Case Study - Rosemary O'Rourke
Rosemary has taken on Merry Maids of Guildford following a 27 year career as a nurse.
Having worked for so long in the same profession Rosemary had decided it was time for a change and a new challenge and started to investigate the possibility of investing in a franchised business. She comments; "After a lot of research I decided that a franchise would be the best option for me. Having made the decision to start a new career in an unfamiliar market I wanted the security of working with an established business model."
Her research through the BFA and The Franchise magazine helped her to narrow down her search area to either domestic cleaning or the lettings market.
Rosemary continues; "I finally decided that domestic cleaning was the best route for me, there are changes happening with the laws relating to the lettings market at the moment and it is becoming more focused on academic training which didn't really appeal to me. Domestic cleaning has proved to be in constant demand over a long period of time and I was confident that it would be a relatively safe choice."
After looking into various cleaning businesses Rosemary decided on Merry Maids. She had been impressed from the outset with the strong brand reputation, standard of communication and their approach to setting up a new franchise.
After agreeing to take on the Guildford area, Rosemary attended the Merry Maids training academy, which she describes as a business degree condensed into two weeks. During a training academy new business owners learn every aspect of managing a Merry Maids business including recruitment, sales and marketing, financial management and scheduling and cleaning techniques.
The training academy is just one part of the support that new business owners receive from ServiceMaster, the company that operates the Merry Maids franchise network. In addition they also provide a comprehensive study pack which franchisees receive prior to the training academy at head office. After the training academy Rosemary will continue to receive support and in-depth interaction from the Merry Maids' franchise development team as well as assistance from an established franchise owner.
Rosemary says; "Thanks to Merry Maids I feel fully equipped and prepared for the challenges that await me in my new venture. My long term plan is to grow the business and operate cleaning teams from commercial premises but for now I am focusing on building up a core client base."
