In the past few decades, with the rapidly growing urbanization and increasing disposable income, the number of working people has significantly increased particularly in the urban areas. Thus, maintaining a work-life balance has become difficult for some individuals. Moreover, the increasing health issues and accelerating health awareness among people is encouraging them to hire cleaning services as a way to maintain hygiene in residential environments.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based residential cleaning company – The Maids International – is the quality leader among the several cleaning companies in the industry. Established in 1979, the company provides deep cleaning services through more than 180 franchises in over 90 major U.S. and Canadian cities. It is committed to providing individuals and families with state-of-the-art home cleaning service options and strives to continue to lead by example, outplaying its peers.
Highest-Quality Residential Cleaning
The Maids International has been providing the highest-quality residential cleaning services available in the market for more than 40 years. The cleaning services provided by the company include One-time Cleaning, Recurring Cleaning, Fall & Spring Cleaning, Moving Cleaning Services, Special Cleaning Services, Same Day Cleaning, and Healthy Cleaning. Alongside this, it also provides Small Business Cleaning, Housekeeping Cleaning, Carpet Cleaning, Window Cleaning, Holiday Cleaning, and Apartment Cleaning as well.
The Maids uses a 22-step Ultimate Healthy Home cleaning process, along with an innovative team approach to deliver an exceptional quality clean with speed and efficiency. The company also provides a streamlined process for consumers to select the best clean to fit their needs and budget, and schedule that clean online. The Maids’ cleaning services are trusted by more than 3,500 communities across the U.S. and Canada.
Cleaning for Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe impacts on the franchising industry, causing significant disruptions to normal business operations. The pandemic has driven The Maids to become leaner and more efficient in every facet of the business and has also created new opportunities in the marketplace such as small business cleaning and disinfecting. In these difficult times, The Maids has been diligent about its operational procedures. It has ensured customers and employees are safe by outfitting employees with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, and shoe covers, as well as disinfecting all cleaning tools between each home.
The Maids has focused on ‘cleaning for health’ since its inception. Upholding the approach in the wake of the pandemic, the company announced its Ultimate Healthy Home service designed to provide homeowners with a premium cleaning and disinfecting option effective in protection against bacteria and viruses. Adding to this, The Maids formally introduced small business cleaning to assist business owners in getting and staying open given the health-related restrictions imposed on many businesses.
The Maids Way Initiative
Customer acquisition and employee recruitment are the pillars on which The Maids thrives. During times of economic certainty, gaining customers is less challenging and employee recruitment is more challenging. While during times of uncertainty, customer acquisition is difficult and recruiting employees is less challenging. However, this rule is being challenged during the pandemic as the consumers have indicated cleaning is something they would rather pay for than do without. Moreover, certain labor and unemployment policy has made employee recruitment more difficult in the short term.
Addressing the employment challenge, The Maids developed and deployed The Maids Way initiative, which features a series of tactics franchisees can use to address both recruitment and retention of their employees. These tactics include concepts such as daily pay for employees, bonuses for employee tenure, incentives for attendance rates, and other tactics designed to build a strong organizational culture at each franchise location.
Leaning on Innovation, Drive, and Excellence
The Maids’ corporate office shifted from traditional working to remote working due to the pandemic. In these uncertain times, every employee diligently worked to continue delivering the highest level of support to the franchise network despite the many unknowns. Meetings being conducted virtually have created a lasting change to employee engagement and culture. “As The Maids continues to navigate those waters, it has become clear the business is leaning on its roots of innovation, drive, and the pursuit of excellence to shape our reset over the next 40 years,” says Daniel Kirwan (President and CEO at The Maids International).
Commitment to Franchise Success
The residential cleaning industry continues to improve as consumer confidence is restored. Emphasizing consumer confidence, The Maids continues to lead with educational content designed to provide the general public with strategies they can use through their own efforts or through partnering with The Maids to keep their homes clean and protected against viruses and bacteria.
Furthermore, being a franchise organization, The Maids stresses the well-being of its franchisees, several of whom have committed their entire lives to the residential cleaning industry. The company is committed to franchise success through in-depth business coaching addressing the external market conditions, building strategies focused on maximizing recovery, and looking for opportunities to create process improvement along the way.
When asked about the requisites while buying a franchise, Kirwan suggested three factors should be considered while investing in a franchise model — the franchise business model and support, territory viability, and candidate viability.
Following the Model
Kirwan further asserted that business acumen, drive, tenacity, perseverance, resourcefulness, and heart are the qualities necessary for any entrepreneur to succeed. However, according to him, a franchise business has different requirements. As the franchisors invest tens of thousands of dollars into building the concept for the candidate, the franchisees are expected to follow the model. The franchise business requires entrepreneurs to demonstrate some level of humility and the franchisee to place an abundance of trust in the franchisor and its business model out of the gate.
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