Master Franchise Cleans up Business in Columbus

Commercial cleaning is a business that will never go away. Recessions come and go, but offices still need to be cleaned.

JAN-PRO, the leader in high-quality cleaning techniques for offices and commercial and health care facilities has had a presence in Columbus, OH since 2001 when Regional Master Franchisee, Rick Wolverton, left the corporate sales world to start his business.

1851 sat down with Rick to find out more about him and his cleaning dynasty.

I worked with a division of Stanley Works called Mac Tools. I was in charge of government sales and was a district sales manager. For 14 years I was a Mac Tools distributor.

The concept of franchising was always attractive to me because of the assistance and direction you receive from the franchisor. The commercial cleaning industry was particularly interesting to me because of the stability. It isn’t a “here today, gone tomorrow” type of business. Also, the repeat business is a positive aspect. We are in our clients’ offices daily, servicing them and building relationships.

I hold a BA in Business Management from Capitol University in Columbus and have decades of sales experience. The education and experience definitely prepared me for the commercial cleaning industry since I use business management and sales skills every day.

Currently we have 74 unit franchises in the Columbus metro market and outlying counties such as Licking, Madison and Pickaway. The fastest developing area right now is in the north end of Franklin County and south side of Delaware County.

December of 2014 was the second biggest month in our company history. We closed some big accounts so we are looking to add franchise units right now because we have a lot of work to fill.

Drive and determination is the recipe for success in this business. If you want to work hard and show up on time, every time, this can be a great business for you to join. You have to take responsibility for managing the business yourself and utilizing the support we provide to make it a success.

Two employees in my operations staff are veterans. Veterans make great candidates because of their training and procedural background. They are project, operational and deadline oriented.

I see a movement of people getting rid of internal cleaning staffs and outsourcing janitorial work. Businesses normally feel they have to be at a certain size before they can afford a cleaning company, but that is quickly changing. Also, because cleaning isn’t just sweeping and dusting anymore, I think we will see cleaning staffs become more sophisticated by adding advanced disinfectant methods to not only make offices clean but office environments more healthy.