Joe Manages His Way to Success

From lorry driver to business man - Joe McGuigan has shown that you can reach for your dream and attain it. One day, while the Scot was sitting in his lorry cab, he began dreaming of a better life for himself and his family. He wanted more of a challenge in his working day and he wanted to work for himself.

Joe decided he wanted to run his own business and he believed that a franchise was the best route for him. As he discovered, there are two types of franchise: managed franchises and the “man-in-a-van” type. Initially, Joe decided to go with one of the latter franchise companies and spent five years working hard and building up his business knowledge. Whilst this taught him a lot about running his own business, he felt he wanted to move on to managing people, rather than having to do everything himself.

Joe looked around for opportunities. What kind of business could he move into? He looked at quite a few managed franchise opportunities and kept coming across the name ‘Jani King’. Joe had done some domestic cleaning work in his previous operation and knew that the commercial cleaning market is more lucrative. He was immediately attracted to Jani King and started his Glasgow area franchise with them in September 2005.

Off to a Flying Start

Joe was fortunate that an existing franchisee in his area had just sold back its business to Jani King. This meant there were contracts available in the locality which Joe was able to take on immediately and he was thus able to start with a turnover of £16,000 per month from day one.

Although Joe found it hard to deal with such a large amount of business while he was still learning, his previous knowledge of the cleaning sector helped get him off to a flying start. The former territory franchisee was able to give him some help and support for the first week or so, and, more importantly, Joe was able to take advantage of Jani King’s training programme for new franchisees. When Joe started his business he found he had to work very hard indeed. “You need to get to know as much as you can, so you can understand how to get the best out of your business and get the best out of your people,” explains Joe. “That way you can start making money.” Jani King’s business model is tried and trusted over many years and, once Joe had his business up and running, he found he was able to reduce his workload a bit. “I’m certainly not working as hard as I did with my previous franchise,” admits Joe. “I’ve even put on a few pounds!”

Structuring the Business Correctly

Joe employs between 50 and 55 part-time cleaners in his business and has a supervisor to help him run the contracts and do most of the staff training. Because Joe had sizeable contracts on his books from the outset, he was able to set up a management structure straight away, which is not always possible for franchisees who are building slowly. He also has a mobile cleaner who covers for absences and sickness, so there are fewer times when Joe has to actually roll his own sleeves up and clean. “My aim was always to stay away from the cleaning aspect of the business,” he smiles. “I had enough hands-on work in my previous operation.”

Joe had a difficult period about a year into the business when he lost a supervisor. This meant that he had to do the supervisor’s work for about three months until he managed to recruit a new one. “It was useful, as it gave me an insight into the business and what the staff have to do,” concedes Joe. “But I wouldn’t want to be doing it every day!” Unlike some businesses in the cleaning sector, Joe has found it quite easy to keep staff. “People like to work for me, because I’m fair and a good boss,” he says. “I also try to employ nice people if I have the choice. That seems to work well.”

Twenty-two different clients mean twenty-two different cleaning requirements with a huge variety of cleaning work: the businesses Joe deals with include cinemas, shops, retail outlets, offices and even a factory building. Most of these contracts have come direct from Jani King, acquired through their national sales force, but there are a few contracts which Joe has built up himself. Now, he is turning over around £300,000 per annum.

The Right Attributes

Although Joe McGuigan was a lorry driver, running his own franchise prior to Jani King allowed him to acquire very useful knowledge and experience. His main skills are in knowing how to set up a business and what he calls “general business nous”, particularly in relation to administration and employing people.

Joe attributes his success to following the Jani King system. “You need to keep your rates right,” he explains, “As well as keeping on top of the business, managing your costs etc., you need to know what’s going on.” Although he brought some skills with him, Joe believes Jani King has taught him much about running a bigger business. “I’ve learned a lot about managing finances, costs and labour,” he states. “These are things I feel I could use in any business now.”

Joe has received regular support from Jani King, where the head office team is always available to contact when necessary. He also finds it useful to talk to other franchisees, whom he sees at regular meetings. “Talking to other people in the same situation is useful,” admits Joe. “They have good ideas and we discuss how to deal with a variety of issues.”

However, what really motivates Joe is helping his clients. “I enjoy solving problems and creating a win-win situation,” he enthuses. He goes on to describe a hypothetical situation: “For example, if a client’s premises have been flooded, then I am able to offer extra services to help them get back to business.” This way, Joe feels that he is offering not just contract cleaning, but a real value-added service. “And I’m getting extra money for it, too, so everyone wins,” he adds with a grin.

Working Towards the Future

Joe McGuigan’s life is very different now to when he was driving a lorry for a living. “There is more stress if things go wrong, as they sometimes do, but I can manage my work much better,” he says. Joe also finds he can fit things in around his family life. Now, he sees much more of his wife and two children, aged 12 and 15.

In his spare time he likes to fit in sport: skiing, football and golf, where he has managed to reduce his handicap down to a respectable 18.

Joe’s aim has been to reach a level of turnover at which he can receive a good income and he believes he is nearing that point. “The cleaning sector is hard work,” he admits, “But you can make money if you get the model right. You also need to keep good relationships with your customers.” Joe expects to keep his franchise for a few years, then sell it and move on. “I’m always on the look-out for new opportunities,” he laughs.