Business success is often built on top of understanding what IS attractive. Despite many small businesses failing and closing every day, new businesses keep rising to take their place. Why? Because a lot of people are attracted to the idea of being their own boss. The same are attracted to the freedom that comes with owning a business. Who doesn’t want to be free from financial burdens and time constraints? Who won’t appreciate the freedom to spend an entire day with their family while ensuring food on the table? Maid Brigade understands these! This franchise is built around a system that allows the attractive to not only be attainable but also sustainable. And we’ve got Raychel Sullins as well as Joel Lazarovitz to talk about their system that’ll set you up for success. Raychel’s career with Maid Brigade started at the front desk in 1999. She’s had the opportunity to advance within the company and has worked tirelessly in multiple departments before becoming Maid Brigade’s President in 2020. Joel has over 20 years of experience in franchising. He has assisted both emerging and mature brands to grow their domestic and global footprints. He has proudly managed the Franchise Development for Maid Brigade for roughly a decade. Raychel and Joel have known the company for years and they understand that Maid Brigade (existing for over 35 years) remains relevant today because the franchise enables people to enjoy what’s attractive, sustainably! Potential franchisees want to attach themselves to proven brands (for systems and structures that work) while leveraging their own expertise and their willingness to get involved with the community, ultimately gaining business success and financial freedom through a constant residual revenue stream; on the other hand, consumers want clean and safe homes for their families, but not the extra work after coming home from their primary jobs. Do you know what you’re attracted to? Let’s talk about what Maid Brigade and franchising can offer you, and discuss in-depth how achieving a 7-figure business can be right up your alley! Tune in to our Podcast to learn more about everything you WANT and NEED about franchising, investment, financing processes and options. This is Eye On Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future. https://www.facebook.com/lance.graulich https://ionfranchising.com/
Business success is often built on top of understanding what IS attractive.
Despite many small businesses failing and closing every day, new businesses keep rising to take their place.
Why? Because a lot of people are attracted to the idea of being their own boss. The same are attracted to the freedom that comes with owning a business.
Who doesn’t want to be free from financial burdens and time constraints?
Who won’t appreciate the freedom to spend an entire day with their family while ensuring food on the table?
Maid Brigade understands these! This franchise is built around a system that allows the attractive to not only be attainable but also sustainable. And we’ve got Raychel Sullins as well as Joel Lazarovitz to talk about their system that’ll set you up for success.
Raychel’s career with Maid Brigade started at the front desk in 1999. She’s had the opportunity to advance within the company and has worked tirelessly in multiple departments before becoming Maid Brigade’s President in 2020.
Joel has over 20 years of experience in franchising. He has assisted both emerging and mature brands to grow their domestic and global footprints. He has proudly managed the Franchise Development for Maid Brigade for roughly a decade.
Raychel and Joel have known the company for years and they understand that Maid Brigade (existing for over 35 years) remains relevant today because the franchise enables people to enjoy what’s attractive, sustainably!
Potential franchisees want to attach themselves to proven brands (for systems and structures that work) while leveraging their own expertise and their willingness to get involved with the community, ultimately gaining business success and financial freedom through a constant residual revenue stream; on the other hand, consumers want clean and safe homes for their families, but not the extra work after coming home from their primary jobs.
Do you know what you’re attracted to?
Let’s talk about what Maid Brigade and franchising can offer you, and discuss in-depth how achieving a 7-figure business can be right up your alley!
Tune in to our Podcast to learn more about everything you WANT and NEED about franchising, investment, financing processes and options.
This is Eye On Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future.
https://www.facebook.com/lance.graulich
[00:00:00] LANCE: Welcome to Eye on franchising. Are you looking for business opportunities? Well, you are in the right place. We represent over 650 franchises and business opportunities. We will help you find your perfect franchise for free. We even have a free assessment on our website that will help us determine what the best businesses for you based on your investment level mindset, skillset and life experiences this is Eye on franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future. I'm your host, Lance Graulich each week, we will speak to fascinating folks from the world of franchising, franchise owners and founders, franchise, funders, and franchisees are you looking to find your perfect franchise or perhaps you are an independent business owner looking to grow and scale your business by setting up a franchise, either way, our team can help you. Eye on franchising where you will [00:01:00] learn the A to Z of franchising
[00:01:06] Welcome back folks. This is Lance Graulich with Eye on franchising, having another great episode coming at you today. We're going to talk with the president. All right. So let's dive into this. She started the front desk of maid brigade for maid brigade many, many, many years ago. She looks incredibly young. So we're going to get the real story. As to how someone starts at the front desk and becomes president all these years later. And her name is Raychel Leon Sullins and then we have the director or the, I should say the vice president of franchise recruitment vice-president of franchise development. This is Joel L he will pronounce his name effectively for you. Joel's background. Joe's got a passion for franchising. We're going to dive right into it. Welcome Joel. Welcome. Raychel to eye on franchisee
[00:01:57] RAYCHEL: What a lovely introduction. [00:02:00] It's a pleasure to be here. You're absolutely right. I have been with me brigade a long time. Uh, no, they do not employ child labor.
