Mastercare is a commercial cleaner with over 40 years’ experience in commercial cleaning and property maintenance.

How would you define your brand?

As a trusted, supportive and professional commercial cleaning company that delivers on its promises.

How old is the company and when did you start franchising?

We’ve been around for 40 years and entered the franchising market in 2009.

How many franchises do you have?

We have four – one in Queensland and three in NSW. We estimate that, collectively, they will earn almost $650,000 over the next year. Being a national company, we’re really looking forward to hearing from potential

franchisees from other states as well.

How many are multi-unit franchisees?

None.

Where do you expect the business to be in 2010?

We keep offering a great service and the business keeps growing. It doesn’t matter what’s happening to stocks and shares and property prices; companies will always need a cleaner.

What are the start-up costs for a franchisee and what working capital should they have?

From $12,500 + GST

What is the length of agreement?

Every franchisee is different, with their own short and long-term goals, so it’s hard to be specific when it comes to length of agreement. Obviously, we hope our franchisees will want to build a strong relationship with us for many years to come.

What are the royalty fees and marketing levy?

We don’t charge a marketing levy. Our royalty fee is about 10 per cent, plus we charge an admin fee of approximately four per cent, but we can tailor both of these according to the needs of each franchisee.

What skills does the franchisee need?

You don’t need experience to become a Mastercare franchisee. If you are unskilled, we can train you, and continue to train you as the need arises.

After all, it’s not complicated, it’s cleaning, and most of us know how to do it. The difference is we can teach you how to do it commercially, and produce a profit as a

result.

What will you teach them?

All our franchisees receive full induction and site-specific training. Our structured training program contains 36 modules in four categories, is ongoing, and includes manuals.

Training includes operations, risk assessment and management, cleaning techniques for different surfaces, recycling, energy reduction, and waste minimisation and disposal. A heavy emphasis is placed on the safe use of various chemicals, equipment and on-site safety.

What is the most common mistake made by new franchisees?

It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of good customer service so, if we were to strongly counsel against one thing, it would be this: don’t overlook a single training opportunity.

Proper training is the difference between success and failure, and franchisees who know what theyÕre doing are ready to hit the ground running.