ecomaids, the sustainable home cleaning franchise under the umbrella of parent company Happinest Brands, prides itself on offering an attractive and lucrative business opportunity for its owners. With a home-based business model, strong support infrastructure, recurring revenue streams and enviable work-life balance, qualified entrepreneurs continue to recognize the value of the ecomaids business opportunity, which is why the brand saw 32 franchisees join its system last year despite the challenges of 2020 (the brand’s first year with Happinest). Now, more and more ecomaids franchise owners are seeing exceptional success as they follow their dream of business ownership.

Brent from ecomaids of Apex, North Carolina, for example, joined the brand in November of 2020. Brent spent most of his career in the software engineering field-building rockets before realizing that his true dream was to build a business. After looking through several franchise concepts, he was immediately drawn to ecomaids.

“I knew I wanted to invest in an emerging brand that was built on a recurring revenue model,” said Brent. “I also loved the eco-friendly nature of the business, and I knew my area was booming with residential growth and there would be a major demand for our kinds of services.” 

Now, with everyone spending more time in the home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that demand for sustainable cleaning services is higher than ever. ecomaids gives franchisees the opportunity to tap into this demand while leveraging recurring revenue thanks to a strong customer retention business opportunity, where both residential and commercial clients sign on for a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly service. This, along with the ability to operate from home and keep overhead costs low, allows owners to get up and running quickly.

“Initially, my day-to-day life was all about setting up the infrastructure — setting up the systems, hiring a team and learning how to communicate with customers,” Brent said. “Now, I already have a predictable schedule each morning that is focused on scheduling next week’s cleaning, handling any issues and following up with customers. I am also finding different ways to train employees who may be out in the field.”

Brent also says he was spending a decent amount of time focused on local grassroots marketing and networking in the beginning. With ecomaids’ established marketing systems and efficient business model, franchisees can quickly establish a dedicated customer base and generate fast ROI. Now, only a few months into ownership, Brent is already starting to see the fruits of his labor.

“I would throw 20 yard signs in the back of my truck and go out and set them up in a neighborhood,” Brent said. “I also have relationships with real estate brokers who are looking for good cleaners to recommend to clients. Now, that marketing is paying off tenfold and I am continuously hiring to keep up with the demand. Whether it be with hiring or advertising, the ecomaids business is all about creating a foundation that is built to scale. Today, I’ve been able to invest in three vehicles, and it has allowed me to service more properties.”

Overall, Brent says his favorite part of ecomaids business ownership is being his own boss and managing a dedicated team. “It feels so great to be making the calls and running the business myself,” he said. “I also love managing a team and helping instill the same values with these younger people who are starting off in their careers. At the end of the day, our team is our product, so we need to make sure we find the right people to offer this service to our customers.”

Becca from ecomaids of Cincinnati is another franchisee who joined the brand last year. When she and her husband Tim decided to start their own business together, Becca knew from her experience in advertising and property management how valuable it would be to invest in a proven brand with the backing of an expert team. In addition, Becca was drawn to the ecomaids business model and knew it would allow her to build an established presence in her community and spend more time with her soon-to-be-born baby.

“In the beginning, most of my day-to-day was spent in the office getting everything set up and making sure all of our ducks were in a row,” said Becca. “We also spent the early days establishing our best practices for servicing customers and did a lot of ground work to get our name out there. ecomaids provides incredible marketing support, and we saw that as marketing picked up, so did our sales. The centralized call center also meant we could focus on building customer relationships, while the in-house sales team handled answering the phones and securing the leads.” 

In addition to the call center, the expert Happinest team provides franchisees like Becca with in-depth support in all aspects of the business, including marketing, operations, staffing, training and more. 

Only a few months into business, Becca was able to hire an office manager so her focus could shift to recruiting and training employees. “The nature of the cleaning business is such that you are always looking to add members to the team,” she said. “Now, my husband handles the day-to-day needs of managing our customers and I handle a lot of the back end, which includes the hiring, bookkeeping, networking events, marketing plan and other responsibilities. I am able to work from home and am able to enjoy that work-life balance that we were looking for when we originally signed on with the business.”

Becca says they’ve been able to bring in another truck and have significantly exceeded their revenue projections. “It is great to be able to focus on growing our own business instead of working for someone else,” she said. “The ecomaids team provides the support necessary so we can do what we love, which is hiring an amazing team and giving back to our community.”

Thanks to passionate franchisees like Brent and Becca, ecomaids has grown to more than 70 locations across the country and shows no signs of slowing down. 

“At ecomaids, we are always looking for ways to position our franchise owners for success, which is why we’ve continued to grow despite the COVID-related challenges that other companies are experiencing,” said Sharon Cupach, senior development director for ecomaids. “The home services and cleaning industry is set to explode in popularity, and we are excited to continue expanding the ecomaids brand.” 

Looking ahead, the ecomaids team is looking for qualified prospects who are eager to leverage the systems of an established brand in order to start the business of their dreams and take control of their own destiny.

To learn more about franchise opportunities with ecomaids, visit https://www.ecomaids.com/franchise-opportunities/.