Franchisee Stories
Chris and Jen Lanagan and daughters Alyssa and Mackenzie thrive as The Cleaning Authority and DoodyCalls franchisees by treating staff like family, extending a family first feel beyond ownership.
Franchising for more than two decades, Chris Lanagan and wife, Jen, have grown a multi-brand franchising business that celebrates the idea of family on multiple levels.
Working with Authority Brands today as multi-unit owners operating three The Cleaning Authority residential and commercial cleaning locations in Wisconsin, the Lanagans added a DoodyCalls mobile pet waste removal franchise about four years ago.
Incorporating daughters Alyssa and Mackenzie in both businesses has helped the Lanagans create a legacy that can be grown and passed on. But treating the rest of its staff like family has paid dividends too.
As they’ve operated their Authority Brands franchises for over two decades, the Lanagans’ daughters have gradually become more involved, growing up in the businesses and learning each facet from a young age, taking part in everything from cleaning homes to actual operations. Today, Alyssa, 28, works as an area manager for two of the family’s three The Cleaning Authority locations with Mackenzie, 26, taking on an increasing management role with DoodyCalls.
“I don’t know that it changes how I run it. I treat Alyssa like any other manager. We’ve got 11 managers on our team and we’re very structured. I came from a very corporate, budget-driven environment — and we apply the same strategic planning approach in our business,” Chris said. “We manage it pretty well. I like to focus on big-picture goals. I’m technically the figurehead of the business — but I’m not a micromanager. I’ve seen a lot of family dynamics where tension gets in the way, and I never wanted that for us.”
According to a recent study, nearly 70% of Americans report feeling some form of burnout in the workplace. Staff retention has become increasingly difficult as America continues to emerge from the COVID pandemic, with the Great Resignation still looming large.
For Chris, treating his employees well has paid off, extending the familial feel in the workplace beyond his wife and daughters while helping the family retain workers. It’s the simple idea of creating a people first philosophy by investing in staff.
“We’re really strong on our benefits package for our employees because what you start to realize over time is that it’s all about your staff — getting and keeping a good staff. We’ve got health insurance, a 401(k) plan and paid time off. And when we rolled out the 401(k) plan a little over two years ago, the plan administrator told us we’d be lucky to have maybe 20% of our people participate. But we’ve got over 70%,” Chris said. “And that correlates very strongly to customer retention too. There’s hard data that supports that. Customers love it when they hear that we offer health insurance and a 401(k). They want to know their cleaners are treated well. So, a big part of what we do is build our culture through positivity, professionalism and meaningful benefits that impact people’s lives.”
While both of the franchises run by the Lanagans are obviously businesses, they also both offer needed services within their local community, providing the residual entrepreneurial benefit of making an impact at the local level.
The Lanagan family as the face of both businesses has had a significant impact on the bottom line, helping to build loyal customers and repeat business, providing a dependable franchising revenue stream.
“In our Cedarburg office — because we’ve had it longer — we’ve developed a stronger local presence,” Chris said. “For example, Alyssa does some of the sales there. She introduces herself as an owner. And that presence strengthens our brand in the community.”
Over nearly 25 years, the Lanagan family has built a strong franchising legacy within their local Wisconsin community, providing needed services at the local level driven by full family involvement in a pair of franchised businesses.
While the idea of retaining staff has become a persistent, lingering issue for many franchises, the Lanagans have bucked the trend by extending the familial feel to their employees, delivering a significant benefits package that hasn’t just helped retain staff but increase customer loyalty.
Working under the Authority Brands umbrella, the Lanagans have built a franchising legacy they’ll be able to pass down to their children, who are partial owners in the family’s The Cleaning Authority and DoodyCalls businesses.
“I’d say it’s brought us closer. Before Alyssa’s sophomore year in college, she had no serious interest in the business. Now, we work together daily. The same with Mackenzie — if we didn’t have this family business, they’d likely have other careers, and we’d have less interaction,” Chris said. “When you start a business, your first goal is to break even. Then it’s to make enough to live comfortably. And then, before you know it, you’re in your dream house, golfing three days a week. These things don’t happen overnight, but after 20-some years, we’ve been fortunate to get here."
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