Jani-King Franchise

Only if you have a million or so dollars to invest (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's). All the small dollar franchises tend to be very controlling in a bad way. Subway is another one I have heard is small investment, big problems. You can't even pick your own location or buy lettuce from a cheaper source.

Why a franchise Kicky? It's such a headache running a retail business and worse when you can't use your own common sense. If you have a business idea it's better to start it yourself and make your own mistakes. As least you won't be in debt to some big corporation who gets to call all the shots.

Unless you buy into a super sized franchise they don't even help with the important stuff like lawyers, insurance and accountants. They just dictate how you will run the business and what you will pay them for the privledge of using their name and selling their product(s).

Im not really looking. But when I was, I thought that getting a franchise would be a good way to own a business without as much risk, and a good way to learn how to run a business, since the franchisor would be there to help.

I'm glad I never did that though, after seeing the complaints in this thread.

janiking uk
IF ANY PROSPECTIVE JANIKING UK FRANCHISEES WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO AN EX JANIKING UK FRANCHISEE THEN PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME BEFORE INVESTING ANY MONEY

jani-king
don't do it, jani-king franchise is the worse mistake you can do, they will rip you off, their fees are 35% of your monthly revenue+ when they give a new account they will charge you 3 months of the earnings from that account, they underbid account to get them threat the franchisees as janitors I could go on and on .

David, since I cant PM you can email me at [email protected] have been looking into a Jani-King franchise

Jani King - ??!!
Hi David,
i too have been looking in to a Jani King franchise but am a bit wary now due to everything i have heard. I would really like to speak to you regarding your experience.

I cant PM you as i have just joined now but please drop me a mail at [email protected].

Thanks

Jynteral,
Hi mate, same as above, please contact me. I am also looking at buying a Jani King franchise so it would be good to share some words.
Thanks

jani king
I was thinking about buying a Jani King Franchise. I am currently in the process of evaluating many differnt types of franchises also. After reading the thread I am indeed researching JK a lot more. It is however, rated pretty high in Entrepreneur, and has had a high rating for quite a while.

Why is it hard to make money if you are able to secure contracts? I do understand that they may underbid which is a huge NO NO but the franchise fees and other expenses are to be expected. All franchises have franchise fees. If you are able to secure say $5000 in contracts per month, after JK subtracts thier fees and expenses are you not left with some money? I am not sure why this would be a poor franchise choice. Someone please explain and make my decision easy on me. Thank you.

jumpoffnholla, I will try to explain where your money will go if you join Jani King.
A contract of $5k per month will cost you $15.5k to buy from JK, repayable over 24 months at $646 per month.This is repayable regardless of how long you keep the client. If another cleaning company underprices you after a couple of months, you must still repay the full $15.5k.Believe me, this does happen.
The gross profit from a contract of $5k will return a 45% margin of £2250 per month( the JK promise).
A further charge of 15% of gross as a franchise payment to JK will also be due..ie $750 per month.
You will also be liable for other costs( vehicle, insurance, fuel, telephone,uniforms and other charges JK will levy on you, etc).
In total, your net income will approach 10% of gross contract price if you are able to retain the client for two years. After this time you will start to show a reasonable profit.

PLEASE HELP
Hey guys, I've read through this thread and cannot support enough about what has been said about Janiking...Anyways, I need help from any previous franchisee. I currently own one and accepted a huge account that was bid for $12,000...they told me the manhours required would be enough for 15 people to handle. Needless to say, the got me, it was severly under bid and takes EASILY 28 people to handle the job and that was confirmed with the complex owners. Well, I went to Janiking (this is after -$10,000 of profit that I figured this out) and it was a productivity problem on my part, blah, blah, blah. Anyways, I need to hand this account in....there are no other franchisees in the area, so the contract will sure to be lost. Has anyone been able to hand in a contract and not had to pay the remaining fees?

hi guys,

im so glad i found this forum.

i got a £40,000 inheritance and was going to buy a Jani - King franchise. Everything sounded so good and the sky was the limit.

David120552 or anyone who has actually had a UK franchise can you please contact me at [email protected] to talk little bit more, but im already backing out of it, im just so glad i did some research before going to meet them. They are phoning me up daily to arrange the meeting.

As much info is needed from ex franchisees but so far i dont see ANY positives.

such a shame

this inheritance is going to change my life, thank god i didnt blow it all in one go and ruin everything.

New Franchisee
Just purchased a JaniKing franchise about 1 month ago. So far the contracts I've been presented are in my opinion low-ball bid also the details have been off on a few that I'm aware of.
The time estimate of clean is normally impossible for me to acheive with a complete cleaning, so I cut corners and smile or just grin and bear it hoping to adjust the contract later.
I've spoken with them about the low bidding and was recited a standard answer about how the market calls for it.
I've thought about it all and don't feel these are competitive bids at all just low-ball bids. If you were to do the math the wages come out at below minimum wage for doing the quality job you would want.
They talk about moral this and that, how about moral bidding?
As far as our market goes the real estate is among the highest in the country yet they feel we have among the cheapest labor market.