[00:02:11] LANCE: That is good to know. Raychel so let's, let's jump into it ladies first. So Raychel give me your, give me your history. You started with maid brigade in 1990 something
[00:02:22] RAYCHEL: 1999. That's right. Seems like eons ago. Well, I did, I started at may brigade at the front desk, my career prior to that. Was ballet and ballet teaching. So I decided after teaching ballet for awhile, I went to the Royal academy of dancing in London to get my undergraduate. I wanted a career change. And after interviewing with a few companies, I met with the co-founders Don and Bob. Really enjoyed the interview. And I thought, okay, I'm going to have to start [00:03:00] from, start from the bottom here. So I started at the front desk and over the years I've worked in every department in the company brand. So franchise development, marketing operations, I spent my longest time. Prior to a more strategic position. I spent the longest time as the MIS director. So management information systems, because whilst working at Maid brigade, I earned my MBA in IT management. Wow. But knowing the metrics of, of an organization really helps later, you know, in a leadership position. Understanding the numbers and knowing what we need to drive the organization forward. I mean, Maid brigade, one of the reasons I've been able to stay with the company as long as I have is because we are always evolving. You know, may brigade is not the type of company to say, you know what? Oh, we've been doing this [00:04:00] 20 years. We're comfortable. We're just going to, we're just going to keep status quo. Not as tall every year. I've been with the company. We've had new developments in, in the various different areas. Whether it's been a change in the way we clean, we were the first Maids to be a green clean certified first one in the industry.
[00:04:23] LANCE: Now, what does that, what does that mean? Exactly what exactly? I mean, just, just a high-level view, green clean, certified. Is that about the chemicals used? Is it what specifically
[00:04:35] RAYCHEL: We've evolved since then, but I will tell you, I will answer your question. Green clean certified. At the time, it meant that we were using cleaning solutions that were safe for people pets in the environment. Since then we have evolved to be the only made service to offer what we call the pure cleaning system. This means that we clean homes using electrolyzed [00:05:00] water and electrolyzed water is created using salt water and electricity. Electrolysis is the process that creates electrolyzed water, which is an extremely safe cleaning solution and very effective. So think of it this way. We have team members that we care deeply about, and instead of them having to use any solutions that like, cause any kind of, um, skin or respiratory issues, Then now using solutions that are harmless which is important to us
[00:05:35] LANCE: absolutely. I mean, I, if I had young kids, I mean, my kids are grown up now, but if I had young kids, I would certainly want them to want to feel safe when a cleaning is happening in my house. Of course.
[00:05:47] RAYCHEL: Absolutely. And on top of the pure cleaning system, we have what we call the pure mist process. Which is using a hospital grade disinfectant after the cleaning, we [00:06:00] apply it using an electrostatic sprayer so that all the high touch areas think lights, switches, handrails, remote controls,
[00:06:08] LANCE: the refrigerator handle in my house.
[00:06:10] RAYCHEL: Oh my gosh. We have a little device that measures the amount of organic matter and bacteria and we've done before and after test. And the pure system helped to get things like refrigerator handle is because they are one of the worst places. It helps to get them into what would be considered as safe zone. So we're not, we're not only clean homes, we're actually disinfecting them. And this is effective against flu and cold virus. Including the COVID-19 virus because it's hypochlorous acid.
[00:06:46] LANCE: Yeah. Well this, this certainly is a good place to start. Well, let's, let's dive into Joel a little bit. So Joel, you've been with, with maid brigade, how many years now?
[00:06:55] JOE: Just about 10 years. 10.
