Quality services and successful franchise model options

Quality services and successful franchise model options

prove rewarding for Corporate Cleaning Group

Picture yourself owning a commercial cleaning franchise, and it likely conjures up an unpleasant image of scrubbing toilets through the night in a desolate corporate office. For the franchisees of Corporate Cleaning Group, however, picking up a mop isn’t part of the job description. In fact, the business opportunity appeals most to those seeking an executive track.

It’s not what people would think of as a sexy business,” said Marcie Olinger, Franchise Development Representative for the company, “but the way we set it up, it’s a sweet deal.”

The company has been around for 25 years, having been founded by Len Yakuber, who personally built up a multimillion dollar territory in Detroit. His friend, Devin Dollar, soon joined him as a business partner, and today not only owns the Kansas City territory but also manages sales for the franchise.

Despite its name, Corporate Cleaning Group does not offer its services to traditional office spaces, which is part of the reason behind its success.

“We focus on CHEW” explains Olinger, referring to an acronym for the business’ target markets -- churches and religious institutions; healthcare facilities; educational buildings; and warehouses and distribution centers. The reasoning is quite strategic, as the average billing is two to three times the average commercial office cleaning account, she said. “We do a quality job that is built around their traffic patterns. It allows us to build high level premium accounts.” Under the direction of Yakuber and Dollar, Corporate

Cleaning Group has already grown to nine franchises spanning nine states. On the heels of that success, they are now eyeing a nationwide expansion.

They are also excited about a new resale program in which gargantuan territories are being subdivided and offered as pre-developed territories – complete with a built in customer base. Start-up costs are set at approximately $120,000, but include first-year costs. New territories start at $109,000, with the initial investment primarily going towards working capital. The infrastructure of each territory simply grows with each new account, minimizing personnel costs and overhead.

Both models provide an internal sales team based out of Kansas City that generates and contacts leads for franchisees. “They don’t do the door knock,” she said. “The franchisee needs to be more of a gatherer than a hunter.”

Some of the most successful franchise owners have hired operations managers to oversee daily activities so they can focus strictly on client relationship management and business development on an executive level.

“Can they work it up to an executive model? Without a doubt – it’s been proven over and over,” Olinger said, citing the territories run by Yakuber and Dollar, the company’s partners. “They both have multimillion dollar businesses.”

When evaluating a potential franchisee, it stands to reason why Corporate Cleaning Group values good presentation and management skills over cleaning experience, which is not required.

“In general, commercial cleaners look for blue collar workers. With this opportunity, it needs to be a white collar executive, Olinger explains. “It’s an executive model.”

For more information about Corporate Cleaning Group, visit www.CorporateCleaningGroupFranchise.com or call 660-268-8009.