Balvinder Uppal

Balvinder Makes Her Franchise Suit Her Goals

Balvinder Uppal is proof that running a successful franchise doesn’t have to conform to the 9-5. After all, success is measured by the goals you set – and Balvinder’s reasons for starting her own business were to have a more family-friendly lifestyle and a more stimulating job, whilst still earning a reasonable income. Her Jani-King franchise has meant she works early in the morning, but has the late afternoons free for the family.

Balvinder also knows all about franchising. She spent 15 years working for the head office team at KFC, the largest chicken fast-food empire in the world, and a major franchising operation. As an area manager, Balvinder had around 10 units to look after. She had HR responsibilities including hiring and firing managers and organising their training. However she also had to deal with some of the harder-edged financial issues, such as keeping an eye on the profit and loss of the units under her responsibility.

Balvinder loved the stimulation of her KFC role, but, with two school-age children, it was becoming too stressful and she wanted more time with her family. Balvinder, therefore decided she wanted to scale down her career and, although her teenage son warned her “Mum, it won’t suit you!”, she looked for an employed 9 to 5 role. After two months in the job, she quit because she was so bored and de-motivated – her son had been right!

However, Balvinder would not give up on her goal of finding interesting work which suited her lifestyle demands and she decided that running her own business could be the way forward. She knew that she didn’t want to set up a business from scratch and, given her in-depth knowledge of franchising, she decided to research that route. After about six months, Balvinder decided on a Jani-King franchise. “It was affordable, and I liked the idea of the turnover guarantee – it’s a good safety net.” (Jani-King promises their franchisees that they will get a minimum level of income during the first 18 months while they are building their businesses.)

Balvinder was also comfortable working in the cleaning sector and found it, operationally, very straightforward. “I was familiar with cleaning through my work at KFC,” she explains. “There, it was a major part of what I needed to manage and audit.” She finds the basics of cleaning are the same for all her clients’ businesses, “You use the same chemicals and equipment,” she affirms. However, the management style of the individuals she deals with differs between industries, for example the manager of a retail store will be very different to the manager of a night club. “You need to be able to get along with different people and understand their requirements of you as a service provider,” declares Balvinder.

Modest Aspirations

Balvinder’s aim has been to grow her business, slowly but surely. She realises that other franchisees have grand goals of hitting £50,000+ per month turnover within a short time frame, closely followed by the golden figure of £1m per annum. However, she wanted to retain a good work-life balance, whilst making a reasonable profit percentage, and she has found that possible with Jani-King. “Five years down the line I’ve reached £22,000 per month turnover with good profit levels,” she discloses. “My husband has a full-time job and can’t really help me with the business, so I need to be realistic about what a single person can achieve.”

Balvinder believes it is important to grow a business gradually. “That way you can cope with the growth and build staff as necessary, without compromising on service quality,” she explains. Her business now has three area supervisors, as her region is very spread out, covering areas of the West Midlands as far apart as Crewe, Telford, Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent. “My supervisors know what I expect, so they can make sure we provide a high level of service across all accounts,” says Balvinder.

Even though her aspirations are modest, Balvinder has acquired some big-name clients such as Ten Pin Bowling and Next. These have come to her through the Jani-King central sales force which acquires national contracts on behalf of franchisees. However, Balvinder knows she can’t rely only on this and has also added some smaller clients herself.

Making Experience Work

Three qualities important in making a Jani-King franchise work, according to Balvinder, are people management skills, ability to control costs and being strong-minded. She had learned how to manage staff whilst at KFC and believes this has played a key part in her Jani-King success: “You need to get the right people on board, train them and motivate them.” However, this is sometimes easier said than done, as Balvinder has found in some parts of her territory. “In certain areas, it’s really hard to find the right people,” she admits, “but that’s where being self-motivated and determined comes in. You just have to stick to your guns until you get what you want!”

Balvinder’s advice is to keep a keen eye on the costs incurred in the business. “This is particularly important in the early days when you are growing. You must remember you are in business for the long term and therefore you need a long-term vision. Patience also helps, because, if you get too greedy for new business in the early days, it can overwhelm you before you’ve really learned your trade or got proper systems in place.”

Achieving Her Goals

No franchisee can achieve their goals on their own, Balvinder included. She knew that the good franchise companies offer lots of training and support to their franchisees, and Jani-King is no exception. “The training I received at the beginning was excellent,” enthuses Balvinder. “The trainer was very passionate about the brand and the other franchisees I met were very keen, too.”

She is also pleased that she is able to continue to network at the quarterly conferences Jani-King runs for its franchisees. “Jani-King makes sure we get right to the point at these meetings, addressing any issues we might be facing and giving us good advice.” Balvinder admits that if you have problems, speaking to the other franchisees is useful. “Often, others have experienced the same issues themselves and are sometimes able to make helpful suggestions”.

Balvinder believes being a Jani-King franchisee has met her lifestyle expectations. “I do work hard, but I can fit things around my family much better now because I’m my own boss,” she remarks. All of Balvinder’s cleaning contracts are for services in the morning, which means she has the rest of the day to herself and can either go out selling or catch up with paperwork at home. Most days she is in the house when her 14-year-old daughter arrives back from school and that suits the family just fine.

“I didn’t go into the business to be a millionaire, although I know some people do,” admits Balvinder. “I wanted to earn a reasonable living and have a better lifestyle. This means keeping it manageable and having realistic goals.” However, that doesn’t mean that Balvinder isn’t interested in future growth. On the contrary, “I would like to grow my turnover to £50,000 a month over the next two years,” she states.

“Jani-King is very supportive of my personal approach to growth and always gives me the help I need.” They certainly have a very contented franchisee in Balvinder, a woman who is now a great deal less stressed than in her previous career. “As well as having more time for the family, I can also give them much more emotional support than before, whilst enjoying a stimulating career”, Balvinder concludes happily.