[00:06:56] LANCE: And how'd you get into the franchise world
[00:06:59] JOE: wow. [00:07:00] So we go back to, to, I'm going to break 1997. I cut my teeth with a franchise that was in the children's education and entertainment space. And I always liked. You know, learning and, you know, it was a young company and it was kind of baptism by fire. We just grew exceptionally quickly and it was kind of like, hold on, you got to learn about franchising pretty quickly. And the business model that's associated with it. And. Um, grew with that company and then was introduced to Maid brigade 10 years ago when, um, Maid Brigade, was looking at international development, looking outside of the United States. And so started on the international side and then the VP of recruitment, uh, actually retired. And then I was, um, they were gracious enough to offer me the position of, of managing the recruitment department. And, um, I've been doing that probably for the last seven years or so. And, and, and over my. [00:08:00] 23 years in franchising. I've had the great pleasure of introducing brands in over 65 countries, over 150 cities across the us all across Canada and, uh, Lance. Those I'm a huge advocate for franchising and the franchising model. I just been an absolute pleasure to work with Rachel and our entire team. I just loved the last 10 years with Maid Brigade
[00:08:23] LANCE: I love it so well, let's, uh, let's dive into the, even more fun stuff. We already talked about some of the reasons why Maid brigade, but we're going to kind of dive a little bit deeper. I mean, you guys have how many locations open right now?
[00:08:36] JOE: I can go over that.
[00:08:37] RAYCHEL: If you're counting territories, we're at about 383.
[00:08:42] LANCE: 3 3 83. And how many countries
[00:08:45] JOE: right now you know presently we're still covered in the U S and Canada.
[00:08:50] LANCE: Okay. I thought you had some other international deals. That's enough for now. Most of the listeners are going to be US-based and some in Canada as well. So let's talk about. [00:09:00] People listening are at all different stages. You have people that are first-time entrepreneurs that are looking at franchises, and maybe you don't even know anything about franchising. And then you have other people that are serial entrepreneurs and that have done different things. And maybe they do own a franchise. Maybe they have never owned a franchise at this point. And they're looking to diversify who is right for maid brigade. If you looked at the cross section of your franchisees, who are they
[00:09:29] RAYCHEL: uh, my successful franchisees are true entrepreneurs who appreciate the structure of a successful system. I mean, the reality is that so many small businesses fail in the first two years, but yet people still want to be their own boss. So the franchise model is really suited for those. You know, want to have their own autonomy, but yet want to be able to rely on a [00:10:00] system in our case of 35 plus years of having successful franchisees, uh, you know, it's allowing people to come in and. Piggyback off of the mistakes that we made in the early years
[00:10:14] LANCE: right. And that's, that's one big piece right there. I mean, me being an old ops guy, having somebody lay that groundwork, creating the systems, proving the systems, just marketing today is potentially so overwhelming for the average individual. How do you market today effectively to get yourself customers? I think you've figured that out by now. Is that fair
[00:10:35] RAYCHEL: It's always evolving, you know, it's tricky for example, Google. Changes its algorithms all the time. So it's really important when someone is looking at a franchise to, to ensure that there is a deep enough bench so that they can receive adequate support. So we have a dedicated digital services side, as well as a, an overall [00:11:00] marketing, um, department that can provide everything from strategic assistant, creative, whether it's coffee or artwork. But being able to provide a very comprehensive marketing support is extremely important. And to keep on top of things um, marketing team attend regular conferences so that they understand what's changed. What's changed, you know, this month compared to six months ago, if you don't keep your finger on the pulse of marketing, you do get left behind.
[00:11:31] LANCE: Yeah. Yeah. I, I tell people what I attend shows the two biggest things I'm looking for. All marketing and technology related. And in most cases, boy, they're, they're hand in hand these days. Right?
[00:11:43] RAYCHEL: Absolutely. And having, having an experienced team really helps, uh, we're very fortunate in that our support team. Many of our team members have been with us, not quite as long as I have, but in the [00:12:00] team.
[00:12:00] LANCE: No, that's, that's fantastic. I mean, longevity is certainly a wonderful thing with your, uh, with your bench strength, so to speak. So following up on the last question, If you were going to look at, let's say your most successful franchisees, maybe I'll toss this to Joel first, cause I'm sure you and Rachel talk about this because a lot of brands look at their most successful franchisees and kind of benchmark what those traits or characteristics are and possibly where they came from before. So who are those people? What did they do prior to maid brigade? And what are those traits or characteristics that you've seen that work in, in Maid Brigade or for that matter, maybe any franchise
[00:12:42] JOE: you know, it's funny. It's a great question. Cause I think if you, if you pulled franchisors, All different sectors of franchising. You may get the same answer to this question. And one of the things that I see, you know, having been in franchising for 23 years [00:13:00] and maid brigade, specifically for the past 10 and watching and tracking the success. Of our top franchisees, as the majority of them are, are really sales and marketing driven. You know, they really want to attach themselves to approve and brand, but at the same time, leverage off their own expertise and their willingness to get involved in their community and to promote the brand because let's face it. When people think of franchising last. Oh, my God. I woke up today and I can't wait to get involved in a cleaning franchise. Right.
