Tell us about the Clean Cut Gardening concept.
Clean Cut Franchise is a network of hardworking Franchisee’s delivering first class gardening services to the general public. It was born from my own experiences of building my own business, starting from the back of a ford escort car with my Dads mower to a business with a professionally sign written van with 3 well trained staff that produced me a fantastic lifestyle and Income without my ever having to leave the house.
Over the years as my business grew I noticed that many other gardening businesses where struggling and indeed many barely survived the first season (if I’m honest it was probably only my stubbornness that got me through mine!) What’s more they were all making the same mistakes, undercharging, working too many hours, advertising in the wrong places, using the wrong equipment, etc which left them struggling make ends meet.
It made me realize that I had hit onto something special and that other people could benefit from the systems I had developed in my own business to spare them the agony of failure, low income and long hours.
It was then that I started looking onto franchising and the rest as they say is history.
How and when did you become involved with Clean Cut Franchise?
Clean Cut Franchise was born as a concept from my own successful gardening business in 2011. It was then two years in the making and I spent many a long day locked in an office with my business adviser creating the systems and the materials essential to running a successful business. So while you would say it was officially launched in 2012, for me it is the product of a lifetimes work.
What was your background prior to joining Clean Cut Franchise?
On leaving school I worked as an apprentice at jewelers for two years (That’s probably where my attention to detail comes from) It was good work, and they were lovely to work for but the prospect of working at the same place with the same routine for the rest of my life filled me with dread.
Not to mention the money!
I wanted more so to the horror of my parents I turned my back on a steady job with good prospects and decided to do something else. I needed money and gardening seemed like as good a place as any to start making some cash so of I went. Once the my on business was running smoothly a franchise was the natural next step for me.
What are some of the advantages in being a Clean Cut franchisee?
For me the big benefit is simple, if they follow the systems franchisees will find themselves with a high income, stress free business which will earn them money in month one and will ultimately enable them to enjoy a great lifestyle without ever having to pick up a lawn mower.
There are of course other advantages, its lonely running your own business and we have a fantastic support network. I really encourage our franchisees to communicate with each other and we facilitate this on a regular basis.
In addition I’m confident our systems and processes are the best you will find in a gardening business bar none, I can be that bold because I’ve done the research and anyone who knows me knows only the best will do.
I could also talk about the world class training program including professional sale’s coaches and business consultants, a high level of ongoing support and not to mention the fact that franchisees earn all their income in 10 months and have a full two months off a year.
Who is your ideal franchisee
The ideal Clean Cut franchisee will be:
Hardworking, Dedicated, Conscientious, Customer focused, Polite,
Able to follow a system, Confident, Friendly and able to
demonstrate the desire to grow his or her own business. So far
franchisees have come from all works of life from plumbers to green
keepers, Office workers to tradesman we even have a policeman! If
you have a string desire to build a great future for yourself then
you are probably right for us.
For a franchisees peace of mind and ours we need to be sure they are suitable for the role before we bring them into our network. This is why we take them through our thorough ”due diligence” process to ensure they have what it takes to make those sales and deliver the Clean Cut service our customers expect.
Tell us a little about the (industry) Market?
The market is vast and consists mainly of owner occupied properties but we do a fair amount for work for letting agents, estate agents and landlords. We have proven that a franchisee can have a business turning over in excess of £100,000 from an area containing 15,000 households.
What are some of the greatest lessons you’ve learned in growing this franchise?
The list is endless! It’s been a massive and rewarding learning curve for me and my team and I am not ashamed to say we are still learning and changing every day. The day I stop learning something new it will be time to stop.
If you are looking for a big learning would tell anyone trying to grow any business to surround themselves with the right people and never be afraid to ask for help.
Do you have a mentor and is there someone you use for inspiration?
I have used a Business adviser from day one and could not have got here without him. I also use a professional sales coach and have learnt not to listen to the chaps in the pub, if I had listened to them I would never have started on this journey.
In your opinion, why do you think that Clean Cut Franchise would be a great opportunity for someone?
Well I could do the sale’s bit and talk about the fantastic levels of income, the two months a year holiday, the proven systems, our unique lead generation tracker, our marketing and sales systems, etc etc but two words really cover it.
It delivers. If you want to work for yourself but not by yourself in a fun and friendly environment where you can be sure of success then we are the Franchise for you.
Simon is the director of Clean Cut Franchise which he first created 3 years ago, Having 10 years experience running his own gardening business, he fully understands the inner workings of the business, from planting a shrub to all the processes and systems necessary to run a successful, profitable business. He has proved this by achieving over 140 garden maintenance visits on a fortnightly bases, resulting in the company creating an amazing income and lifestyle for himself, without him even ever having to leave the comfort of his home.
This is mainly due to his pure tenacity, determination and will to succeed in order to create the prefer business that runs without him. He was able to do this by building a 3 man team to run the business, do the quotes, collect the money, and write the invoices etc. Now Simon only managed to achieve these accomplishments by inventing his own unique systems and processes that have been fully tried and tested over the years.
Because of his achievements he is widely recognised in his home town of Brighton Winning such awards as ‘Business of year’ and ‘Business person of the year’ Simon’s ultimate aim is to have a profitable Clean Cut franchise in every town in every city in the U.K, providing a great income and lifestyle for a Clean Cut franchisee and ultimately helping him or her to create a business that runs without them.
In addition to the above Simon is developing a small property portfolio, whilst Lacking the Ferrari in the garage, Simon is a big fan of motorsport especially Formula 1 and superbikes which does provide him with the long term goal of visiting all of the different grandprix around the world.
