As we worked through our due diligence with this franchise, we became more and more excited at the possibilities it held. It was unique. With hundreds of existing franchisees, it clearly works which means so long as you are a people person, there is little risk.
When I joined Time For You, back in 2002, I had been employed to manage a local charity in Sheffield; my family was growing and I was finding it difficult to manage financially. I would work overtime but my income still wasn’t enough to cover the bills and that was a very stressful place to be.
When I began with Time For You, I started part-time and then went full-time after six months. I quickly discovered that the harder I worked the more money I earned. That’s a great lesson I learned: my income is directly proportionate to the efforts that I put in. I also quickly realised that I had to be adaptable. The ability to adapt to change, and cope with the unexpected, is a vital part of being a business owner.
This franchise has a very clear fiscal model with an annuity revenue stream, which grows month in, month out. In other words, your clients pay you every quarter by direct debit, which is the Holy Grail for any business! We loved this model! No credit control and no huge backlog of clients not paying their bills!
The whole concept is well thought out.
The support infrastructure for franchisees is also amazing. It was clear that they really care about their franchisees.
It has been the most amazingly experience that we have ever had running a business. The support from the franchisor has been nothing less than spectacular.
I’m now approaching almost 20 years in the business and we have cleaned more than 147,000 properties! I know I have a solid asset to sell should I decide to move on.
2020 was certainly a difficult year. Normally we clean between 150 and 180 houses per week, which I have been happy with. In 2020, for about 7 months, we cleaned zero properties and had zero income. Happily, we’re back up to cleaning 40 houses per week and we’ve used the extra time during the lockdown to re-organise and get everything that was on the back burner sorted. We’re doing everything we can to be ready for when things pick up – ready to be ahead of the competition!
My children are now grown and have flown the nest and we’ve had a great time along the way! Time For You has given me the flexibility to travel the world: last year, we had a month in New Zealand and, the year before that, I took my children to walk the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. It was another life changing experience.
We have a better social life and more friends than we have ever had! The financial returns are also amazing with all those wonderful DDs rolling in every month…
Lee Furness • Time For You Sheffield
