John Goodyear only started his Betterclean Services York franchise on 1 December 2012 and has already landed two significant contracts and developed a strong pipeline. While the modern marketing methods are to be embraced, John has proved that there really is no substitute for being pro-active. With his first direct marketing campaign due to start in January, John has followed his training with some relationship building activity, getting out and about meeting his target customers.

“Following the training I got out and visited my local targets customers. It can be very difficult to actually get to speak to the right people, but occasionally you walk in at the right time and get to see the right person straight away. Recently I walked into a local engineering firm and they were just looking for a new cleaning services provider, so they were really keen for me to quote. I’ve also had enquiries via the Yell website, I’ve taken out some advertising on that.”

As well as the local engineering firm, John has managed to win a contract from a privately run educational establishment near York, which was damaged by recent flooding. He explained: “I was just there at the right time, nothing beats that personal contact. I’ve also just quoted for local dentists and doctors, as well as the regional office of a national construction business – I went in and managed to get to speak to the office manager who just happened to be looking for a new cleaning services provider.”

“I’m getting interest from a wide diversity of potential customers. I purposefully haven’t just gone after a specific type of customer, although doctors and dentists surgeries will be my key market in 2013. After that, hopefully I’ll have grown the business, so I’ll have more employees and trading history, so I’ll be hoping to add some schools to my customer list.”

John said the people he meets are very impressed with the professional way in which quotes are provided. “They take a few hours to do, because they’re detailed and everything’s transparent, but I’ve had some excellent feedback from clients who have said that it makes them more confident that they are dealing with a highly professional outfit.”

John was previously York City Council’s Assistant Director for Environment and was responsible for overseeing services including; refuse collection, street cleansing, parking, parks and open spaces, as well as managing 700 cleaners working across 125 different sites. For 26 years, he has lived north of York, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors.

John has been pleasantly surprised by the volume of work he has been invited to tender for and said he is relishing the challenge of really establishing and growing his business in 2013 and beyond. “The tendering process takes time and customers have to honour existing arrangements with suppliers, but I’m confident – and I’m ambitious. My target is to achieve a monthly turnover of £10,000 next year. It’s still early days, but I have no regrets about going for it. I’m learning all the time and I’m enjoying it.”

Betterclean Services provides everything a franchise owner needs to launch and develop their own business – including targeted marketing campaigns for the first year to help attract customers. You will need to be able to raise approximately £45K + VAT (including working capital) and there are various financing options available, subject to status.

Successful candidates usually come from a senior management background; have solid commercial awareness; and excellent English language and communication skills.