Sparkle Squad Grows From 2 to 56 Franchisees in 2 Years, Prioritizing Franchisee Health and Stability

Sparkle Squad, the window cleaning and exterior cleaning franchise backed by Happinest Brands, has grown from two to 56 franchisees in its first two years of franchising. While its early growth has been a clear upward trajectory, it has also been intentional and strategic. 

Led by founder and CEO Chris Stoness, who has been in the industry for over a decade, the Sparkle Squad system emphasizes the real needs and success of local owners. By focusing on the revenue flowing through franchisees’ bank accounts rather than selling a certain number of territories, Stoness is driving healthy growth and creating a long-term path for success across the system.

“This is a royalty business, not a unit-number vanity business,” he said in a recent episode of the “Meet the Franchise” podcast. “We have been really dialed on a slower growth demand curve when it comes to units. We are also disciplined with territory; we sell one or two territories at most to a franchisee so they can go deep and build the actual infrastructure rather than going super wide. On support, the biggest learning over the last two years is the importance of meeting people where they are, not where you want them to be. It’s like walking side by side rather than pulling somebody against their will.”

Beyond the measured approach to awarding territories and ensuring ample franchisee support during the early stages, Stoness ensures local owners are heard and involved in decisions that will impact the business on an ongoing basis. 

“I can’t win unless it’s symbiotic,” he said. “I am firmly in the empathetic franchisor camp. Franchisees are on the front lines; to not listen to them would be a terrible idea.”

As he looks to the future, Stoness has his sights set on growing the franchise system by growing franchisees. With a vision to become a $100M royalty system, he remains deeply committed to ensuring each franchisee has the structure, support and partnership necessary to win.

Stoness joined 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills to discuss the current state of the business, how Sparkle Squad supports franchisees, and his long-term vision for the brand. A transcript of Stoness’s interview with Powills has been provided below. It has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.

Nick Powills: Chris, if someone wants to see your backstory, they can Google you because we've already talked about that. Let's skip ahead and give me a state of the business. What’s the latest?

Chris Stoness: State of the business: Sparkle Squad and Elite Window Cleaning are absolutely going into our Super Bowl Sunday, which is the spring season. Every year, we get fired up; everything starts clicking together in March and April. By this time of year, we are all systems go. It’s a blast. Last time we talked, we were just launching and pulling things together. We had two franchisees; today that number is 56. Our first franchisee turned two on Friday. It’s been a wild ride.

Powills: Lots to unpack there. I’m going to start with that end statement: two to above 50. What has that been like? So many businesses are in the business of selling franchises, then they realize they are really in the royalty business. 

Royalty only comes if franchisees win, and typically, they only win if you build support structures around them. At the same time, you have franchisees going through a high-stress point with consumer demand — the "Super Bowl." They are getting a rude awakening. How has it been navigating that?

Stoness: You totally nailed the point: this is a royalty business, not a unit-number vanity business. We have been really dialed on a slower growth demand curve when it comes to units. We are also disciplined with territory; we sell one or two territories at most to a franchisee so they can go deep and build the actual infrastructure rather than going super wide. On support, the biggest learning over the last two years is the importance of meeting people where they are, not where you want them to be. It’s like walking side by side rather than pulling somebody against their will. We built a coaching structure called "Strategic Growth Coaching" designed around understanding the state of play today and where you want to be in 30, 60 or 90 days. That has allowed us to grow at a rapid rate while everyone keeps their sanity.

Powills: I love the support mechanism. Thinking as a franchisee, it’s great to have a coach, but most of their revenue is not predictable — it’s "I have a job, I need to hire you." They are going through interesting mental states moving from a predictable paycheck to a hustle where they have to get out of bed and encourage staff. If the coaching is listening to those challenges, they are providing scaffolding, because the mental drain of being a franchisee alone is tough.

Stoness: Nobody asks you to get out of bed when you’re an entrepreneur. I’m of the mindset that entrepreneurs have to happen to the world; the world can’t happen to us. Where that intersects with coaching is that we have run a brand in this industry since 2012, long before we started franchising. We’ve been eating our own cooking for a long time before serving it to others. I know that stress of early March when you're antsy to get the calendar full, followed by 30 days later when you’re freaking out because you can’t keep up with inflow. I’ve lived it, and I still do. Without the context of having been in this industry for as long as we have, I would see it as a helpless scenario rather than something natural. You have to trust the process, do the quotes, and hear “no” over and over. In the moment, you think you’re doing it wrong until the cycle happens and the work comes home to roost.

Powills: I think the two gaps for a franchisee are: one, are they willing to capitalize the marketing? They often rely on an Item 7 or guidance to put 1% or 2% toward marketing, but it’s an equation. Once you figure out the cost of customer acquisition, are you willing to spend what it takes? Two, nobody is going to force them out of bed. They have to look in the mirror and realize it’s 24/7. Over time, if you do the right things, the acquisition cost goes down as referrals go up. If the industry could build the perfect franchise, this would be offset by making franchisees work in the business for two years first, like McDonald’s used to. Here, you're doing it through coaching, but they are still building the plane while flying it.

Stoness: Exactly. And they are not only building it, but learning the language the instructions were written in. It is full contact. If anybody says franchising is not full contact, it just is — it’s still entrepreneurship. You either win or learn. You still have to go through those reps, even if the system truncates them with experience. To the marketing point, it is absolutely an equation: what are my revenue goals, what percentage is organic versus paid, and what is the CPL and conversion rate? You run the math and see if it equals your goal. That’s where the coaching ties in — calibrating against the targets. If you're down on organic, what are the strategies? Are you going to ribbon cuttings? It doesn’t make it any less of a full contact sport.

