- Start Up Cost:
- Franchise Type:
- Sector Type:
- Investment Type:
- Market:
- £15,950
- Home Based, Office Based
- Cleaning Services
- Start-up
- B2B, B2C
Dublcheck has been providing premier cleaning services for offices, showrooms and health
facilities throughout the UK for over 25 years. We have over 100 franchisees operating
across the UK.
Our dedicated sales team introduces new customers to the company every day and our
dedicated head office team supplies invoicing service and additional support, enabling you
to concentrate on growing your business.
Having been a franchise for over 25+ years, Dublcheck covers the whole of the UK.
The variable investment levels offered allow franchisees a choice of business size. The
benefits of the franchise are: low-cost entry; low overheads; recession-proof utility
business; guaranteed turnover*.
Dublcheck’s franchises provide low-risk opportunities, added security and challenging
management roles
Following the completion of the initial comprehensive training course, we will support your
business by providing a full administration package. We will support you by taking care of
invoicing, credit control and optional payroll service. Additional modular training,
specifically tailored to meet your needs, is always available, enabling you to grow and
expand your business with ease.
A Dublcheck franchise gives you the opportunity to get involved in every aspect of running
a successful growing business in either a hands-on cleaning role, fully managed position or
a little in between. Part of your day may be home- or office-based ordering materials,
coordinating staff schedules and liaising with your staff. Making regular monthly visits to
your customers to ensure good customer relationships will lead to more opportunities to
offer complementary services.
Mike Masser previously served in the RAF from 1968 to 1980 achieving the rank of corporal. On leaving the RAF he worked for British Aerospace, initially in Chester and later in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for 12 years.
Due to family reasons Mike moved back to the UK and decided that he would like to work for himself and be able to run his own business. He decided to invest in a franchise that went into liquidation. Unfortunately he lost the investment he had put up to become a franchisee. Although this was very costly Mike was determined that despite the setback, the support and advice from a franchise was an integral requirement for his future plans.
Mike came across an advert in the local paper for a new franchise opportunity that ticked all his requirements. After setting up an initial meeting with the Dublcheck team he soon decided that their business model and ethos was just what was required.
This initial interest soon saw Mike Masser become Dublcheck's first franchisee. He started his commercial cleaning business on the 1 June 1994 and has been with them ever since, amassing over 20 years of profitable business and clients to his portfolio.
Of investing in a second brand after his first experience of franchising had ended so badly, Mike says: “I knew I wanted the support network of a franchise as they would not only support me with the day to day running of the business – along with the paperwork and banking – but they also actively help me find clients.
“The clients they found were guaranteed to achieve a level of income which meant my franchise would be a success and I have been working closely with them ever since. In recent years we have helped other potential franchisees look at our business model to show transparency and the figures they could achieve when investing with Dublcheck.
“After 20 years I am taking more of a back seat and passing on the reins to my son who will no doubt run it for the next 20 years. I strongly believe that the Dublcheck franchise is the kind of franchise that would suit many service leavers looking to be their own boss. Their network of support provides not only the guaranteed income they offer, but also continued support from the day you sign up to 20 years after. I can testify to that.
“My experiences and skills gained in the RAF were recognised by Dublcheck and they helped me harness these skill sets to successfully run and sustain a franchise for so long.”
Jolanta Lavrenova and her partner Andrejs moved to the UK from Latvia in 2005 and now own a Dublcheck franchise.
Why did you decide to run a franchise together and why Dublcheck?
We decided that franchising would be the best option for us because of the support we get from the franchisor; we didn’t have any business experience so it felt safer option than starting from scratch. We wanted a management franchise in particular so that we could start by working part-time and gradually build up the business. Dublcheck seemed to tick all the boxes for us – no other franchise offered guaranteed turnover.
What strengths do each of you bring to the business?
It is great working together as we both know exactly what is going on with the business. Over time, we have realised which tasks are more suited to each of us. Andrejs is better at managing staff and doing the accountancy paperwork, while I’m better at maintaining relationships with clients and bringing in more customers.
