How one Molly Maid franchisee is enjoying flexibility and pride in ownership

Support from Molly Maid HQ is helping to drive success for franchisee Anne-Marie Coleman

Anne-Marie Coleman worked as a manager for a family law firm prior to becoming proud franchisee for Molly Maid Haselmere last October. “My business background gave me a good base knowledge of what it takes to create a successful working environment,” Anne-Marie tells What Franchise.

“I left my position to have a family, but once our son started school, I was ready to get back to work. I needed work to fit around my family as I felt it was important to be able to pick him up and have time with him between school and bedtime.”

After talking to Aaron at Molly Maid, Anne-Marie decided this opportunity to own a cleaning franchise would be a great option. “It gave me the flexibility to be the parent I wanted, but also create a business to be proud of,” she explains.

Up and running

Setting up a business for the first time felt daunting for Anne-Marie, but she found the help received from the Molly Maid Support team invaluable. “They have made it so much easier for me by providing training before the launch, full time mentoring for the first few weeks and extensive ongoing support whenever it is needed,” she continues.

“There’s also an extension to that support through all the other franchisees who are eager to share their knowledge and experiences to help new business owners.”

Anne-Marie put up half the initial cost and was guided through the Government Start Up Loan process by a recommended partner of Molly Maid, which made it straightforward and easy to obtain the required funding.

“The biggest learning curve for me has been staff management,” admits Anne-Marie. “It’s a big job making sure they are happy, have what they need, and are working to an optimum level. I’m sure I have much more to learn in this area, but I feel I am now much more skilled in being able to recruit suitable candidates.”

Business pride

“The best thing about being a franchisee is having the opportunity to build a business to be proud of, but with the support of a proven system and established brand recognition,” says Anne-Marie, who’s weeks consist of a varied mix of staff management, admin, planning, and visiting potential customers to carry out estimates.

“I try to have Monday and Friday in the office and the rest of the week out estimating,” she adds. “It really is the best combination of being your own boss, but also having back up when needed.”

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