The Financial Breakdown of a The Maids Franchise

With more than 1,500 franchise units across the United States and Canada, The Maids are one of the Cleaning & Maintainance Industry leaders. At present, this franchisor seeks new franchisees, so we decided to present to all potential investors how much is The Maids franchise cost, fee, and profit.

The Cleaning Industry is growing more than ever, so business owners in this niche have a bright future. If you are searching for affordable options to start a cleaning franchise, you can start with this review of The Maids; we covered start cost, ongoing fees, and profit that the owner can make per year.

How Much Does The Maids Franchise Cost

The Maids franchise cost can range between $57,500 to $156,000. Will be starting cost low or high will depend primarily on the size of the territory in which the franchisee conducts business operations.

This franchisor charges a so-called ”Initial Territory Fee”. This fee can vary a lot because its cost is $0.50 per household that exists inside the borders of the selected territory.

The territory usually has 24,000 to 168,000 households, which means that the Initial Territory Fee cost can be between $9,600 and $84,000.

The most significant advantage of starting The Maids franchise is that they, as a company, provide financing to cover 80% of the cost related to the Initial Teritorry Fee. So franchisee applicants will not need to search for third-party funding sources.

We must also mention that franchisees will need to purchase or lease at least one four-door automobile and decor it with stickers of this brand. It will cost investors between $1,800 to max $4,500 per vehicle.

The Maids franchise list of costs:

  • Initial Territory Fee: $9,600 – $84,000 
  • Insurance Deposit: $2,200 – $3,200
  • Vehicle/Auto Lease Payments + Wrap installation: $1,800 – $4,500
  • Expenses During Initial Training: $900 – $4,850
  • Telephone and Internet: $900 – $1,800
  • Office Decorating & Furniture: $500 – $2,000
  • Start Up Professional Services $500 – $1,500
  • Office Security Deposit: $0 – $2,150
  • Washer and Dryer $0 – $1,500
  • Working Capital (first 3 months): $23,900 – $33,500
  • Estimated Total Investment: $57,500 to $156,000

If the Investor accepts to get financing directly from the franchisor, it is necessary to sign the Spousal Liability Agreement. It means if the franchisee doesn’t return the loan for the Initial Territory Fee, his wife or husband will be obligated under the law to do that.

The Maids Franchise Fee

The owner of The Maids franchise will need to pay a one-time Initial Teritorry Fee, which will cost between $9,600 to $84,000, and certain ongoing royalties. Royalty Fee is 6.9% to 3.9% of Gross Revenue, and it is paid every month in exchange for the franchisor’s services.

Except for the expense related to the royalties, the franchisee will also need to pay specific ongoing marketing and technology service fees. The Ad Fund Fee cost is 2% of Gross Revenue, and Technology Fund Fee is charged as 0.25% of total sales that franchise units make per month.

When we combined all The Maids franchise ongoing fees, we came to 9.50% of the gross sales. This amount of the franchisor fees are standard for the Cleaning Industry, but this franchisor offers some reductions according to each unit’s sale level.

It means more gross sales = less ongoing Royalty Fee cost. But, all potential investors in this franchising opportunity must be aware that they will need to pay the highest percentage of the royalties at the start.

The Maids franchise list of all ongoing fees:

  • Initial Territory Fee: $9,600 – $84,000 
  • Royalty Fee: 6.9% to 3.9% of Gross Revenue – an ongoing cost
  • Ad Fund Fee: 2% of Gross Revenue
  • Technology Fund Fee: 0.25% of Gross Revenue – an ongoing cost
  • Software and Support Fee: $105 to $265 per month
  • Transfer Fee: $6,000 

Also, we must mention that this franchisor is part of the VetFran Program. So they offer a 20% discount off the Initial Territory Fee to Veterans of the U.S Army Forces.

The Maids Franchise Average Income and Owner Salary

On average, The Maids franchises make gross sales of approximately $1,000,000 with a 15% profit margin, which means that The Maids franchise owner can expect to make $150,000 per year.

However, new owners can’t expect that in the first year after starting a business, their units will make gross sales on the average level of this company. There will be a lot of struggle at the beginning because there will not be too many regular clients.

A more realistic option is that new franchise units will make $100,000 in gross sales, so the owner can anticipate making $15,000 of profit in the first year. At first, the owner’s salary may seem small, but every start is difficult, and potential franchisees must have realistic expectations.

The cleaning and maintenance business is a highly profitable industry, and that is because operational costs are very low. So by owning this franchise, owners can expect to make a profit margin that will be at least 15%.

According to The Maids Franchise Disclosure Document, the lowest-earning existing franchise made in 2020 $93,698, and the most successful unit has earned $6,327,831 in Gross Sales. For 2020 the average was $1,044,647.

We can see that The Maids franchises have excellent profit potential from these stats. So with a relatively low-cost starting investment, investors can have a business that can be scaled every year according to the demand on the market.

So because all said, and because the cleaning industry will grow in the future, owning this franchise can be very lucrative in the long run.

Franchisor Overview

The Maids have been in business since 1979. Daniel Bishop, at that time only 21 years old, founded this company in Omaha, Nebraska. In the 1970s, the cleaning market was not soo developed as today, so we can say that Daniel Bishop is one of the pioneers of the cleaning industry.

Today, as a franchisor, this company has more than 1,500 franchise units across the whole of the United States. These numbers put them on the top of the cleaning industry by the number of franchise units.

The peculiarity of owning The Maids franchise is that the franchisor reduces Royalty Fee according to the gross sales that the unit makes per month! 

The Maids franchise Royalty Fee percentage according to sales:

  • $0 – 6,730 of Gross Revenue – charged 6.9% of royaltyes
  • $6,731 – 13,460 of Gross Revenue – charged 6.5% of royaltyes
  • $13,461 – 28,840 of Gross Revenue- charged 6.0% of royaltyes
  • $28,841 – 48,070 of Gross Revenue – charged 5.5%of royaltyes
  • $48,071 – 76,920 of Gross Revenue – charged 5.0% of royaltyes
  • $76,921 – 134,615 of Gross Revenue – charged 4.5% of royaltyes
  • $134,616+ of Gross Revenue – charged 3.9% of royaltyes

As we can see from the chart above, this franchisor rewards franchise owners that make more sales per month. Reducing royalties is not standard practice in the franchising industry, so franchise applicants must be aware of this one-of-a-kind advantage that this franchisor offers. 

Also, The Maids franchise cost is relatively low, so this franchising opportunity will be available even to those investors who don’t have millions of dollars at their disposal for starting a new business.

Summary

After analyzing The Maids franchise cost and potential profit that these cleaning franchises can make per year, we concluded that investing in this company franchising opportunity can be a good and very lucrative choice. 

The franchisees can benefit from the excellent profit margins that The Maids franchises produce, which is the most significant advantage of this franchising opportunity. Also, the Cleaning Industry is still not soo oversaturated as most of the others, so now is the right time to get involved in it.

However, new owners must be aware that the first year after starting The Maids franchise will be most demanding for them. After a business gets established, the base of the regular customers will grow, and the owner’s profit will be much higher.   

Written by:

Stuart MacPherson

Hi, I'm Stuart. I've been running my own small business since 2019 after leaving a successful career in finance. I created FranchiseTheory to share my enthusiasm for franchising and the franchise business model.

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