In the past few weeks a couple of our potential franchisees have seeked advice from Lloyds TSB to see whether they would give a loan towards the cost of starting a franchise with OvenGleamers. Intially the response from the Franchise Team at Lloyds TSB was one of a negative nature, they said "sorry we have never heard of them".
As Lloyds TSB have been my company's (The Oven Gleam Team Ltd) bank, since incorporation back in March 1996 this was a bit puzzling, so we contacted the right people and spoke to the main man and Lloyds TSB have told us that they were very impressed with our business, our paperwork including franchise agreeement, think that our business model is a viable one and will offer loans to people interested in an OvenGleamers franchise, which is very encouraging and welcomed.
So we also recommend Lloyds TSB as the bank to bank with to anyone looking to be a franchisee with us.
2011 was a fabulous year for us although we had to work the hardest we've ever had to work in the office to get the guys all fully booked up. We had a few very quiet days but this made us change some things we do. So we did some things differently and worked out some new ways to market our business and get the jobs booked in, and it worked really well!
So we went to five guys working for us in May. We then had our best quarter ever in our history with a huge quarterly turnover, though we didn't like the VAT bill! And the newest guy left and we were back to four plus me which we are staying at for the forseeable future. So I ended up doing lots of AGA cleans.
We changed the way we take payments. We now only take payment by card in advance. The reason we changed this was we were becoming increasing concerned about the potential risk our guys were taking carrying around the takings they were getting. Also the cheque guarantee card was withdrawn in July and because of this we could see the demise of the cheque so thought it would be a good idea to pre empt this and take card payments only immediately. Also on two occassions in two days we'd turned up at jobs and the customer had said "sorry not today"! So as both were big jobs we lost the money.
With OvenGleamers things took off and we sold another four franchise areas - and we have three more sold in the first couple of weeks in January 2012. We now have got our van fit process right, the oven cleaning dip tank spec right (they are now built by our own manufacturer to my spec so they aren't obtained elsewhere), the business launch right and everything has come together very well.
We changed the ovengleam.com site again, now with the OvenGleamers logo and with a search box so people can search on postcodes to find out if we cover their area. The franchisees also get theeir own sites and videos.
Also our social media went wild. This blog went through the 60,000 page views barrier. My videos on Youtube had just under 20,000 views.
The OvenGleam van of the year 2012 winner for OvenGleam was Nigel and the employee of the year 2011 was Matt.
Hello ny name is Graham Rogers and welcome to my oven cleaning business blog. I have been writing this blog for four years and as of February 2012 this blog has had over 70,000 page views. I have written about most of my experiences and frustrations with regards to my oven cleaning business. We have grown from just me in the van to now having five vans. I still regularly clean ovens and AGA cookers.
Since October 2010 we have been selling franchises and so now this blog includes franchisee training and experiences too. Also there is also an emphasis on AGA cookers in this blog as I've had one in my house for 15 years, love them, and it was really the main reason I started this business back in late 2003 early 2004. So why don't you join us?
Graham Rogers December 2011
FOUR STEPS TO YOUR OVEN CLEANING BUSINESS WITH OVENGLEAMERS:
- You will be sent an email to your inbox - please confirm this link.
STEP FOUR: Give me, Graham Rogers, or my wife Catherine, a ring in the office. We will then send you a detailed map showing an example of your terriorty in your area, and the current real returns and projected return our pilot franchise is getting in Berkshire. Have a look at what we are offering and then and make an appointment to come to our office meet us, see our system, see if it is right for YOU. Bring your wife, husband or partner along so they can check us out too.
Ring us NOW on 01275 370571.
STOP PRESS:
2011 has been a great year for us. We now have five franchisees and as we sold three of these in 3 days we are the fastest growing oven cleaning franchise in the UK. We are putting things in place to really make our business opportunity the ultimate van based franchise. All franchisees are doing well with plenty of business and progressive growth.
So for 2012 why not get on board with us? Get in contact with us on 01275 370571
Today we did an OvenGleamers business launch in Cheadle Royal Sainsbury's and John Lewis car park. So we are with the franchisee standing outside in the beautiful sunshine. A fabulous day amd lots of interest. We have got a pitch right outside the main entrance. We have had several enquiries about AGA cleaning. If are are looking to get your oven hob range cooker or AGA cleaned in the South manchester cleaned give Peter Richardson a ring on 0161 850 999 now!