[00:13:29] LANCE: You sound just like me, Joel. Cause that's, that's almost the exact story I tell people,
[00:13:36] JOE: but what's so interesting about it is when you peel off the layers, you know, and you realize, okay, wait a minute. I'm providing a valuable service to my community. Not only providing a valuable service, I'm going to be entrenched in my community. I'm going to focus in societal impact, which has become so much more important now than ever before. I'm going to make sure that I'm making a difference in my community. I'm going to hire and [00:14:00] employ people to, to make sure that they provide for their family. So, yeah. The sales and marketing side of it is, is important. It's, it's being willing to be a consumer advocate, I think as well, because the customer that you don't have today you can still be a customer. You'll get some tomorrow so that sales and marketing drive the HR side of it, being willing to employ people and, and, you know, that's critically important. So I would say many of them have that, that sales and marketing drive too, but want to be part of their community. And those that usually meshes exceptionally well for the franchisees on our end, that are, you know, into the seven figures. Absolutely
[00:14:39] LANCE: seven figures. We'll talk about that.
[00:14:41] RAYCHEL: And we have numerous franchisees who, um, are actually multi-millions when it comes to revenue and that surprises people sometimes. they think Oh, okay. A cleaning franchise. What's the potential? Well, the potential is, is very good. If you're willing to commit to the business, follow a [00:15:00] system and also reinvest in it, you know, it's very important that a new franchisee understands that they need to have enough capital so that they can invest in the business and not necessarily have to take. Money out of it for, you know, 12, 18 months. But to, to elaborate on what Joel said about the franchisees and their backgrounds, what's good about franchising is that you can have those skillsets. You can have the soft skills and really be from any background. We have engineers, lawyers, teachers. People that came from other franchises. it doesn't require that someone comes from my specific background. It's more about having the interest in working with people. And as Joe said, either consumers or employees, more so now than, than ever before,
[00:15:51] JOE: it's really an eclectic group. If I can just say it is an eclectic group. And, you know, the, the beauty of it. And I'm just going to add this one point is that [00:16:00] you're building a residual revenue stream. What a lot of people don't realize with Maid brigade is that you have a customer that's booking every second week. Well, now all of a sudden you can count on 26 weeks a year where you're getting revenue from that customer. So the beauty of our model is they're not going to leave maid brigade, unless you do something really stupid. And I, and I say that because. You don't want to trust a hundred people with the key to your home. You pull moms and dads, and that will tell you all the time. I don't want this second job of cleaning my home. When I come home, I just don't want to do that. So we're providing a service that is not, not considered a luxury anymore. It's a necessity. And so for those people, looking at our franchise model, that's something really to consider is that who doesn't want to build a residual revenue. Everyone does, you know, that's it really, we offer you that option.
[00:16:54] RAYCHEL: And the other question is who doesn't want the house cleaned. This is not a [00:17:00] service where it's oh gosh. You know, do I, do I really want to sit here and look at a dusty home that where the floors are unkept
[00:17:09] LANCE: yeah, it's certainly not one of those nice to have ideas. Everybody has to clean their home. Uh, the question is who, who is doing it? You know, is there income to do that? And certainly in my household. Yeah. We have people that do it for us. Of course. Time is time is everything. Time is everything. So let's get into. More of, and this is definitely a Joel question. I mean, you can certainly answer on this one, Raychel but Joel, you're probably talking to, I mean, you're talking a lot of people every month about perspective, you know, prospective franchisees candidates that are looking at Maid brigade. I would imagine you spot quite a few in the first phone call. You're like thinking to yourself. These are. [00:18:00] So this is the flip side of what I asked. So we're talking about people that are not right for maid brigade or for that matter, not right for franchising at all. What are the signs of somebody that is not going to fit within your company culture as a franchisee?
