“From The Start, I Flourished”

Dublcheck’s David Rowley gives us on the inside track on his franchise

It’s fair to say that Dublcheck franchisees come to the business via many different routes.

David Rowley, 39, is proof that buying a franchise that was previously owned by someone else is one more way to find good returns and, importantly, a better work/life balance.

Having initially decided in his late thirties that he was going to study social work at university, David took on some part-time cleaning work to fund his studies. It was while he was doing this that an opportunity presented itself he couldn’t ignore.

Taking the Plunge

David takes up the story: “The part time cleaning work I was doing was for a Dublcheck franchisee. I enjoyed the work and after a short while the business went on the market.

“I knew it would be a great opportunity, so I investigated more, as I think I had realised before I’d even gone into my third year at university that being in the social work sector wasn’t really for me.

“When I did the maths and looked at the money he was making, I saw it was quite a bit more than I would have been making as a qualified social worker. So I decided then and there to take the plunge and bought the franchise from him.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing at the start, as it took a lot of grit and determination to get the business running to David’s standards. But David, who in the previous couple of decades had a varied career, including working in gyms, working on building sites, setting up a window cleaning business and being a personal trainer, saw this as a challenge.

“The reason it appealed is because it was clearly a way of getting an income, managing my own business and not having to be hands-on with the cleaning,” he says.

“I’d always wanted to manage my own business and Dublcheck gave me the opportunity to do that - with the bonus of having a high level of support and guidance.

“They’re very good with mentors and help and advice, how to market your business, even with the accounts - they help you and prepare you for the industry you’re going into.

“From the start, I flourished. Dublcheck helped me overcome some of the teething problems and get everything running smoothly and things are going pretty well now.”

Flexible Business

David now has nine staff working for him. He’s also hands-on with some of the cleaning contracts when needed. It’s just over a year since he became a Dublcheck franchisee. Having successfully turned around the business, what are his next goals?

“Some people are happiest when they’re building a huge empire, but others - like me - are happy just to be earning enough money, having less stress and more time to do other things,” David explains.

Sounds good. So is this within his grasp now?

“I’m actually at the stage where I’m earning the amount of money I want to be earning and I’m happy to have a lot of free time for myself,” he says. “Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.”

Being fit and healthy is important to David and he likes to spend time at the gym, still does some personal training and says owning the franchise is the best way he has found to pursue the lifestyle he wants.

“The thing about Dublcheck is you can tailor the business to your own needs,” David says. “Whatever your goals are, you can achieve that with Dublcheck - you can have a massive business with a £750,000 turnover, you can go down that route.

“Alternatively, if you want to be like me and just earn, say, £30,000 a year managing a smaller business, but have a lot of time so you can do the things you love, you can do that too.”

The support Dublcheck offers is something franchisees rate highly. David backs this up 100 per cent.

“It’s a fantastic team at head office,” he says. “They run events where you can learn all about marketing and they teach you the best way to get more clients. They’ve been doing this for so long, they know the formula and they pass it on to you, so you can achieve whatever turnover you’ve decided you want.

“The price I paid for the business I’ve made back in a year - and more. There are not many businesses where you can recoup your initial outlay in one year, as most businesses might take two or three years just to break even. But after about eight months I cleared what I’d paid for the business and started going into profit.”

Huge Benefit

Now that David has everything running smoothly, with the right staff in place, he’s reaping a huge benefit.

“I don’t have too much input any more,” David says. “Once you’ve got the right staff, you can enjoy your leisure time. Every now and then there’ll be something you have to sort out, but these days the business pretty much takes care of itself.”

It sounds like yet another Dublcheck franchisee who has found he can make the business work for him, not the other way around.