1. Commercial Cleaning
Outsourced cleaning services are primarily used in corporate offices and retail outlets. It is a growth industry riding on the post-recessionary increase in the number of new businesses and investments in non-residential real estate. Commercial cleaning services commonly provide nightly or weekly dusting, vacuuming and other cleaning services for workplaces. This attractive opportunity provides an easy-to-scale B2B model with recurring revenues.
According to the US Census and IBISWorld estimates, more than 90.0% of commercial cleaning/ janitorial establishments are sole proprietorships or non-employing businesses. This is primarily due to the low barriers to entry, including low capital intensity. However, being part of a recognized or larger franchise brand does give a significant advantage in getting larger and more specialized contracts. It also enables the owner to leverage key best practices to scale the business in a competitive landscape. Other success factors include,
- Ability to understand and control the mix of labor, material and cleaning supplies costs depending on the needs of the clients
- Ability of the business to move away from price sensitive clients and short-term contracts to more strategic arrangements with niche customers
- Ability to keep the cost structure, employee turnover and accounts receivables low
The industry has very low barriers to entry and a growing number of employers and non-employers competing. Keys to success are strong brand recognition and specialization or solution selling. Eco-friendly services are growing in demand. An aging demographic is creating higher demand for cleaning services in healthcare facilities.
Advantage for Franchise Owners
Most corporations or multi-site clients prefer to sign strategic contracts with national franchises for uniformity of service across locations. Also, property managers tend to prefer franchises because they are more likely to provide integrated services like landscaping, window cleaning, deep carpet cleaning, stripping and waxing floors, building management and even, security services. Executive franchise models position the owner to work on the business, not providing cleaning services themselves.
2. Staffing
The external drivers for this sector are unemployment rates (since temp workers are the first to be laid off) and business profits (which has shown a nice bounce back in Washington since the recession).
Contingent workers generally present less risk for a business than permanent employees, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, businesses with highly seasonal performance have been better able to manage their work by hiring temporary staff, thereby allowing them to quickly expand or shrink their workforce in line with seasonal demand for their product or service.
Affordable Care Act (ACA) had raised the healthcare costs for staffing agencies and, on the other hand, made it more attractive for employers to hire via temp agencies. Temporary nurses, insurance claims processors, and administrative staff demand are all forecasted for growth. The rise of the gig or freelance economy and a cautious economic recovery has led to temporary staff becoming a permanent fixture in corporate ecosystems.
Over time, demand has shifted away from the more traditional office and clerical workers due to changes in office technology (including computerization and mobile communication). For example, some manufacturing companies have increased their demand for temporary workers due to their just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing processes to meet seasonal or other peak demands.
In addition, more people are joining the temporary workforce due to lifestyle choices, family or other commitments. Professionals, skilled workers, and managers are growing segments of the industry in light of these changes.
A growing number of job seekers are using temporary staffing services as a stepping stone for a more permanent position. According to American Staffing Association’s 2014 survey (latest data available), 34.0% of respondents who had previously worked for a temp staffing agency were offered a permanent position by their client at the end of their tenure.
The success factors in this market are building a loyal client base for repeat business, rapid delivery, and supply of flexible, reliable and appropriately skilled workers who are available at short notice for placement.
A client typically chooses a staffing firm due to its suitable supply of qualified, trained or experienced staff who are available at short notice. Offering high service levels and flexible solutions is key.
Advantage for Franchise Owners
Small industry players do not have access to major clients that generally use larger agencies with a pre-existing national or global networks.
Furthermore, many well-established operators provide clients with a full range of employment services that go far beyond temporary staffing, to include permanent placement, executive search, outplacement services and leadership training. Clients that seek these value-added services are more likely to work with a larger firm that has the resources to provide the full range of employment services.
Furthermore, finding a suitable pool of candidates can be difficult for entrepreneurs (non-franchisee) looking to enter the industry. Most temporary workers tend to work with staffing agencies where they have had prior success.
3. Tutoring
With two-person income households suffering the lack of time in a robust economy, the demand for quality tutoring delivered in a flexible format has never been higher in the Puget Sound area.
Parent concerns about the quality of public school education has traditionally fueled the demand for after-school tutoring. Facility-based learning centers can offer multiple services including subject based tutoring, general academic coaching and test prep .
Advantage for Franchise Owners
Following the downturn, it can be risky to open an independent tutoring businesses. Consider managing that risk with one of the proven business models in the tutoring and test preparation franchise category.
National brand recognition, effective customer acquisition strategies, and smart use of technology are some reasons tutoring franchises have become increasingly popular over the past five years. Franchisors also offer efficiencies to owners purchasing materials, enabling franchisees to offer more competitive pricing to customers while realizing better margins than many independent business owners. Some franchise models include proprietary assessments to determine the appropriate learning plan for each student.