[00:18:15] JOE: Great, question. Um, I would say there's a variety of things that are, that would stand out immediately. The first part is not being willing to invest. Locally, you know, a lot of people will come and they'll think I'm going to attach myself to a franchise system and it's going to grow itself. And that couldn't be further from the truth. Right? Because the good part is that your learning curve should lessen because you're attaching yourself to a franchise system. However, you still need to be willing to invest and to create that adrenaline push to the brand and the awareness to the brand so that people know you are. So those people who come to us with no working capital or think that they can just buy the franchise and it's going to grow. That'll never work. It won't work for us. It probably [00:19:00] won't work for other franchisors, but I'll speak for us. And that we want people that are willing to invest in their area. The second component, I would say that's equally important is being willing to hire and train and get involved in your community because some people don't see themselves as salespeople, but at the same time, you have to have this willingness to be able to go out and maybe it's exhibiting at a green cleaning expo. Maybe it's sponsoring a local sports team. Maybe it's just getting involved in the community. So those that are, are really, really shy or inhibited and they are not comfortable hiring and training. That's an it's a negative and it doesn't mesh well for what you're going to do on a day-to-day basis. You know, with our business, I would say those are two of the things that came out immediately is having the interpersonal skills to deal with clients and employees. And then also that working capital, making sure you have that set aside to be able to create awareness within your community.
[00:19:59] LANCE: I had a [00:20:00] gentleman recently. Sorry, Raychel go ahead.
[00:20:02] RAYCHEL: I'm going to say Joe just made me think about something else. The most successful franchisees, having common. And that is that they, they embrace the comradery within the franchise system because when you're buying a franchise, it's not just about a brand and a logo, it it's more than that.
[00:20:21] And, and even beyond the systems that we offer, it's the people, um, being able to network with other franchisees who have been doing this 30 plus years, because. Believe itor not. We have franchisees that have been with us over 30 years. We're doing something right, apparently, but leveraging their skills is, is something that every franchisee should look at as part of the overall evaluation process. You know, all franchisees who are veterans are just so willing to share. And assist the younger franchisees. I just don't think [00:21:00] that it's something people who haven't thought about franchising before necessarily consider and is important.
[00:21:08] LANCE: It's such a great point, Rachel. Um, you know, so many people. know that they're going to get trained. Well, they're going to get supported by the corporate office, but you are a hundred percent correct. I know this being a franchisee multiple times, that some of the best value comes from this, you know, your group, your, your fellow. I call them fraternity, sorority, sisters, whatever that are doing exactly what you're doing. And everybody has everybody's best interests at heart because when you succeed the brand succeeds and builds everybody's equity and that sort of best practices that everybody, you know, Hey Rachel. So tell me how you're running your market in Tacoma, Washington, compared to what I'm doing in Boise, Idaho. It's amazing how people get to share their experiences and their successes. [00:22:00] So I love it. That's a great, that's a great piece of that answer right there. So let's get back to, uh, the money, the money piece, you know, and you don't have to divulge all of this at the moment. Uh, for those of you listening that have never seen a franchise disclosure document, there's 23 items in it and every franchise brand will. Give you their franchise disclosure document at some point in the process and item 19 is the earnings claim. The earnings claim could house a lot of different pieces of information. May brigade certainly has one, but, uh, I always like to say, I, I know plenty of people, including myself that have built multimillion dollar franchise organizations and it became very successful, um, within the franchise. But like any business, there are people that just don't belong in a franchise system. I was about to tell you, I had a gentleman that I spoke to not too long ago, there's a CPA. And he was really interested in a specific fitness brand for his shopping center that he owned. And he was [00:23:00] very, he was way too casual with. Their head of development, their version of Joel. In fact, he was late to the first meeting. He didn't seem to care. He kept saying things like, well, Lance I'll decide whether or not. I'm going to go with that brand or not. I said, no, that's not how it works. It's a two way street. And I realized immediately attitude, behavior being an ass. I hate to say it. This guy was just not somebody I would want as a fellow franchisee at all. He was never going to help anybody except for himself. So that was the last piece I wanted to add to that. So at the end of the day, I always say almost anybody can be a franchise. My self as a consultant, as a broker needs to match them up to the correct brand. And once you're there, um, can you make money? I mean, there is some misconception people think, oh, a franchise can be very expensive. And I always say compared to what, compared to what you know, you're going to [00:24:00] get training. You're going to get systems, all these different things. So let's talk a bit about that. You have so many successful franchisees. Probably didn't have as much money as they do today. So talk a little bit about how much money you can make with a franchise.