Jani King Franchise
I too am so glad I found this forum
Hi I am currently looking at a Jani-king franchise (GB)
Can anyone please give me any information about this.
Any ex or current franchise holders would be great as they don't seem to be all as good as they say they are to say the least.
Much appreciated

Capricorn1

As you know I'm a new franchisee so I'm not as hardened as some of the others. I still have hope that I can get my own accounts at my bid. I'm also hoping to use this forum to get insight on growing my business.
To give you one point of view on buying a JaniKing franchise buy in at the minimum and get your own accounts. I hired a company to set appointments for me just recently, we'll see how it goes.
As you know I'm very skeptical about their bidding practices in my area however, yesturday I was briefly presented with a contract that was competitively bid, not too much of a low-ball. It was a bit too far to fit into my longer term goals though. Then the second one I saw was back to minimum wage earnings again. Felt a little bit of hope there for a minute.
On my JaniKing business card is a PGA logo stating JaniKing as the official cleaning company of the PGA. Hopefully a good selling point for prospective clients that I like. They also have national accounts like Madison Square Garden and Texas Motor Speedway.
If I may pass on what I heard in our territory, one franchisee who billed over $900,000 last year bought in at the minimum. I would guess the labor costs on that to be a minimum of 50% and then 25% in royalty and administration fees then maybe 5% in supplies that would estimate a take home of $180,000 tops. The labor is probably more because on my accounts although much smaller I'm sure, if manned at minimum wage would eat up around 75% and then to keep that account paying someone that and expecting superman results...hope to hear from you all soon.
I'm in the U.S.

I have recently been looking at this idea for the UK- which does come across as 'too good to be true'.The various franchise magazines appear to rate the business - however most of the articles seem to be 'advertorials' and are hardly objective.
I don't think it bodes well when it asks if you want to be the next jani-millionaire-as if the money is the priority as opposed to quality of service.Are there any UK franchises who would recommend signing up?

Jani King
I'm a Jani-King franchise owner for the past 6 months now. Can't say its a great business nor a horrible business. The main point to remember is if you're considering buying a franchise with Jani-King is, ACQUIRE YOUR OWN ACCOUNTS! I cannot stress this enough, from my experience if you buy the accounts from JK they will be grossly under bided causing you to make little to no profit. However that's something you could eventually work around but the main reason you do not want to buy nor accept their accounts is because there's a high probability you're going to receive a "problem" account. JK apparently loves to give these away because each time a customer complains and cancels and the account is reassigned, that's a new franchisee fee they get to charge you so beware.

The best way to run this business is getting your own accounts and keeping JK's hands off. Price them yourself, maintain a strong rapport with your clients and you'll make a decent amount of money when its all said and done. Also keep in mind, its a business and it will take time, money and hard work. Having a full time job and running a JK business is possible but I wouldn't recommend it. If you're still unsure, its best to start off small to minimize your losses and you can easily make your investment back within 6 months. GOOD LUCK!

DO NOT DO IT. After dealings with these people and after several phone calls etc with director I have been hasseled by them. they seem to me to be very pushy and I would not trust them as far as I could throw them.

There contract is very very biased towards them and if they want to they can hang you out to dry!.

BE WARNED!!!!.

Jani King UK
Keep your inheritance, keep your savings, keep your sanity. Give Ian Thomas and Paul Howarth nothing. If you aquire your own accounts, they will belong to JK(read the agreement). If the client complains or threatens to cancel, the account will be transferred to another franchisee who will pay JK for the work you did in getting the account.
There are no Jani-Millionaires in the UK. You will be their slave for years to come if you join them. KEEP AWAY FROM JK.
If you want to be your own boss, it cannot be done with JK.
If you want to be the owner of a cleaning company, do it yourself...it isn't too difficult. Firstly, join a local cleaning company for a couple of months and see how it works. You will then know if cleaning is for you.
Join your local trade/business organisations to build up some contacts.
Take out a free advertisement in Yellow Pages. I get at least one enquiry per week via Yell.
Print some fliers and drop them off around your trading area. Speak to other cleaners. They will know where there might be some business coming up in the future. I have an account that JK used to have a couple of years ago. The cleaner told me that JK was to be "blown out" and a new cleaning company was needed. I was able to walk in as JK left.
At the end of the day, if this doesn't work, your cash is still in your pocket and you can try something else.

I posted that more than a year ago. The client (me) is looking at your reliability. If you are honest and diligent, you can be your own boss, without having to share the proceeds with anyone.

Any Canadian JK Franshise owners out there? I'm considering a franchise now, and wondering if the same cons hold true here in Canada.