Also whilst in the area we had a look at Chips Away who were doing a business launch at Tesco's at Altrincham. We were being noisey just to see if Chips Away / Oven Clean do their business launches any differently. They had the same set up as us. Though they positioned their vehicle under the canopy. They didn't have a podium like ours but had a leaflet hanger on the legs of the marquee which we thought was a good idea. There were three guys at the marquee and a girl giving out leaflets at the bottom of the escalator. We did notice a very large number of leaflets thrown in the bin at the top of the escalator - it was full of them - and in the bin outside the store. So even working on a numbers game it seems a good way to waste leaflets and money.
In all we got several bookings on the day and quite a few people showed interest.
As our franchisees usually get a weekend business launch we are going to go back in January to do another day to give Pete's business a boost in January which can be quiet.
We have carried out one week of training with our franchee Peter Richardson and he will be carrying out his second week of training next week.
So if you are looking for someone to clean your oven, range or AGA cooker in the Cheshire area in the towns of Altrincham, Sale, Cheadle and Wilmslow and surrounding areas please give us a call and we will gladly book you in. 0800 45 82 357. Or ring the number on the video. What do you make of the sung "OvenGleamers" at the end of the video. Hmm or Wow! ?
We have had a busy last few weeks and we sold three franchise areas in three days to bring the total number of OvenGleamers franchisees we now have to 5. We carried out the first week of training for these new franchisees last week and this week I am training one of them in the practical side of cleaning.
We have sold the following areas:
1. Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield, Litchfield area.
2. Altrincham, Wilmslow, Cheadle area.
3. Chippenham, Devizes, Malmsbury area.
4. Fleet, Farnham, Farnborough area.
5. Berkshire area of Bracknell, Wokingham, Sandhurst, Crowthorne.
Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago one of our OvenGleam employees left so we are now back to four employees - so he was with us for about three months (we have learnt that some people leave after a few months whilst others stay forever:-)). The advantage of this is that I now have a van back which means that I am now able to train the new franchisees without using their own vans. Before we were fitting out the vans ready for the second week of training so we could use it for the practical week. Now as I have my van back we don't have to wait for the vehicle to be ready. The disadvantage is that I'm going to have a very busy, but enjoyable, December out cleaning ovens.
Currently I have four new oven cleaning dip tanks in production and have all three vans booked in for their fitting. We have sign written one of them and managed to film all the franchisees ready for Youtube and their own websites.
I am going to be training the other two new franchsees in the next two weeks and by the end all vans will have been fitted out to my specification.
We are now carrying out our business launches in exactly the same venues that Oven Clean (@ovenclean) use for their launches. So that is high profile stores such as John Lewis and Sainsburys with lots of footfall to give you the maximum benefit.
With Christmas approaching we are currently looking at splitting these launches to carry out two one before Christmas and one in January which we'd expect to be quite quiet. Therefore you are going to benefit from two launches instead of one.
We feel that we are running out of time now and feel that we can really only fit one more franchisee training course in, as we need to concentrate on running our own business for December. We have pencilled the last training course in for the first two weeks of November and we feel that we are going to have at least one new franchisee on that course. If we get any more interest we can accommodate at the most three people on the course and get them trained up to take advantage of the uplift in work we normally get in December.
So if you are interested in starting an oven cleaning business with us you may want to think about going for it now. Give us a ring on 01275 370571. If you speak to my wife Catherine she will happily send you details of the area we have mapped out for your area, along with other details to help you make a decision.
Today I'm out training our new franchisee Bradley Walsh who is the new OvenGleamers Franchisee for North Hants. This is day two of week 2. Yesterday we went through the process ofi cleaning an AGA cooker using the one in the office and alsou practised taking doors off and the self cleaning panels of the Creda Concept cooker we have in our office too. So Brad now knows the AGA cleaning process and how to completely strip down the Creda. Also we went through the process of cleaning a ceramic hob. Yesterday afternoon we cleaned a VERY dirty Zanussi single oven with five burner hob and huge extractor unit. The extractor was very unusual in that it had two filters one on the back on the splashback and one where you'd expect to find it.
This morning Brad is cleaning a double range cooker which has two 60cm extractors above it. This afternoon it is back to the office again to have some more practise on the oven doors and AGA doors.