[00:24:17] RAYCHEL: As I mentioned earlier, we do have several locations that in terms of revenue or an excess of a million dollars a year, And that's not an earnings claim it's just the facts
[00:24:28] LANCE: and the investment. Remind everybody Rachel. So the investment level on average is how much for maid brigade.
[00:24:33] RAYCHEL: Joel what's the investmen level?
[00:24:37] LANCE: Should've thrown that to Joel. He deals with that every day.
[00:24:41] JOE: You, so you have a franchise fee that's 39,500. And then when you factor in the equipment and you know, our, our, our you water system and everything. Um, plus working capital, you're looking at a hundred to 130,000
[00:24:56] LANCE: and you could build a million dollar business. Plus
[00:24:59] JOE: we [00:25:00] have franchisees that are, you know, well into the seven figures, you know, and, and to your point, Lanza, of course, we're always proud. I'm always say, you know, one of the things I love to do is say we have an item 19 and look at the ed of 19 and look at franchisees because I don't want to call it a sales tool. It's just living proof of what our franchisees are doing in revenue. So I think it's, it's, it's great to be able to share with potential franchisees, which at the time or prospects, just how large a business you can grow, you know? And so that's something where we're proud to share our numbers with our item 19.
[00:25:35] RAYCHEL: This is not a hobby business. This is a business for business people, and you know, those million dollar franchisees, most of them have a GM in place did it happen overnight? No, it didn't. You know, it happened over, over a few years, but the reality is that for many, this Maid brigade [00:26:00] is going to be, you know, the final career destination, so to speak before retirement. So they're wanting to get into maid brigade, have a GM in place. So that, that it allows them to have Liberty with their time. We had one franchisee actually spend a year on a yacht with his family and he was able to do this because he has the infrastructure and. Now, you know, that's not, everyone's going to do that, but I'm just giving you an example of what is possible. If someone wants to come in to maid brigade thinking, okay, I really want a business where I can see this being my last quote, unquote career before retirement.
[00:26:41] LANCE: You just hit on something that is, uh, falls right into my next piece. And Joel you can certainly add to what Rachel just just said as well in the next answer. But you know, there are some people. Seem to think when they get into a franchise, some franchises, especially that they're just [00:27:00] buying a job. Now, the one thing I tell them, and certainly Rachel, the situation you've just described is the furthest thing from it. If you could take it. A year in a different state and have a team, your team run it. So clearly you're in a good situation, but it is one of those misconceptions out there. Oh, I'm, it's just going to, but I'm just going to buy a job. And I said, well, if you're going to be the only employee, then maybe you can feel like that. But then again, you're still have the opportunity to build equity, which you're not going to build in a, in a job. I explain that to people. I'm like, oh yeah, good point. You can't build equity as a W2 employee. Normally speaking. So Joel, your thoughts on all of that,
[00:27:41] JOE: it's funny when you say buy a job, it's something I always talk to people about. Do you want to buy a job or do you want to grow a business? Because when you're buying a job, The mentality is that I'm stopping at 5:00 PM. I'm checking out. That's not running a business, right. So when you're running a business, [00:28:00] you're accountable for what happens and you have people that are essentially reporting to you and you hold those entrepreneurial reins, so to speak. And that's really horrible. Yeah, it is. It is there, isn't the right. Yeah. You've got to steer it in the right direction because ultimately the success or failure, whether you're attaching yourself to a franchise system or not is your involvement and your energy and your enthusiasm, enthusiasm, and really, really driving that business. And so I think to your point, Lance, it's, it's not buying a job. You're building a business. If you want to buy a job, stay in employee. Don't buy anything. If you want to grow your own business. Attach yourself to a proven system where we'll share everything imaginable mentor we've even touched on the fact that where we're unique in our cysts in franchising is when we start training a franchisee, they spend three to four days at a seven-figure franchisee's locations because who else better [00:29:00] to train them than people that are.
