Since 1991, Jan-Pro Franchising International has been perfecting its model of franchise ownership, maintaining that franchise-run businesses offer higher quality than conventional cleaning companies. Jan-Pro has created a competitive franchise support program to keep its business on the rise.

According to Lapointe, conventional cleaning companies have an average employee turnover rate of 55%, while commercial cleaning franchises average 11% or 12%—Jan-Pro has offices in its system with less than 1% employee turnover.

Jan-Pro’s secret to enticing great franchise owners to join its system is to treat them not as franchisors, but as partners, and to provide a comprehensive support program. The franchise industry has changed considerably in recent years, said Lapointe, and many of today’s franchisees are yesterday’s laid off, highly experienced managers. They expect an up-to-date style of interaction from the franchise owner.

“These are very sophisticated business people who understand the complexities of today’s economy and what it means for their business,” said Lapointe. Owners no longer sell a franchise, sit back, and collect royalties; today’s franchisees have high expectations for support.

Building a foundation
Jan-Pro’s main objective is to provide that high-quality support by, first, carefully selecting its franchise partners. Jan-Pro offers two levels of franchisee ownership, master and unit. Master franchise owners, or regional masters, go into a city or region and build the business for Jan-Pro. They develop customers across that area and sell unit franchises. Unit franchisees work under the master franchise owners, who provide them with customers to service.

The second step to providing high-quality support involves focused training and on-site visits with experts, in addition to equipping the master franchise owners with software and Internet marketing tools specific to the Jan-Pro model.

Operating in the commercial cleaning industry, Jan-Pro’s mission is to provide the best service possible with standards that exceed customer expectations. This model has led to Jan-Pro’s current success with master franchises in 66 cities and more than 3,400 unit franchises across the US and Canada. Annual billings recently crested $70 million, a number that has literally doubled since 2002. In addition, Jan-Pro is rated #5 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s list of fastest growing franchises and #22 on its Franchise 500.

Finding a void
Before Jan-Pro, Lapointe created and headed Retail Recruiters, a major US executive recruiting business. In the early 90s, he attended a seminar in which the speaker mentioned the commercial cleaning industry as one of the three most progressive business-to-business growth industries. Intrigued and poised for a change, Lapointe decided to investigate this area for potential franchise development.

After extensive research, he found there was “a tremendous void in service quality,” and the area was ripe for development. Lapointe gravitated specifically toward a franchise business because franchisees are invested in the business and tend to offer higher quality services. Additionally, having a franchise owner reduces or removes the problems of absenteeism, employee turnover, and poor quality that plague traditional commercial cleaning companies.

Fostering Partners
Jan-Pro carefully selects its partners for success. Potential master franchisees must qualify financially, but they must also be a match in their mind set. “People have to understand where the business is going—they have to believe in the vision and the brand of the business,” said Lapointe.

“We select franchise partners who want to align themselves with us and work as a team,” he continued. “That’s why Jan-Pro strives for a partnership mentality.”

Jan-Pro master franchisees undergo an initial two-week training session at the master training facility in Chicago, Ill. There they learn all aspects of the business from telemarketing, outside sales, operations, and supporting IT systems. In addition to classroom time, master franchisees try out their skills in Jan-Pro’s Chicago offices, running live appointments, and visiting real prospects and customers under supervision, which considerably shortens their learning curve when they return to their home cities.

Franchisees are further integrated into the Jan-Pro system with the help of a comprehensive IT system that assists them in running their business. Jan-Pro Enterprise Solutions (JES) is an Internet-based, real-time software platform that aids all phases of the business operation, from front-end customer prospects, scheduling sales appointments, inspections, franchisee data, and proper pricing. It also fully integrates with the QuickBooks platform, producing monthly statements and helping to track profit thresholds.

Jan-Pro maintains an interactive Web site, which Lapointe says is very user-friendly yet high-tech. It is an essential tool for potential customers, as well as prospective franchisees. In fact, all master franchisees have a Web site that is linked to the Jan-Pro homepage. Dennis Jarrett, executive VP, described the valuable data generated by the Web site. “We get several hundred unit franchise leads every month,” said Jarrett. “All of those things synergistically drive our brand, which drives business to unit franchisees and master franchisees.”

Exceeding expectations
In the last year Jan-Pro has surpassed its goals. With numbers growing exponentially, Lapointe looks forward to continuing that momentum with unit franchise growth in 2004. “We went from 2,200 to 3,400 in the last six months,” he said. “Next year, we’ll probably increase by 2,500.”

But to maintain high service quality, he said that growth will be limited to North America for the time being. “We’ve got to keep our house in order here and make sure that we achieve the [goals] that we’ve set to be successful.”

For Jan-Pro, the goals set to achieve success are locating solid partners for master and unit franchisees and supporting those partners with thorough training and technology. “That to me is the key to success here,” said Lapointe. “I think the success of any brand depends on the strength and success of its franchisees.”