A Techclean franchise appeals to people at all stages of their careers and from a wide variety of backgrounds. The low cost, high profit opportunity can be run from home with the need for very little storage space.
Meet three Techclean franchisees and read their stories.
Cleaning Expert in new Direction
“I was looking for a new challenge and in Techclean I have an exciting opportunity to use my cleaning industry expertise in a completely different environment”
After almost 20 years running her highly successful Merry Maids domestic cleaning businesses in Wakefield and South Yorkshire, Susan Hawkin got an offer she couldn’t refuse for the companies. Wanting to stay in franchising, she decided to buy Techclean Yorkshire from retiring owner Kevin Horan. Experience gained in the domestic cleaning industry made her very aware of the need for good hygiene in living and working environments and her new Techclean company allows her to use this knowledge whilst at the same time work in a completely different field.
Said Susan: “I am very familiar with running cleaning businesses, so I could hit the ground running, although the items we clean and the products we use are of course totally different in an office to those in domestic properties. I am dealing with a whole new customer base and enjoying a new lease of life.”
Demand for her services has been highest at organisations in sectors such as financial services with regional or head offices located in Yorkshire. They typically employ a high number of desk-based staff in open plan environments, so the risk of technologies becoming infected is high when people cough or sneeze. She also offers cleaning services for server rooms, libraries and educational establishments.
From Teacher to Techclean
“With Techclean no two days are the same. It is great working with a variety of people in different environments. I enjoy travelling to client businesses as I would hate to be stuck behind a desk working in an office every day. “
Former teacher and mother of four Susan Davies set up Techclean South Wales three years ago after her youngest child went to university. She was looking for a new challenge and wanted to grow a business that she could run from home but still get out and about to interact with others.
Susan discovered Techclean during her research into franchise opportunities. She liked what she saw, and the South Wales and West territory was available so she signed up. Now she employs a team of three people and the business is growing steadily. The Techclean service has never been in greater demand to provide a regular effective cleaning service for office equipment that come into regular contact with human hands including laptops, PCs, printers, photocopiers and telephones.
Techclean Wales and West’s many clients include the National Library of Wales, ED F Energy, HPC Swansea which controls all the computer functions for universities in South Wales, The Public Services Ombudsman Wales and several call centres across the region.
Said Susan: “I get a huge amount of satisfaction from my job. We go into an office and in a just few hours we make such a big difference to their working environment. I call the women I work with my ‘dream team’ and clients are always genuinely delighted with the results.”
IT Pro Finds his Niche
“It’s great to have found a new way to work with technology after 30 years in the sector.”
Mark Austen launched Techclean at the end of 2017 after 30 years working in the IT industry.
During three decades in the IT industry, Mark says attitudes towards the cleaning of technology have changed.
He said: “In the 80s and 90s, office computers would have a regular service clean, but this stopped when the cost of technologies decreased and it became the norm to upgrade every few years. Today, lack of routine cleaning means they become a breeding ground for germs, which doesn’t help matters when an illness is doing the rounds. Absenteeism represents a major headache and expense for employers, so keeping people fit and healthy is a top priority. Periodic deep cleans of communal and desk-based technologies can play a part in the improvement of employee wellbeing.”
Mark is quickly able to build a rapport with IT managers due to his previous experience as an IT project manager.
“I know my way around a server room, and as well as cleaning the equipment I can advise on ways to improve preventative maintenance, such as adding filters to vents,” says Mark.
