A cleaning franchise for sale is either a resale, where a franchisee sells an established business with its customers, van and kit inside a franchisor's network, or a new territory sold by the franchisor itself with no customers yet.
Resales usually cost more than a new territory because they come with income from the first day, and every resale needs the franchisor's consent, so the price, the transfer fee and the years left on the franchise agreement all have to be checked together. We list franchise resales here as franchisees instruct us, across oven, domestic, carpet and commercial cleaning.
Buying a cleaning franchise means one of two quite different purchases, and it helps to know which one you are looking at before comparing prices. A new franchise is bought from the franchisor, and for an initial fee you get the right to trade under the brand in a territory, the training, the starter kit and often a vehicle package, though you start without customers and build them up over the first months.
A resale is bought from an existing franchisee, so you take over a working business with a customer list, repeat bookings, a van and kit already set up, and the franchisor's brand and systems carrying on around you. You pay the seller for the business they have built, and the franchisor's consent, training and paperwork sit alongside that sale. Resales are priced on profit in the same way as independent cleaning businesses, so an owner-run resale usually sells for about one and a half to three times a year's adjusted profit, meaning profit with the owner's own pay and personal costs added back, once the ongoing franchise fees have been taken off.
Almost every franchise agreement gives the franchisor the right to approve or refuse a buyer, and many also give it a right of first refusal, meaning it can match an agreed offer and buy the territory back itself. The franchisor usually interviews you, asks to see how you will fund the purchase and requires you to complete its training before the sale can go through.
You will either sign the franchisor's current agreement or take over the remainder of the seller's, and the two can be very different, since the current version may carry higher fees or a fresh term while the seller's may have only a year or two left. Ask how long is left, what renewal involves and costs, and whether the franchisor's present terms would apply on renewal. Most agreements also set a transfer fee for a resale, and the agreement says whether the seller or the buyer pays it, so it should be settled as part of the price rather than discovered at the end.
The cleaning trades below are the ones most often run as franchises in the UK, and each has its own points to check.
| Trade | What a resale usually includes | What buyers look at closely |
|---|---|---|
| Oven cleaning | Van, dip tank, customer list, booking system | How many customers rebook and how tightly they are grouped |
| Domestic cleaning | Regular weekly and fortnightly clients, a team of cleaners | Client turnover each year and whether cleaners are employed or self-employed |
| Carpet and upholstery | Van, machines, repeat and landlord customers | The share of repeat and commercial work and the age of the machines |
| Commercial cleaning | Contracts with offices and other sites, staff on those contracts | Written contracts, notice periods and how the turnover is spread across clients |
For oven cleaning, our page on oven cleaning businesses for sale goes into the van, the dip tank and the repeat rate in more detail.
Franchise fees come off the profit you would otherwise keep, so they need to be in the figures before you decide what a resale is worth. Most cleaning franchises charge a monthly management fee, either a fixed sum or a percentage of turnover, and many add a marketing contribution, while some also charge for the booking system, uniforms or products. Ask the seller for a year of monthly figures showing turnover, every franchise fee paid and the profit left, and compare those fees with the agreement you would be signing.
The territory sets how far the business can grow, so look at the postcodes it covers, how many households or businesses sit inside it, whether the seller's customers are spread across all of it or only one corner, and whether the franchisor can change the boundary.
The checks for a franchise resale are those for any cleaning business plus a few that come from the franchise itself, and these are the ones we would expect a buyer to work through.
A solicitor who knows franchising should read the agreement before you commit, and the franchisor will usually expect you to have taken that advice.
When a franchisee instructs us, we read the franchise agreement first, contact the franchisor to agree how buyers should be introduced, and value the business on its profit after franchise fees. We then send registered buyers an anonymous summary, share the name and figures once the buyer has agreed to our confidentiality terms, and arrange for buyers who want to proceed to meet the franchisor early so approval does not hold the sale up later. If you are looking for a cleaning franchise, register as a buyer and tell us the trades and areas you would consider, and if you own one and are thinking about selling, we are happy to talk it through.
A resale costs more but comes with customers and income from the first day, while a new franchise is cheaper but starts with an empty diary. Which suits you depends on your funds and how long you can wait for income to build.
Yes, nearly every franchise agreement lets the franchisor refuse a buyer it does not approve. Some can also buy the territory back by matching an agreed offer, so we involve the franchisor early.
The franchise agreement says who pays, and it is often the seller, though it can be negotiated into the price. We check the amount at the start so it is clear what each side pays.
They are priced on profit after franchise fees, usually about one and a half to three times a year's adjusted profit for an owner-run business. A short term left on the agreement or high ongoing fees pull the price down.
Oven cleaning, domestic cleaning, carpet and upholstery cleaning and commercial cleaning are the trades most often run as franchises in the UK. Each is checked a little differently, and we list resales in all of them.
Buyers on our register hear about new listings before they are advertised.
