The Answer is in the Kitchen!
Professional oven cleaning is no longer a luxury, with
increasing numbers of households refusing to do without it. Julian
Minwalla, Chief Executive of Ovenclean, reflects on the sector.
So often the most successful ideas are the simplest. Only when
some bright spark makes a fortune from a common sense new product
or service do we all realise that it was blindingly obvious all
along that this was exactly what everyone needed and wonder why
someone else hasn't thought of it sooner!
The domestic oven cleaning marketplace is rather like this. Few
of our franchise owners actually started out looking to make money
from cleaning ovens, but all of them recognised the terrific
opportunity when they came across it. Think about it: everyone has
an oven, every oven has to be cleaned regularly and just about
anyone you ask says that they hate cleaning ovens. Add to that
increasingly busy lives, where both partners usually work and free
time is precious; an ageing population in need of support to cope
with physically demanding chores and a growing rental market with a
regular churn of tenants moving in and out and you begin to see
just how enormous the market potential for domestic oven cleaning
really is.
As a 'man and a van' operation - and although we have some very
successful female franchise owners, most are male - the franchise
also has the advantage of low overheads, low operating costs and
the flexibility to dictate your own working hours. The beauty of
the business model is its simplicity: it is easy to learn,
straightforward to manage and once customers have experienced the
astonishing results of a professional oven clean they never look
back, using the service regularly and usually recommending it to
all their friends!
For some, this relatively stress-free existence is perfect.
However, for others, a good living and the satisfaction that comes
from providing an excellent and much appreciated service is just
the beginning. Although happy to start off providing a hands-on
service, they cannot see themselves cleaning ovens forever and look
to build a management franchise, with a fleet of vehicles and a
team of well trained staff. The domestic oven cleaning marketplace
lends itself well to such ambitious souls and the Ovenclean network
includes a number of multi-vehicle operations. Of course, there is
more responsibility and further investment involved, but with the
support of a dedicated business development team, franchise owners
can make a great deal of money, not to mention build a valuable
asset that can be sold on - or passed on to younger family members
- when they decide to retire.
Recent experience also tells us that this is an area which is
pretty recession proof too. The breadth of the marketplace and
relative affordability of a professional oven clean seems to make
this a small luxury that customers don't want to do without - even
when things get tough. However it's important not to be complacent,
so at Ovenclean we are always looking for different ways to support
our franchise owners in finding new customers and have enjoyed
considerable success penetrating markets outside our traditional
domestic domain - in short, anywhere where there's an oven to
clean!
So, if you're looking for a franchise that's easy to learn and
straightforward to operate, with massive market potential for
regular customers and the flexibility to build into a multi-van
operation, take a look in the kitchen - the answer may be right
there!
