Emerging franchise brand Home Clean Heroes wants to ensure that prospective franchisees and the leadership team are both excited by and fully committed to new partnerships. To that end, Home Clean Heroes utilizes a thorough vetting process that gives prospective franchisees plenty of time to learn as much as they can about the franchise opportunity before they sign on the dotted line. 

“Franchise development is a mutual program,” President Joe Delatte said. “The discovery component allows the franchise candidate to learn as much as they possibly can about Home Clean Heroes, the culture of our parent company, Buzz Franchise Brands and the business opportunity itself. There are also checkpoints throughout the vetting process to make sure the business matches the prospective franchisee’s vision and what they’ve been told by the leadership team.” 

Prospective Home Clean Heroes franchisees primarily work with the brand’s franchise development director, and the first step in discovery is the overview call between the two. The goal of this call for the brand is to get to know prospective franchisees and their goals and give them an overview of the business model. 

“The overview call is 70% the candidate and 30% Home Clean Heroes,” Delatte said. “We do more listening than talking because we want to get to know the candidate and make sure they’re a good fit.” 

After the overview call, prospective franchisees are emailed a 15-minute video that talks about the overall business opportunity. This is followed by more phone calls with the franchise development director and videos that cover finances, marketing and operations. The marketing video goes into the marketing and lead generation tactics the brand uses to help drive business to the franchise system. 

The operations video gives prospective franchisees a clear view of what their day-to-day life will entail. Prospective franchisees learn about the tools of the trade, including the branded vehicles, the cleaning process and the management software they would utilize. 

After a series of phone calls and videos, prospective franchisees are provided a copy of the brand’s franchise disclosure document (FDD). The franchise development director will continue to be available for any questions the franchisee may have. 

If the prospective franchisee is still on board at this point, they can then attend Meet the Team Day at the Buzz Franchise Brands headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They can also meet Home Clean Heroes CEO Kevin Wilson and get a chance to visit a local Home Clean Heroes operation and get a firsthand view of the business. 

“The goal at that point is to confirm that the franchise opportunity meets the prospect’s expectations,” Delatte said. “There shouldn’t be any surprises at Meet the Team Day, just a confirmation of what they’ve researched and learned already.”

Prospective franchisees are not required to sign on the dotted line on Meet the Team Day, although some do. The brand will follow up with prospective franchisees by phone a couple of days after the event to gauge continuing interest. 

Throughout the discovery process, the leadership team is also committed to identifying prospective franchisees who share their vision and values. Delatte described Home Clean Heroes as a values-driven organization that prioritizes building strong relationships. 

“We’re entering into at least a 10-year partnership, and in most cases, prospective franchisees are putting their life savings into franchising,” he said. “Those who have attended Meet the Team Day with Home Clean Heroes and Buzz Franchise Brands have said things like ‘This feels like family’ and ‘This feels like the right thing,’ which is exactly what we want to hear. It’s so important that we get to that point.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted Home Clean Heroes to shift to virtual Meet the Team days via Zoom. Prospective franchisees can still chat one-on-one with all of the necessary team members and see the same slideshow and materials that would be available during an onsite visit. Since prospects cannot physically visit a local Home Clean Heroes operation, the leadership team sets up a mobile-camera walk-through of business operations. 

“It’s still a very interactive experience: The General Manager will explain everything and the prospective franchisee can ask any questions they have,” Delatte said. 

Two franchisees who have benefitted from the brand’s thorough vetting process are husband-and-wife team Jeff and Jessica Ruiz. They opened the brand’s first franchise on the Virginia Peninsula in November 2019, and their territory covers Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg and York County. They’d always wanted to own their own business and desired an opportunity that would provide them with more of a work-life balance. They were thrilled with what they learned about Home Clean Heroes. 

“We found that Home Clean Heroes was the best fit for us among all of the other cleaning services,” Jeff Ruiz said. “We found it online. We were watching a video about franchise brands in which they mentioned Home Clean Heroes. Having the branding and the backing of a company that has started other businesses such as Pool Scouts really instilled confidence in us. We tipped toward this company over the others because they’ve already run several successful businesses. Home Clean Heroes also offers really impressive marketing and features.” 

Thanks to a thorough discovery process, Home Clean Heroes ensures that both franchisees and the leadership team are able to establish an informed, successful and rewarding partnership. 

The startup costs for a Home Clean Heroes franchise range from $86,025 to $141,260. The franchise fee is $30,000. To learn more about franchising with Home Clean Heroes, visit https://homecleanheroes.com/franchise-opportunity/.