Asking price: £33,500

Sales revenue: £35,000

Net profit: < £100k

Fixtures value: Undisclosed

Stock value: Undisclosed

Franchise terms
The remainder of the initial 5 year franchise agreement is in operation however the franchisor would be happy for a purchaser to sign a new 5 year agreement.

Business description
Offered for sale is a domestic cleaning franchise covering the Ashford, Maidstone and Medway areas of Kent. The business is part of a long established franchise group covering the whole of the UK.

I have been trading this business in the Kent area for around 4 years and have an established base of around 75 regular weekly clients. No cleaning needs to be done by the owner as all clients have their own allocated cleaner.

This business provides the new owner with an immediate and automatic income stream as clients pay directly into the business bank account by standing order. As such, from the day a new owner took over - regular payments would be coming into the bank account on an almost daily basis.

The nature of this business means you:

Don’t employ any cleaning staff
Don’t need to deal with cleaners NI or PAYE
Are paid in advance by your clients and don’t need to invoice
Don’t need to do any cleaning yourself

This franchise area covers a very lucrative territory with a high proportion of ABC homes - the target market for our service. Within the area, only one town has ever been thoroughly marketed and so the business opportunity provides massive untapped potential for growth. Many franchisees within the group earn well in excess of £100,000 pa from this very business, many with far smaller franchise territories.

The new owner's role in this business would be purely managerial - overseeing the current operation of the business and expanding it to exploit it’s full potential. To operate the business effectively, you would need to live within the franchise territory or a comfortable travelling distance to it. The business can be run from home and is easily relocatable around the franchise territory. The hours of business are normal office hours, Monday - Friday, 9-5.

The franchise group is a well established domestic cleaning group with a recognised brand. The group also runs sister company offering oven cleaning and carpet cleaning in the same area - which allows for excellent referrals from companies within your own group.

Over the past 12 months, turnover has been in the region of £35,000. The costs of operating this business are very low with the main expenses being advertising and telephone costs. There is a monthly management fee payable to the franchisor of £200+VAT per month - in return from Head Office support, internet generated leads and operating the group website. This business therefore provides an excellent profit margin and can offer a terrific and regular income.

The sale price includes full training at the group’s head office - where the new owner would learn everything there is to know about the day to day running of the business; how to source clients, how to source cleaners and how to develop the business. It also includes stationary and 50,000 advertising leaflets to help you grow your business. Included in the price, there will be marketing support from Head Office, including 20,000 leaflets being delivered into the franchise area by Royal Mail in order to give the new owner a great head start on finding new clients.

Due to other business commitments within the same franchise group, I feel I am unable to exploit the business’s full potential to that which is readily achievable. This is a great opportunity for an individual, couple or even family to grow a profitable and enjoyable business in the highly demanded domestic cleaning market.

As the business has been set-up, has an established client base, a pool of reliable and vetted cleaners and a regular income stream already in place - many of the early start-up fears of a business have been alleviated - allowing a new owner to take over and straightaway be able to focus on developing the business and growing it to the level that other franchisees in the group have shown to be achievable.

Years established: 4

Employees: Cleaners are self-employed. Not employees of the business

Trading hours: 9-5 Weekdays

Home based: This business can be run from home.

Relocatable: This business can be relocated.

Location
The business currently operates from Ashford, Kent. However it is a home-based business and so can easily be relocated. Ideally the purchaser needs to live within the franchise area (Ashford & ME postcode area) or within a reasonable travelling distance of it.

Expansion potential
This franchise area covers a very lucrative territory with a high proportion of ABC homes - the target market for our service. Within the area, only one town has ever been thoroughly marketed and so the business opportunity provides massive untapped potential for growth. Many franchisees within the group earn well in excess of £100,000 pa from this very business, many with far smaller franchise territories. As I currently have a number of other business interests within the same franchise group - I have been unable to exploit the business's full potential recently. The level of growth is completely up to the ambitions of the new owner. The business's current size could be maintained with minimal effort in order to give a steady income. Or, for someone wanting to commit to this as a full time opportunity - the expansion potential is simply enormous.

Competition / Market
The domestic cleaning industry is always in high demand, particularly for businesses like these which source quality cleaners, vet them and arrange the introduction to clients. Because we take away many of the "stresses" the customer would find by finding and employing their own cleaner - more and more people are looking to companies like this.

Support & training
The new owner would receive full training at the franchise head office. This is included in the price and includes accomodation at Milton Keynes where the training is held. The training covers everything you'd need to know to run, grow and manage this business. This would include finding clients, finding and vetting cleaners and all the day to day operations of the business. The role of a new owner would be purely managerial as cleaners are in place for both the weekly cleaning and holiday and sickness covers.

Reasons for selling
I have operated this business for over 4 years and have built it from a new franchise with no clients and cleaners to an established business with regular client base. Over the past 18 months I have become involved in other businesses within the same franchise group and as such, can no longer commit the time to this business that I need to. As the business is in good shape and has so much potential - I would like it be bought by someone who can build on what has already been achieved. The level of growth that a new owner would like to achieve is completely up to their own ambitions. The current level could simply be maintained with minimal effort - to provide a steady income at the same level. Or it could be expanded enormously to provide a far far higher income.

Financing available
The franchise group is a recognised name by most High Street banks. As such, this could assist in securing finance.