Merry Maids LIVE Q&A with Tom Jackson

Tom Jackson shares his experience as the top-performing Merry Maids franchisee.

Curious about the franchising side of Merry Maids?

Tom Jackson from Merry Maids Dudley, Wolverhampton and Stafford has been a Merry Maids franchise business owner for over 20 years.

Now the top-performing and highest-earning franchisee last year, Tom was awarded the Mary Maid’s Franchise Partner of the Year in 2023.

He sat down with our Franchise Recruitment Manager, Matt Fowler, to discuss his experience franchising with Merry Maids UK.

Tom’s Background

Before becoming a Mary Maid’s franchise partner, Tom had previously managed other people’s businesses, which provided a steady income but limited the benefits of his efforts and took up much of his time as he worked a lot of evenings and weekends.

“I was in gaming for a while and then I was a customer service manager for a car dealership. Different in terms of the industry. I think that no matter how much effort you put into working for somebody else, you don’t get any extra benefits from it.”

Choosing Franchising

Tom felt that running his own franchise business, with the support of a head office, would allow him to reap the rewards of his hard work.

He was drawn to the franchise model as a “halfway house” between working for someone else and being completely independent.

He appreciated the support and benefits of being part of a network, such as marketing and brand recognition, which he felt would be difficult to achieve on his own.

“Running your own business (particularly a franchise where you’ve got the support of a head office or a franchise centre) by putting the extra effort in, you get the results out at the end. You get support from both the other franchisees and, yourselves at ServiceMaster. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Tom conducted research on various franchise opportunities, including attending roadshows and events.

He says he ultimately chose Mary Maid’s because he felt it aligned with his desired work-life balance and the needs of his growing family.

“In my previous jobs, I worked evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. Whereas with Merry Maids, typically the staff are out working 9 till 3:30, Monday to Friday, there are no bank holidays, and there are no weekends. So, I thought that the Merry Maids fit was fantastic in terms of my growing family. My son’s now 21. And he was going to nursery at 7 a.m., coming back at 7 o’clock at night. And I knew if it didn’t do something, that wouldn’t change.”

Franchise Support

As a franchise partner, Tom has received significant support from the Mary Maid’s marketing department, which has helped him with initiatives like Google Ads and our partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society.

“The marketing department here is fantastic,” he says.

“If I were ‘Tom’s Cleaning’, I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near the sort of benefit that we get from being part of a franchise network. Again, with [The Alzheimer’s Society], they wouldn’t partner at all with ‘Tom’s Cleaning.’ It’s the brand(s) that are pushing that forward.”

Tom also emphasised the value of the franchise network, where he can share best practices and support with other franchise partners without being in direct competition. This collaborative approach has been beneficial for his business growth.

“I am quite competitive so I will have my targets that we want to achieve. We’re the biggest Merry Maids in the UK now and want to keep it that way. We’ve got a couple of other businesses that are growing, and my team want to keep that distance and push our business forward.”

“But we’re not in competition; other people are quite happy to share things that have worked for them and share best practices across the network. It works across the board because you know we’re not going to steal their customers we all want to grow.”

Marketing Support

During his time at Merry Maids, Tom has seen a change in the type of marketing required to succeed and the support from ServiceMaster has been vital in adapting to these changes.

When starting his business, Tom relied heavily on leaflet drops to acquire his first few clients. Over time, word-of-mouth and digital marketing have become more important sources of new business.

The marketing department at ServiceMaster provides support and guidance to new franchise partners on their marketing strategies through one-to-one sessions with each franchisee to help advise on new strategies and solutions for success.

The franchise network and the support provided to franchise partners also includes support from brand leader, Vikki Donnachie, who plays a crucial role in operational support, while the marketing support function helps drive business development and brand visibility. Tom also stresses that the franchise partners also learn from each other, sharing best practices and visiting each other’s sites.

For individuals with expertise in marketing, sales, or business development, Matt emphasised the franchise opportunity can be particularly valuable. These skills are directly applicable to the franchise model, which is a sales and marketing-driven business.

In this way, the Merry Maids opportunity is not just about domestic cleaning, but rather a managed business model that allows for growth and scalability. The only limitation is the franchise partner’s own mindset and ambition. Hence, Tom emphasises the concept of “thinking big” is reiterated as a key piece of advice for potential franchisees.

Expansion and ambitions

Tom’s business has grown significantly over the years, and he has been able to expand by acquiring additional territories and licenses, with his most recent expansion being into a third office in Stafford.

He says his focus for the future is to become the first Mary Maid’s franchise partner to reach £1 million in revenue.

Tom’s advice for other franchise business owners is to have big ambitions. He advises new franchise partners to not limit their vision to just a small business, but to envision growth and expansion, potentially reaching 20, 40, 60, or even 120 staff. The competitive nature of the franchise network and the league table further drive this ambition.

Tom and Matt’s discussion also highlighted the ability to sell the franchise business and the value it can hold as an asset. Franchise businesses can be sold, and the value is negotiable, like a buy-to-let property.

This provides franchise partners with the opportunity to potentially sell the business in the future or even pass it on to their children as a legacy.

This means the option of leaving the business to one’s children or having a management team run the day-to-day operations while the franchise partner collects income is also a possible ambition. This can provide a stream of income for the franchise partner, effectively becoming a pension pot or a secondary source of income.

Is Merry Maids in your future?

Could you be the next Tom?

Find your future with multiple highly scalable and profitable franchise business opportunities today with ServiceMaster Brands UK.

To learn more about what we do and how we can help you, contact our franchise sales team today by calling 0116 275 9000 or booking an intro call with Matt Fowler, our Franchise Recruitment Manager today to learn more.

Or, if you need a professional and expert cleaning service, find your nearest Merry Maids business to see how we can help you today.