Home Clean Heroes Franchise Information

Delatte spoke with 1851 Franchise to tell us more about the history of the residential cleaning franchise, the brand’s Heroes First Initiative and the team’s plan for the future.

Since residential cleaning brand Home Clean Heroes first opened its doors, the company has been on a mission to help others in any way it can. 1851 Franchise spoke with Home Clean Heroes president Joe Delatte to learn more about how the brand achieves that mission, how it stands out in the residential cleaning industry and why franchisees are well-positioned for success as the brand expands across the country.

1851 Franchise: How was the brand created, and what void did it set out to fill?

Joe Delatte: Home Clean Heroes is a fast-growing, residential cleaning franchise that supports local first responders with every house we clean. We are backed by experienced franchisor Buzz Franchise Brands. 

In 2017, the Home Clean Heroes concept was started by Buzz Franchise Brands as a new brand entry into its portfolio. We were looking to create a fresh, differentiated brand in the residential cleaning segment. That is how our brand persona came together — we employ heroes, not maids. We wear capes, not aprons. That focus differentiated us from a lot of the other franchise brands in residential cleaning. We saw the term “maids” as diminishing to what we accomplish, and we wanted something different. 

We spent the first two yeasr operating corporate-owned locations, evolving best practices, marketing strategies and operational processes behind the business model. We started franchising Home Clean Heroes in late 2018 and signed our first franchisee just under one year later. 

1851 Franchise: What about Home Clean Heroes makes it unique within its industry?

Delatte: The Heroes First Initiative is our primary differentiator. A part of every cleaning fee we make goes to support first responders in markets we operate and across the country through our national partner First Responders Children’s Foundation. 

The focus of the First Responders Children’s Foundation is to support families of first responders who have been impacted in some way by being on the line of duty. In 2021, there were over 500 first responders killed in the line of duty, for example, and even more impacted by events that transfer back to the lives of their families. Their primary initiatives are offering need-based grants, scholarships, mental health programs, bereavement funding, and much more. The partnership allows us to identify needs within the market, and be a part of fulfilling that need. We’ll do over 20,000 services this year. In addition, customers will be given an opportunity to “round up” or add a nominal donation to their service cost, which will go directly to the initiative.

For passionate and community-driven franchisees, we are the only brand in the space that brings this kind of purpose to first responders. We are supporting the true heroes in each market we serve. While we clean homes, they save homes and are the ones who deserve our support. Many of our franchisees and candidates are purpose-driven, and they want to make sure they can give back to their community. They’ve always given back by contributing to the economy of the local market, but now they have a much more mission-based approach. 

1851 Franchise: What have been some of the brand's milestones in its history?

Delatte: Signing each of our nine franchisees to date has been a major milestone. From a revenue perspective, our local operations hit a million dollars in 2021. The other critical milestone, which is a validation of the business model, is that we operated as an essential business throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the growth coming out of the pandemic has been tremendous, and the ability to retain staff has allowed us to manage that demand and expand year-over-year.

1851 Franchise: Why is Home Clean Heroes a strong investment right now?

Delatte: For one, we are part of Buzz Franchise Brands, which is an enterprise that is proven and well-capitalized. Buzz has launched hundreds of franchisees, and we have the benefit of not only that senior guidance, but also the shared service model. A Home Clean Heroes franchisee has a dedicated management team, including a marketing team and PR agency, data analytics, graphic design and more behind them. Overall, there is a huge support system that a standalone franchise brand doesn’t offer.

Within the Buzz Franchise Brands team, we have in-depth franchising experience and understand service-based brands. This team launched the franchise opportunity for Mosquito Joe and achieved great success before it was sold. The systems and processes that we have established are all state-of-the-art, extremely well-vetted and user-friendly. We offer very robust and comprehensive tools to provide a great user experience, including route planning, invoicing, scheduling, etc. We are a very data-driven company, so we coach franchisees on the numbers & KPI’s of the business so we can help them grow the right way.

Another differentiator is our use of green products, renewable resource materials and our 99% effectiveness against pathogens and viruses like COVID-19. We believe it is essential to provide that level of quality and environmental awareness in order to operate with a clear conscience. 

For the customer, the tools we use are extremely user-friendly and very integrated in our processes and systems. For example, we text customers when crews are on their way to a job with our third-party texting platform,, and everyone on that team and in the local office is also on that thread. That level of communication helps solidify that long-lasting relationship.

1851 Franchise: What does an ideal franchisee look like?

Delatte: There are several attributes. The franchisee should be a people-person, as this is a people-driven business. We aim to establish long term relationships with our customers as teams will see them weekly or bi-weekly. Franchisees need to be able to develop  relationships on a personal level. 

Also, franchisees need to be willing to follow a process. We’ve put in the time to build this business model, and without a doubt, the franchisees that are most successful are the ones that follow the system.

Franchisees also need a passion for giving back to their communities. The Heroes First initiative is something they will support and grow in their own backyards so it is essential that a heart for giving back is in their DNA. This program is at the cornerstone of our brand mission, so it will become the franchisee’s mission as well.

A strong business acumen is great to have, but we can coach that. More importantly, franchisees really need the desire to build a significant business. We aren’t the choice for somebody who wants to do the actual cleaning work themselves. Our franchisees are business owners and wealth-builders because that is what the business model is built to do. We provide the tools, systems and processes for entrepreneurs to build a significant business. Most franchisees own multiple territories and have large growth opportunities. 

We’ve also found that military veterans make great Home Clean Heroes franchisees. They have the discipline and skillset to follow a process. We also offer a veteran franchise fee discount as part of our Heroes First Initiative.

1851 Franchise: What plans does the brand have in the coming years?

Delatte: We tripled our number of franchisees in 2021, and we’d like to do that again in 2022. By the end of 2022, we hope to have 24 franchisees signed, with 58 territories sold. 

The total initial investment to purchase a Home Clean Heroes franchise is $76,902 to $100,851, inclusive of a $35,000 franchise fee. For more information about franchising, visit: https://homecleanheroes.com/franchise-opportunity/, and for more information about the Heroes First initiative, visit: https://homecleanheroes.com/heroes-first/.