Powills: We tend to say franchising is "entrepreneurial, not for entrepreneurs," which is true to a degree. But the franchisees who blame the franchisor were never entrepreneurial in the first place. An entrepreneur looks in the mirror and asks what they can do differently.

Stoness: I think it’s a bit of a fallacy that franchisees aren’t for entrepreneurs. Those who don’t act as entrepreneurs struggle more. People say sales-oriented or operationally-oriented people are more successful, but I can’t define it by background. I’ve boiled it down to two things: stamina to do the hard things consistently and leadership qualities. You’re only as good as your team in the service industry. If you have the stamina to make it through the race and the leadership to build as you go, that covers the needs of the business.

Powills: I agree. One challenge in franchise sales is evaluating those two qualities. Leadership is showing up and doing what you say you’ll do. If a candidate ignores calls, those aren’t leadership qualities. Stamina is showing up and selling the franchisor on why they should award you the business. It’s hard to evaluate because sales is often about speed to deal.

Stoness: We have a unique process led by Jen Olson; she’s not a "race you through the process" person. Later in the process, I get on for an hour or more. I just want to listen. I want them to tell me their story. I don't do any prep other than knowing their name and territory because I want to experience them for the first time, not off someone else's notes. If you listen to someone’s trajectory in life, you can find the stamina and the entrepreneurship in their DNA. Listening is an underrated art form in development.

Powills: That listening carries over to how you treat franchisees. Many franchisors like to "rule" the franchisee, but some of the greatest brand* moments — like the Big Mac or the $5 Footlong — came from listening to franchisees. These people invested their life savings; they had to do something significant to have that cash. If you listen to the collective, it impacts the business.

Stoness: It’s so important. Earlier today we had an all-hands call and a franchisee brought up a great idea about using the customer list in the winter. We took action on it immediately. I can’t win unless it’s symbiotic. It takes a long time to break even as a franchisor on a single unit unless they are successful. I am firmly in the empathetic franchisor camp. Franchisees are on the front lines; to not listen to them would be a terrible idea.

Powills: Some franchisors treat franchisees like employees or widgets, and that’s where it goes upside down. Many brands stall between 50 and 100 units because they couldn't master the people side. The industry events talk about selling franchises, but not the facilitation of building a great company through empathy and scaffolding. If you have a successful franchisee, that’s where the money comes from. It’s not rocket science.

Stoness: It’s about two things: relationships and unit economics. If you have those, you can weather any storm. If franchisees trust you and the economics are viable, that’s how the magic happens. Nobody brings a dollar to the table except for the end user — the customers of the franchisees.

Powills: I’m impressed that you’ve kept window cleaning, gutter cleaning, power washing, and holiday lights under one brand. Most multi-brand franchisors would have created four brands and charged the franchisee a fee for each. You’re saying, "We already have the relationship with the customer, let's solve these four problems." It allows for revenue throughout the whole year. What was the purpose in keeping it this way?

Stoness: Holiday Lights is kind of our "Big Mac" — the most recent addition driven by franchisee demand. Our purpose is for people to grow meaningful, seven-figure businesses, not hobbies. Each of those service lines can be a seven-figure operation. We wanted the franchisee to scale off the lifetime value of the client. We didn't want to be a bunch of service businesses in a trench coat. These are the four things we can use technology to be the best in the world at. It creates a cyclical need: windows in spring, pressure in summer, gutters in fall, holiday lights in winter. Rinse and repeat.

Powills: What is the Item 7 grand opening spend?

Stoness: Total grand opening marketing spend is $20,000. We lowered that from $45,000 and started marketing contributions in week one, in month one. We pulled back to reduce "whiplash." It’s the same net amount, but it feels better for the franchisee to be consistent. In the first year, they do $20,000 for the grand opening and then a weekly ongoing contribution that goes right back into their territory.

Powills: I’ll give you a counter-viewpoint. I like the bigger number, but I’d define "grand opening" as the whole first year, with each service line having its own "opening" based on seasonality. That way you’re budgeting $10k per service line to celebrate with the community. These are only seven-figure businesses if you put in seven-figure energy.

Stoness: It actually works out to be the same number; it’s just dripping in throughout the year. For the grand opening, we encourage franchisees to pick their favorite charities, show up, and execute. Doing good for good's sake almost always drives business back.

Powills: You’re building the right story. Going from two to 50 is great, and you have the right mentality. You’re putting scaffolding around the franchisee to protect your reputation and help them get where they want to go.

Stoness: All that matters at the end of the day is unit-level success. The rest of the story writes itself.

Powills: If franchisees are winning, it’s easy. I once had a franchisor say he wanted 20 deals on the same budget he used for 10. I told him it would take a franchisee 12 years to pay off the investment at that rate, and it wouldn't happen. He ended up doing 11 deals. Franchisors sometimes play not to lose rather than playing to win. A long-term game plan has a tremendous ROI.

Stoness: My "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" is to be a hundred-million-dollar system. People ask how many franchisees that will take, and I say as few as possible. I want those dollars flowing through our franchisees' bank accounts. That’s how we win.

Powills: The math works: four business lines, seven-figure businesses. Chris, thanks for doing this and congratulations on the success. We’ll check back in two years.

Stoness: I appreciate you, Nick. Thanks, brother.

Watch the full interview here.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/sparkle-squad.