[00:29:02] LANCE: Well, now we're getting the secret sauce, Joel. Yeah. Well, let, let's get there. Cause I was going to ask about not only your franchise selection process, but how the training process works. So let's dive into that right now,
[00:29:14] JOE: which is great. So what we do, that's unique to the industry. I believe because I have my pulse on it in my finger on the pulse. Is that. We, they spend three to four days at a neighboring franchisee's location so they can learn best practices and who else better than to do that. Then, then shadowing a franchisee who who's grown a successful business. We then follow up after those three to four days and send, you know, someone from our ops team to go and train them and train their employees and spend another three to five days with them. So having that two-prong training allows them. See, high-level what it's like to run the business. And then also what it's like to. Clean toilets, honestly, but all of this is part of our business model. So it's really important [00:30:00] that they can learn from some of our top franchisees, which to Rachel's point earlier are so willing to share their experience. And because they want to see our brand flourish and continue to flourish and grow by adding the right people. So that two-prong training, I think is just instrumental to franchisees success
[00:30:17] LANCE: yeah. And let me just throw something out there. Cause I know this is the case with maid brigade. Um, there are quite a few people. If I present a brand like maid brigade, some people that don't understand or like, oh, that's not a sexy business, that's a cleaning business. And I explained what, look, you need to know, know how to do everything within the business. But you're not cleaning everything every day. You're not going into people's houses, cleaning every day. You're going to have a team you're going to develop a team once people start to understand that they're okay with it, obviously.
[00:30:48] JOE: Yeah. It's, it's, it's important because no one wants to get into a business to clean a toilet. That's it? You know, you're not buying a franchise to do that. So, you know, it's very much owner [00:31:00] operated in the sense that you're managing. The business, but the expectation isn't for you to go out into a home every day and to have to clean it. It's the hiring train teams of two that are going to be able to go out and do that. So you can manage on manage your infrastructure, manage the growth of your business and scale it accordingly. So, yeah, I couldn't agree more. Absolutely.
[00:31:20] LANCE: In the franchise selection process. Obviously it all starts with a call with you and as they progress, you know, the franchise disclosure document is given. There's a review process for that. And, and so let's talk about, uh, well, let's review anything we didn't discuss within the process. And obviously I want to really hit on your, on validation validation.
[00:31:44] JOE: I can cover this, Rachel cause I talked to the franchisees all the time and there's been such great advocates. So we guide people through a process where it starts as an initial call with me, making sure their territory's available because when you have 380 territories, there's some that have been [00:32:00] spoken for obviously. Um, and then what we do. We guide them through a thorough process, which starts with pre-qualifying them getting a qualification form, making sure they have the disposable capital to be able to invest or access to that capital as well. Um, through funding. And then very quickly we introduced them to Rachel and Greg. Greg's our VP of operations. He's been involved with maid brigade for 17 years. He helps grow a business. $250,000 a year to over 2 million until we convinced him to become our VP of operations. And so we want to introduce. Our serious prospects, the Rachel and Greg, so they can learn about it day in the life of a franchisee. And to your point earlier, they need to understand what their role is going to be. Can they picture themselves managing these people and managing the business? And so that leads to. You know, going through that process. If they check all of our boxes, eventually it come for a discovery day. They meet everyone at our corporate office in Atlanta. They understand how we interact with them, [00:33:00] what the roles of our director, of it to VP of operations, to our digital media. How they interface with them and how they're involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. And to your point, then they go through validation. One of the things I'm most proud about is that we have tremendous validation. They can handpick anyone from our disclosure document. You know, obviously I make the introduction, so people don't think. Who is this guy or girl that's their competitor fishing for information. But at the same time, I make those introductions because I know regardless of who they speak with large or small, they're going to have good things to say about maid brigade and the support that we offer. And so they go through that validation process. Everything goes well, they come for the discovery day that I mentioned, and then essentially they are awarded a franchise. It is a two-way street. It's. Oh, I can handpick using your, the fitness example from the fitness brand before we need to make sure they're a good fit for us, because we don't want to dilute our brand. We want to build our brand. And the only way to do that is to add the [00:34:00] right people. So if we're adding someone who six months later comes back, What did I get into? I haven't done my job properly. I haven't pre-qualified them. And then it's a disservice to Maid Brigade it's a disservice to them. So we want to add the right people. So it's a step by step process. And then eventually everything goes great. They become a franchisee and we've all done our job properly.
[00:34:21] LANCE: And normally, how long does that process? On average?
[00:34:25] JOE: I would say two to three. To be fair. You know, some people, I see things being mentioned, oh, go through my process. And you know, in two, three weeks, number one, you got to disclose someone and they have to hold the FDD for 14 days. There's, who's going through a process in 14 weeks, 14 days or a month. If you're doing that, you're pushing them through. Make a fast sale and that's not going to help anyone. So I feel two to three months gives them the time that's necessary to fully evaluate us for us to evaluate them and for them to go through every step in a measured way to make sure that they're the right fit. And we make sure they're the right fit for [00:35:00] us as well.
