THE CHOICE WAS RIGHT

Khushali and Jay Patel have made quite a few differences to their lives since buying a business with V.I.P. in September 2023. “We’ve bought a new house,” says Khushali, somewhat modestly. “Oh, and a new family car … and we had a holiday in Singapore and India,” she adds as an afterthought! “V.I.P. is an excellent system which has helped us grow rapidly, and the success has followed.”

Three years ago, Khushali was working as a customer services representative with an international car hire firm. “We have two children aged ten and five,” she explains, “and finding the flexibility we needed for them was increasingly difficult. Jay had spent eight years as a dairy farm manager, and he took on the task of finding us a business that would give us what we needed. We rejected many options, but as we searched, we realised a franchise has big advantages in reducing the risks of starting a new business. It’s based on proven systems, teaches you how to run a business profitably, and has national level marketing to help reduce the stress of finding customers. With that in mind we looked at several franchises in the cleaning sector. None of them provided exactly what we were looking for, until we found a V.I.P. cleaning business available in our home town, Christchurch.”

Nothing hidden

Having done a thorough investigation of many of the cleaning franchise businesses, Khushali and Jay found it was important to check for hidden details. “Some of them were not as clear about the structure of their fees, or the degree of control we would have over our business,” Khushali states. “With V.I.P. we had confidence from the very beginning that ‘what we saw was what we’d get.’ Once we’d met with the national franchisors, Estelle and John Logan, we had even more confidence. Everything they told us was correct – everything is transparent in the V.I.P. system.”

Khushali speaks highly of the V.I.P. training. “Jay and I had excellent training through V.I.P., and with the help of the out-going franchisee, who had built up a very successful business over fourteen years. It was a bit scary for me at first – I guess anyone going into business for the first time has nerves – but after just a few weeks and the excellent support of the franchise I began to feel very happy. I can still phone them with any business query, and they will help sort it out.

“I was also worried at first about how the clients would like me, because several of them had had the same cleaner for 14 years! People do get attached to their cleaner, and don’t always like change. It’s inevitable that you lose some clients when a business is sold and bought, but the beauty of V.I.P. is that their reputation brings a constant flow of potential new clients. That’s just one reason Jay and I have built up the business so strongly.”

Although Khushali’s husband Jay has his own business, the couple have arranged their V.I.P. business so they can accommodate their children’s needs and their work throughout the week. “Our V.I.P. business has a mixture of residential and commercial customers which means we do a Saturday shift,” Khushali explains. “This works very well, and we’ve built excellent relationships with our customers which means we can be flexible and juggle our times with them if we need to.”

Recruitment by example

Khushali has been so impressed with her business that she persuaded friends to join too. “Kinjal and Gayatree Patel were friends who were also looking for a business recently and we were able to demonstrate to them just how good the V.I.P. system is. Luckily, a franchisee in their own area was looking to move on, so they were able to find a V.I.P. franchise in their own neighbourhood and now they are also growing successfully.”

In summary, Khushali says she’d have no hesitation in doing it all again. “My only advice to anyone thinking about a V.I.P. business,” she says, “is go for it – I highly recommend it! Jay and I had no experience in the cleaning industry, but the system is designed for people to go into business and succeed. If you are honest, trustworthy and helpful, then V.I.P. rewards you by being a business with no hidden fees. How you run it is up to you – we do all our own quoting, but other than local recommendations, most of the marketing is handled by head office, and we get a steady stream of contacts from them. The choice we made was right!”

V.I.P. offers two kinds of franchises; outdoor – lawns and gardening, and indoor – residential and office cleaning. As Estelle proudly points out, “There are no limits to where a V.I.P. franchise can take you, or for how long. We have a very flexible system that allows people of any age to restart their careers or get out of the corporate rat-race. As Jay and Khushali found, we have a very clear fee structure – profit on your hard work is yours, and our reputation is such that we have a regular flow of client enquiries. 

“If you’d like to find the success both Patel families have found, call me today. We have new and established franchise opportunities available today.”  

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