Of the countless businesses slowed or crippled by the recent recession, the commercial cleaning segment is one of the few to emerge mostly unharmed, says Adam Povlitz, Vice President of Operations for Anago Cleaning Systems. Facilities always need cleaning regardless of the economy, and he says many veteran white-collar workers downsized throughout North Carolina during the period are now viewing the industry for its franchising and profit potential, as opposed to the “less than glamorous” work perceived as involved.
Anago Master Franchise Owners are not in the cleaning business – they are in the sales and marketing business. The Anago Master Owner has the exclusive developmental rights to sell Janitorial or Unit Franchises in a defined territory. Simultaneously, the Master sells cleaning contracts, business to business and assigns them to those who purchased a Unit Franchise.
Sheldon Mellon and Houston Harris are entrepreneurs who decided to go into business for themselves, while not by themselves.
“I explored many franchise opportunities and landed on Anago for a wealth of reasons,” said Sheldon Mellon, co-owner of Anago of Charlotte. “Anago had availability in my target area, it is in a recession resistant industry, and it offers great scalability.”
“With Anago, the business is owned and operated by real people who actually do care about each of their franchisors and franchisees. It’s not just lip service with Anago; they mean what they say and say what they mean,” said Houston Harrison, co-owner of the Anago of Charlotte. “We had a six month courtship and were won over to become the master franchise of the Charlotte territory.”
Prior to joining Anago as master franchise, Harris worked in the advertising industry for several years and Mellon worked extensively in the telecom industry. Both have started and bought companies in their careers, and together, they’ve become business partners in several ventures, such as advertising, marketing, graphic design, mosquito control, real estate, and now commercial cleaning.
“We are thrilled to have Mr. Mellon and Mr. Harris join the Anago family,” Povlitz said. “Their strong experience in business development and passion for success are qualities we look for in every Master Owner who joins our system.”
With over 30 locations and 2,200 Unit Franchises, Anago has somehow remained under the radar. This has been a critical piece to the brand’s success. One prime example of the under-the-radar growth has been in South Florida, where the brand has over 180 Unit Franchisees, and in cities like Nashville, where the Master Franchisor awarded over 50 Unit Franchises in 2011.
“We plan on experiencing the same level of growth in Charlotte,” said Judy Walker, Vice President of Marketing. “We plan on making Charlotte’s offices cleaner, while adding more jobs and business ownership opportunities.”
According to Walker, only about 2 percent of all commercial cleaning businesses are franchised operations, while the rest are “mom and pop” firms lacking efficient systems, experienced management, and support for field teams—if they even become that large. And while few small cleaning firms see the benefit to switching to a franchised brand, Facility Managers are eager to have insured professional crews that do the work well on a consistent timely basis.
ABOUT ANAGO
Anago Cleaning Systems is a commercial cleaning franchise system supporting over 30 Master Franchises and over 2,200 Unit Franchisees in the U.S. and internationally. After years of refining procedures and creating duplicable systems created in his conventional commercial cleaning service, David Povlitz founded Anago in 1989 to help other entrepreneurs open their cleaning businesses. Today, its program sets the standard in U.S. commercial cleaning. Anago was ranked the fifth fastest-growing franchise by Entrepreneur magazine in 2010 and 2011, and ranked by Franchise Business Review as one of the best franchises in franchisee satisfaction. Inc. Magazine has also listed Anago as one of the top privately-held companies in the U.S. For further information, visit itswebsite.
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Anago Cleaning Systems is a commercial cleaning franchise system supporting over 30 Master Franchises and over 2,200 Unit Franchisees in the U.S. and internationally. After years of refining procedures and creating duplicable systems created in his conventional commercial cleaning service, David Povlitz founded Anago in 1989 to help other entrepreneurs open their cleaning businesses. Today, its program sets the standard in U.S. commercial cleaning. Anago was ranked the fifth fastest-growing franchise by Entrepreneur magazine in 2010 and 2011, and ranked by Franchise Business Review as one of the best franchises in franchisee satisfaction. Inc. Magazine has also listed Anago as one of the top privately-held companies in the U.S. For further information, visit itswebsite.
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