"Growing My Business" - Molly Maid franchisee David Roney
8th May 2008 - Molly Maid
The MOLLY MAID service provides high quality reliable domestic cleaning operated by Franchise Owners who manage teams of maids within an exclusive area. Although some sales and management experience is an advantage, MOLLY MAID franchise partners come from all walks of life.
The qualities MOLLY MAID look for are human attributes such as common sense, ability to get on with people and a willingness to work hard. David Roney, is one such franchisee, who tells the story of his MOLLY MAID franchise start-up here.
I knew that I wanted to run my own business, and wanted the autonomy that provided. I did think about going it alone but as I had no previous business management experience I thought that investing in a franchise was a safer bet. I wanted to choose a franchise that provided a good level of support and training so that I could get the best start.
When I started looking I hadn’t decided what type of industry or what franchise I wanted to run my business in. I did my research because I wanted to be sure that I picked the right franchise, so I looked at a wide spread of industries. The domestic cleaning industry came top for me, and I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to run a management franchise. The industry itself is in constant growth so there would be plenty of opportunity to expand my business.
Once I decided on the industry I looked into the big domestic cleaning franchises that are in the market. I chose to go with MOLLY MAID because it seemed the most professional and was a well known brand. They were a full member of the BFA as well which was important to me and re-enforced the credibility of the company. I also felt that they would put the most effort into supporting me and growing my business.
I started with MOLLY MAID on 16th Jan 2006 after a week of intensive training at the support office. I was not left out there on my own and I had my business advisor with me in the first week to help me get a team in place and to make contact with my first customers. There were many challenges in the first year - getting to know the area, finding the right staff, the right customers, and the right distribution company were just some of them.
I do sometimes kick myself for not listening to the advice I was given from the Support Office on distribution, although I followed it in the end I could have saved myself a lot of time and money, not to mention the worry! In my first year my main target was to get 3 cars on the road, to break even, and establish the business in the local area.
I achieved this and started to draw a salary which came as a great relief. The danger is then to relax a little too much, but then MOLLY MAID were there to encourage me to grow the business to the next stage. This year I am planning to get to 7 cars and employ an assistant to help me with the office administration. Right now I have 5 cars, so the extra 2 by the end of the year is a challenge I am looking forward to achieving.
On a personal front the best thing that happened to me in 2007 was my girlfriend agreeing to marry me. Business wise it was becoming the cleaner of choice in my local area, which was rewarded through my sales increasing and achieving the targets set to qualify for the MOLLY MAID travel incentive to Crete. I am also very proud of the reliable team of staff I have working with me; they certainly make my days easier!
