francise. When customers describe how your team has taken care of their domestic chores, how it has transformed their family routine for the better, given them their free time back and even made them fall in love with their house again – that is extremely rewarding.  



Sue Moore

About the author

Sue Moore is President and Managing Director of Bright & Beautiful, an award-winning concept in housekeeping services, delivered by professionally trained housekeepers. Bright & Beautiful has more than 50 franchises nationwide, employing over 500 people and with a multi-million-pound turnover.

@BBhousekeeping