How Greg and Ruth Grew Their Time For You Franchise to 300 Clients

Building a successful domestic cleaning franchise takes commitment, consistent local marketing, proactive recruitment and a clear understanding of the numbers.

Time For You franchisees Greg and Ruth have experienced this first-hand. After launching their initial territory in Bishop’s Stortford during the Covid pandemic, they steadily grew the business while balancing family life, Greg’s NHS career and other commitments.

They have now reached an impressive 300 clients and expanded their area into Brentwood. Greg has also left his NHS role to focus on the franchise full-time, giving them more capacity to accelerate growth and work towards their next goal of 500 clients.

Their journey offers several valuable lessons for anyone considering a domestic cleaning franchise.

Commitment creates opportunities for growth

Greg and Ruth initially built the business around their existing responsibilities. This allowed them to establish the franchise, understand their local market and create a strong foundation.

As the business grew, Greg made the decision to leave his NHS role and commit to the franchise full-time. This has given them more time to focus on marketing, cleaner recruitment, client growth and the development of their second territory.

For prospective franchisees, the lesson is not that you must leave your current role immediately. It is important, however, to think about how your commitment to the business may develop over time.

A franchise provides a proven model, an established brand and ongoing support, but sustainable growth still requires consistent action from the franchisee.

Track the numbers that matter

Reaching 100 clients was an important early milestone for Greg and Ruth. It showed that their approach was working and gave them the confidence to set more ambitious targets.

They have since reached 300 clients, but their focus remains on the next stage of growth.

Ruth tracks key business figures daily, including:

• Client numbers
• Turnover
• Cleaning hours
• Progress towards their next target

Monitoring these figures helps them understand how the franchise is performing and where they need to focus their attention.

This is an important habit for any new franchisee. Clear targets make progress easier to measure, while accurate business data supports better decisions.

Rather than focusing only on one large long-term goal, franchisees can work towards realistic milestones such as their first 25, 50 or 100 clients.

Adapt your marketing to each territory

Expanding from Bishop’s Stortford into Brentwood taught Greg and Ruth that marketing is not one size fits all.

The channels that perform well in one area may produce different results in another. Local demographics, customer behaviour and competition can all influence how people respond.

Google Ads, for example, have performed differently across their territories. In Brentwood, Meta advertising has become particularly effective and now generates around 90 per cent of their leads.

Time For You provided Meta Ads training through Indie and Sam, helping Greg and Ruth understand how to set up, test and improve their campaigns. This support played an important part in helping them establish the newer territory.

They learned to give campaigns enough time to gather meaningful data rather than making constant changes. When an advert performs well, they build on that success by duplicating and refining it.

Traditional local marketing also continues to have a place. Local magazines and advertorials can generate high-quality enquiries while helping a franchise become more recognisable within the community.

The key lesson for prospective franchisees is to test different approaches, track where enquiries come from and make decisions based on local results.

Networking builds local trust

Networking has become one of Ruth’s most valuable business development activities.

By joining local business groups, she has generated referrals, raised awareness of Time For You and built relationships with other business owners in the area.

Networking has also helped her become more confident when explaining the business and the service it provides.

This is particularly useful for a Time For You franchisee. The role is not simply about supplying a cleaner. Franchisees manage a professional local business, which includes attracting clients, recruiting suitable cleaners, coordinating introductions and maintaining strong relationships.

People are more likely to recommend a business they know and trust. Regular networking helps build that familiarity, although the strongest results usually come from developing genuine relationships rather than expecting immediate referrals.

Make cleaners feel valued

Recruitment is only one part of building a strong cleaner network. Retention is equally important.

Greg and Ruth send personalised thank you cards to cleaners shortly after they join the business. It is a simple gesture, but it shows that their work is recognised and appreciated from the beginning.

Cleaner loyalty is built through:

• Clear and respectful communication
• Reliable support
• Prompt responses when issues arise
• Recognition of good work
• Genuine appreciation

Strong relationships with cleaners support a more reliable service for clients and reduce the disruption caused by unnecessary turnover.

Build a business that supports your life

Greg and Ruth’s next goal is to reach 500 clients, but growth is not their only motivation.

They want to create a business that provides more flexibility, travel opportunities and family time. Their long-term aim is to build a franchise that can continue to operate successfully without requiring them to manage every daily detail.

This is an important distinction. Greater freedom does not come from doing less at the beginning. It comes from building the right foundations, developing reliable systems and creating a support structure around the business.

For many prospective franchisees, this is one of the main attractions of building a franchise. It offers the opportunity to create an income, develop a valuable local business and gain more control over the future.

What can prospective franchisees learn from their journey?

Greg and Ruth did not grow from a Covid launch in Bishop’s Stortford to 300 clients and an expanded Brentwood territory through one single decision.

Their progress has come from improving each part of the business over time.

Their experience shows the importance of:

• Committing consistently to the business
• Setting clear and measurable growth targets
• Adapting marketing to the local territory
• Making use of the training and support available
• Recruiting cleaners proactively
• Building strong local relationships
• Creating systems that support future growth

A Time For You franchise provides an established business model, recognised brand and ongoing guidance. The role of the franchisee is to apply that model locally, build relationships and remain focused on steady, sustainable progress.

Greg and Ruth’s journey shows what can be achieved when franchise support is combined with commitment, continuous learning and the confidence to keep moving towards the next milestone.

Could a Time For You franchise be right for you?

A Time For You franchise may suit someone who wants to manage and grow a local business within the domestic cleaning sector.

The role involves marketing, recruitment, client communication, organisation and relationship-building. Franchisees do not need to arrive with experience in every area, but they should be willing to learn, follow the model and take responsibility for developing their territory.

Greg and Ruth’s success demonstrates the potential of building a domestic cleaning franchise with clear goals, strong systems and the right support.

Their business has already grown to 300 clients across Bishop’s Stortford and Brentwood. Their next target is 500, bringing them closer to the freedom and flexibility they set out to create.

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