How have you found your experience of working together so far?
We have very much enjoyed working together so far! It has been a life-changing move for us to invest in a Dublcheck franchise and it turned out to be the best thing for us to work together. The best thing about working together is the support we get from each other.
How do you fit work around family life?
Dublcheck has given us great flexibility; we can plan our schedule as we need and want. We have a four-year-old daughter and we are spending more time together as a family, which is great.
Would you recommend franchising as a couple to others?
I would definitely recommend franchising! We have had so much support from head office; they are always there if you need them and it doesn’t feel as though you are completely on your own. When you invest in franchise the system is already there!
Dublcheck franchisees come from all walks of life, and David Innis, who has spent time as a recruitment consultant, travel rep and insurance salesman, is living proof that a variety of previous employment skills has been more than useful when running his Dublcheck franchise.
“I knew I wanted to do something where I could be independent, as it is what I was used to doing,” says David, who worked abroad as a rep for Thomas Cook in his early twenties and had been out on the road selling insurance for five years before starting his business.
“It was a case of realising that a franchise was a more suitable model to deliver a long-term, independent business for me,” he explains. A background of business studies at college, followed by stints in the travel, recruitment and finance industries, meant that David was well-placed to think about beginning his own business; but looking into the possibility of a franchise offered one extra, obvious advantage.
“Within a franchise you have more support and therefore more confidence in your chosen business,” says David. He and his brother-in-law went to the franchise exhibition at the NEC in March 2013 and shortly afterwards they invested in a Dublcheck franchise, sharing the chosen franchise level of £15,000.
With two years in recruitment, the business development side of the franchise was something David felt instantly at home with, and he now has a team of five cleaners working for him in the busy city of Birmingham, some large contracts in the offing – and a turnover of £50,000.
David’s brother-in-law subsequently sold his share of the business to David – a development that he was not fazed by in the slightest. “I was like a dog with a madly wagging tail, realizing how many opportunities there were out there, and having to curb my enthusiasm!”
David says it took him around nine months to see just how many opportunities there were in the area. “Now I realise that the opportunities are endless. Everyone cleans, everyone needs cleaners.”
That’s not to say that franchisees can always follow up and win new contracts whenever they like. As David is the first to admit, setting up a business that grows surely and steadily entails good business acumen.
David explains: “I’ve got two great new business opportunities coming my way at the moment but I can only say yes to one of them. The focus is to keep building, and not to over-extend.”
David is one franchisee who was clearly thinking ahead when he made the decision two years ago to invest in Dublcheck.
“It was the prospect of a consistent cashflow that clinched it for me,” he reveals. “With many of the other franchises I was looking at you had to go out and look for your next customer very quickly, whereas with Dublcheck, the business is such that you set it up and it practically runs itself. Not having to constantly chase leads was a very attractive prospect.”
For David with his interpersonal skills, obtaining new contracts has never been a problem. But it is probably the most recent change in the way he is going about his business which promises even more lucrative opportunities in the future.
Although there is no need to have premises most franchisees operated from home in order to keep overheads low in the beginning, David has recently invested in a business premises, which will give him frontage on a busy high street.
“It was an old takeaway shop which is now an office and I’ve gone into partnership with a friend and colleague who is offering a removals service from a different part of the premises,” he explains.
“I now have a shop window complete with Dublcheck-approved branded signage which will give me a very obvious presence on the high street. I’ve already had a number of walk-ins and I’m about to enter the area of student lettings so I’m preparing to be particularly busy as landlords always want properties cleaned.”
The support of head office has been a plus during this time, with David saying he appreciated the legal support from the Dublcheck team when dealing with new contracts in particular with the fast-paced world of letting agents.
There only remains one question for the David whose wife Hannah is due to have their first child towards the end of the year.
“Hannah is an incredibly successful recruitment consultant and she would be great for the business,” he laughs. “It would be a dream to have her on board and who knows, maybe this could happen one day.”
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