[00:35:01] LANCE: So, Raychel how did Joel do, uh, talking through that process?
[00:35:05] RAYCHEL: As usual he's on point
[00:35:07] LANCE: I'm sure you have something to add
[00:35:10] RAYCHEL: we enjoy having people come to the discovery day, in-person know during the pandemic we did, of course, like everyone else pivot and rely on zoom, but there's something to be said about that face-to-face interaction and getting a good feel for whether or not this prospective franchisee. Has the interpersonal skills that we know are vital to be successful in this business.
[00:35:36] LANCE: Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, what did we not cover? Did I miss something that you would like to share? We were talking a little bit about your secret sauce, so to speak and, you know, uh, I know in your, in your, how do you say it? Is it the electro. Well, what kind of water is it?
[00:35:55] RAYCHEL: It's electrilized water, which is actually hydrochloric acid. If you wanted to [00:36:00] know the specific solution,
[00:36:01] LANCE: Now you told me the secret,
[00:36:07] RAYCHEL: the secret is the entire package from the home office team. And I'm not sure if Joel mentioned that we actually have a, a bilingual. Franchise employee recruitment specialist on staff.
[00:36:21] LANCE: Oh, wonderful. I didn't know that. That's great to know
[00:36:25] RAYCHEL: with, so with so many of our team members, um, being from the Latin American community, we thought it was advantageous to have someone that not just spoke the language, but had an appreciation for the cultural differences. And we also provide professional sales training. So even though our franchisees, our new franchisees have the interpersonal skills, we help to teach them how to engage with prospects when they're on the phone, because [00:37:00] every prospect has, it has a different idea of what a great experience. So we like to, we like to ensure that our new franchisees are feeling confident when they pick up the phone. I think we may be the only made service offering both the bilingual employee recruitment specialist, as well as professional sales, training and coaching.
[00:37:24] LANCE: I love it. That sounds like an amazing advantage. Joel, any final words?
[00:37:30] JOE: I'm going to say. The only other thing we probably haven't touched on is the fact that we do the, you know, everyone views us because of Maid brigade as a residential cleaning company and we'll always be a residential cleaning company first. That's what we've hung our hat on for the past 35 years. But we've also gone into the commercial disinfection really successfully as well. So whether it be bars, restaurants, schools, banks, you know, having the ability to give. Business owners, peace of mind, but by going in and disinfecting their, [00:38:00] their businesses. It goes a long way and used to be more the low-hanging fruit where you would clean the doctor's home and then he, or she would say, yeah, I trust you. Come clean my doctor's office. You know,
[00:38:10] LANCE: I was wondering, wondering if that's how it all happened.
[00:38:12] JOE: Yeah. It's, it's, it's more, but it's gone. It's become so much more than that now, especially with everything that's in the news and everything else to where, you know, hygiene and health is paramount. And so the be to be able to do that both on the residential and commercial side, it just added a whole new stream of revenue for our franchisees. So that's probably the only other thing I wanted to mention. I think we've touched on some phenomenal points, you know, and I appreciate your time. Appreciate it very much.
[00:38:38] LANCE: Well, we'll give the big boss the last word for today. Miss Raychel final, final words of wisdom for today.
[00:38:45] RAYCHEL: My sort of words of wisdom is that when you're considering franchising, whether it's maid brigade or some other do your homework learn about the other franchisees in the system, what they have to say about the [00:39:00] franchisor on the relationship? Um, that's key because when you're joining, typically a contract is for 10 years. So you want to be sure that the next 10 years of your life is a good one. So that would be, that would be my tip and, you know, If you're doing this a hundred percent,
[00:39:22] LANCE: I love it. I love it. Give it your all. Otherwise it's not even worth it. Right.
[00:39:27] RAYCHEL: Go big or go home.
[00:39:29] LANCE: That's it. Well, you guys have been fantastic, Rachel and Joel, thank you for being here and continued success and look forward to having you back sometime in the future.
[00:39:40] JOE: Thanks so much Lance really appreciate it.
[00:39:42] LANCE: All right. Bye bye.
[00:39:44] Thank you very much for listening today, please like follow and subscribe so you don't miss anything here at Eye on franchising visit our website. Eye on franchising.com E Y E O N. franchising.com and [00:40:00] complete our free assessments so we can assist with. Finding your perfect franchise this is Lance Graulich until next time.