Starting a Franchise - What you Can be Doing During Lockdown

The coronavirus lockdown may have you temporarily sidelined, but if you have seriously been considering changing your career and taking on a cleaning franchise, now could be the ideal time to better understand the steps you need to take to start a franchise.

With this thought in mind, let’s talk through what you can be doing during lockdown towards starting a commercial cleaning franchise.

Consider the pros and cons of buying a franchise

You will have no doubt spent a lot of time considering the benefits of franchising, however, now is a good time to revisit these thoughts. A franchise allows you to start a business under a brand with a proven track record and a business model in place that you can trust. In addition to this, a cleaning franchise business also features a built in support structure. Your success means success for your franchisor, so they are available to provide the advice and support that you need to build a profitable business.

A further definite pro for starting a franchise business is that start-up costs can be expensive, however, a cleaning franchise can be started with relatively low overheads, other than purchasing a franchising license and paying a monthly management fee.

Find the right franchise for you

Before signing a franchise agreement, it’s essential to find the right franchise for you. Find a commercial cleaning franchisor with the support system and management costs that suit your goals, budget and personality.

Form a limited company

When you are ready to start a franchise, it’s important to create a limited company. Many customers, business partners and franchisors place more trust in limited companies, compared with sole proprietors. It’s also important to consider that properly incorporating also offers several legal, tax and business advantages.

Research the market

Whilst you are not in a position to begin commercial cleaning work currently, at some point in the future, you will need to take your opportunities. To do so, use this time wisely to research the market for commercial cleaning services. When businesses are operating as normal, there are plenty of opportunities to provide your services, you will just need to find the most lucrative markets for ongoing contracts.

Get your finances in order

If the opportunity to start a cleaning franchise business is available in the near future, perhaps sooner than you would have imagine, it’s essential to ensure that you have the necessary funds in place. If you need to obtain financing, consider the possible sources of capital that you could seek, for example, family investment, or banks and finance companies.

Review franchise agreement

Before signing a franchise agreement, it’s vital to make sure you understand all terms of the contract, including your rights and obligations. As well as spending time reviewing a franchise agreement yourself, you should also hire a lawyer to look over the contract for you.

Seek out training opportunities and employees

Use any downtime you may be faced with in as useful a way as possible. If you are new to running a business, there may be online training courses and webinars that you can use to learn more about building a successful franchise. It is also smart to begin the process of looking for experienced staff that will be able to help you kickstart your franchise in the near future.

For more information on franchising with MCS, browse our website today.

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