In the last week we have rebranded our oven cleaning franchisee in Berkshire from OvenGleam to OvenGleamers and also got a new van ready for a new franchisee for oven cleaning in Surrey and Hants. The new van is a Nissan NV200 and I have being driving it around for the last week or so getting it fitted out, sign written and ready. And wow it really is a great van and I really love it really because it does feel like a modern version of my Daihatsu Extol, the upright driving position is the same, the nippy driving is the same and that odd feeling that you are driving an arm chair with little wheels is there too! Also the feeling of space is there both in the cab and in the back. With the dip tank fitted in the back and partitioned off, the inner compartment is still nice and roomy to get all the cleaning stuff in. And the best feature is the small TV on the dashboard that shows you what is behind when you are reversing. Best of all it just looks fabulous with our logos on, though it would have looked a whole lot better it the sides had been flat! The phone number will be added to the back of the van, just incase you are wondering where it is.
This week is week one of two and today was the first franchisee training day. Today we have gone through Health and Safety, the paperwork, and looked at the ovens and AGA cooker that we have in our training kitchen and I have demonstrated our process of cleaning. In all a very good day.
If you are redundant, unemployed or you are about to be made redundant perhaps some serious consideration of what we offering in the way of an oven cleaning franchise should be on the top of your list, and is certainly worth some effort on your part before you right it off with other things you may be considering. From my own experience it really is very easy to get stuck in a rut and not do anything straight away even when you know you should be doing something. I think I spent nearly a year without work when I was unable to find work as a free lance computer consultant in 2002 before I got my act together and started really looking at some opportunities seriously. Really the key is that if you don't do anything it is going to cost you both in time and in money. I think I racked up a huge bills as even though I didn't have any income I still had lots of outgoings. So my advice is ACT Now and have a look at our oven cleaning franchise opportunity from OvenGleamers.
Within a short local van drive there are more than enough ovens, both domestic and commercial, that want the services of OvenGleamers...
OUR PRIORITY AREAS IN THE UK
Milton Keynes
Leicestershire
Derby
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Ireland The Midlands Wales Manchester Leeds Sheffield Kent The South East In and Around the M25
But of course we'd love to be in YOUR area! So if it isn't on the list we still would like to be there.
Your Opportunity
With millions of households wanting the unique OvenGleamers service the future is very gleaming and bright for our industry.
Option 1 Either starting as an Owner Operator and gradually building to a managed operation of 5 employed van engineers... or
Option 2 Put yourself on the Fast Track to a full Management Franchise from day one. Our Fast Track oven cleaning management programme will generate appointments to operate the Multi Vehicle management model.
You choose where you start.
A Business Future Secured
The potential of a Fast Track OvenGleamers franchise is fully backed in more ways than one from head office. Implementing local marketing strategies, your regional Management Franchise will generate regular repeat customers and an abundance of referred leads from day one.
Guaranteed Support
You'll get a varied clientele from domestic households, local landlords, Letting Agents, Universities, Care Homes, you name it. The business has enormous potential. Everything we were promised will be delivered. OvenGleamers Franchise Director Graham Rogers and the whole team will help you all they can.
A Unique Opportunity with a Difference at OvenGleamers
A comprehensive 2 week training programme for Operators and Managers
Marketing strategies to keep you ahead of the competition Your own local internet marketing programme A business based on very high customer repeatability A fully tried and tested business system Very attractive earnings A service needed in every home in the country A powerful corporate identity
Your 3 steps to owning a highly profitable franchise
Step 1 Decide on which option you feel best suited to or if you can't think about it we will help you when we go through the options when we meet you.
Step 2 Give us a call and speak to Graham Rogers or Catherine Rogers in the office on 01275 370571
Step 3 Visit our Head Office in Bristol for detailed presentations, a demonstration of our system, and exploratory discussion to see if the opportunity is right for you. Bring your partner along to this meeting if you want to.
If it is too far for you to travel we can meet you half way at a local hotel or if you are very far away I am prepared to get on a plane to get to see you. So see you soon!
The oven cleaning training room, facility that I am in the process of setting up is coming on well and with the ovens I have now in place I feel that we will be able to get some consistency of training. I will be able to introduce franchisees to the cookers and go through the whole oven cleaning process that we use before we go out on the road.
The photograph shows the line up on one of the walls of our training room. We have the 90cm SMEG single oven and the Pre 1974 AGA Deluxe Cooker.
Image via Wikipedia
