Paramount Commercial Cleaning has been named New Zealand's top franchise for 2008  

When Paramount Services celebrated appointing its 100^th franchisee earlier this year, Ernie Becker was there. That's no surprise to anyone in the commercial cleaning company because Ernie has been with Paramount for 23 years. Having started as a day cleaner, he worked his way up to being operations manager before becoming a franchisee.

Paramount Services was started in Auckland in 1979 by Galvin Bartlett and his wife Suzanne. Right from the start the company focused on quality and value while looking for new and better ways of cleaning. Paramount started franchising in 1996 and is today a recognised industry leader serving more than 1000 companies nationwide, including the major cities and most main provincial towns.

Ernie Becker bought his West Auckland-based franchise eight years ago. ‘I knew the company well, trusted the people and, of course, I knew the business backwards,' he says. ‘I could see there was going to be a future in franchising and it seemed like a way to build a little bit of the business for myself. It's always been my attitude that if you manage something right you'll do all right, too, so I decided to jump in a have a crack. The franchise has lived up to its promises ever since.' Today, Ernie and his wife Yvonne employ six full-time staff and their clients include shopping centres, banks and all sorts of commercial organisations.

No Money Worries

Paramount Services supports its franchisees on a number of levels. New franchisees are provided with a certain number of cleaning contracts when they buy the business, and are then free to develop new customers from that initial base. Money worries are removed because the company carries out invoicing and debt collection on behalf of new franchisees. ‘We pay franchisees on the dot,' promises Galvin Bartlett. ‘That enables them to budget properly without having to be concerned about bad debts - something that sinks many small businesses.'

The result is that franchisees are able to focus on exceeding their customers' expectations and growing their businesses as fast - and as far - as they wish. A prime example is Jenny Chen, who won the Business Services Franchisee of the Year Award in the 2007 Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards. In under two years, Jenny went from being a new franchisee to employing a team of five serving 20 clients.

‘Commercial cleaning is mostly night-time work, which leaves people with a lot of freedom,' Galvin points out. ‘It can also be very lucrative: franchisees routinely make $32-35,000 annually for four hours work a day, and one makes closer to $90,000 for just six hours' work a night. That's exceptional, but it proves what can be done. When you build up your team and your contract base, there's a lot of potential.'

Skills & Desire

Galvin says that the most successful Paramount franchisees are those who can call on a range of abilities. ‘We're looking for people who have the skills needed to handle both staff and clients,' he says. ‘Management and planning experience are useful but, once you've made up your mind, probably the most important quality of all is that simple desire to make money.'

New franchisees are given full training in Paramount Services' business systems and commercial cleaning procedures, either in Auckland or other main centres. They also learn the techniques for getting referrals and growing their businesses. ‘If you do a good job, people are happy to recommend you to others, so it's a great opportunity,' says Galvin. ‘We're very happy for you to find your own work, and even supply all the documents you need to make a professional presentation.'

Once up and running, new franchisees are also supported by what Galvin calls the Critical Care programme. ‘The first few months are vital in helping a franchisee work in the most efficient manner possible so that they maximise their earning power. We link them with a cleaner with five or six years' experience who helps make sure the franchisee is generally prepared and properly set-up, checks the standard of their work and even oversees small details such as the supply of the communications book to clients. All of these details help a franchisee satisfy existing clients and win new ones.'

The total investment starts from as little as $30,000, which includes equipment. As all regions are experiencing growth, franchises are available nationwide, ‘and especially in Wellington, Bay of Plenty and Auckland,' Galvin says.

Ernie Becker says that he'd happily do it all again. ‘There are some things you learn that I always pass on to newcomers,' he offers. ‘First, you do need working capital - that's essential for any business. Second, it pays to be a good negotiator these days. Third, getting good staff is vital as you grow. And fourth, pay your tax as soon as you can rather than taking advantage of all those extensions offered to new businesses.

‘If you do all that and follow the Paramount Services systems, this is a great opportunity to create a business of your own with real security and a real future.'

This advertorial is taken from Franchise New Zealand magazine Volume 17 Issue 3

Contact details for Paramount Services

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