Entrepreneur: Start & Grow Your Business

ServiceMaster Clean

Residential and commercial heavy cleaning and disaster restoration services

Year began: 1947 Franchising since: 1952
ServiceMaster was incorporated in 1947 as Wade, Wenger and Associates. Marion Wade got the idea for his company after an accident with chemicals left him temporarily blind in 1945. Today, it is part of the ServiceMaster Co. franchise family which includes franchise companies Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and Terminix. ServiceMaster Residential/Commercial Services is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and has enjoyed more than 25 years of consecutive growth.

3839 Forest Hill Irene Rd.
Memphis, TN 38125

Phone: (800)255-9687/(901)597-7500
Fax: (901)597-7580

Franchisor is a publicly-held company with 134 employee(s); 12 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchisee Association
Idea Policy & Review Council

Franchise Growth

Year

2007
2006
2005
2004

U.S. Franchises

3,041
2,978
2,990
2,839

Canadian Franchises

172
166
166
181

Foreign Franchises

1,383
1,396
1,399
1,398

Company
Owned

0
0
0
0

Where Seeking Franchisees

Nationwide

Outside the U.S.:

Costs & Fees

Total investment: $21.1K-111.1K
Franchise fee: $16.9K-45K
Ongoing royalty fee: 4-10%
Term of agreement: 5 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available
	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	Yes	No
Startup Costs	Yes	No
Equipment	Yes	No
Inventory	Yes	No
Accounts Receivable	Yes	No
Payroll	No	No

Qualifications

Net worth requirement: $50K-75K
Cash liquidity requirement: $15K-25K
Business Experience:

General business experience

Operations

Franchise can be run from home
10-15% of all franchisees own more than one unit
Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 3
Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (95% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training & Support

TRAINING

Available at headquarters: 2 weeks
At franchisee's location: 1-2 days
Annual convention and regional seminars

ONGOING SUPPORT

Newsletter
Meetings
Toll-free phone line
Internet
Security/safety procedures
Field operations/evaluations

MARKETING SUPPORT

Co-op advertising
Ad slicks
National media
Regional advertising
Other marketing support: Intranet, Web design templates

Rankings in Entrepreneur magazine 2004-2008

Franchise 500® rank:
#33 (2008); #34 (2007); #17 (2006); #12 (2005); #18 (2004);

Fastest-Growing Franchises:
#57 (2008); #28 (2006); #30 (2005);

Top home based franchises:
#7 (2008); #8 (2007); #3 (2006); #2 (2005); #3 (2004);

Low-Cost Franchises:
#9 (2008); #11 (2007); #7 (2006); #5 (2005); #7 (2004);

America's Top Global Franchises:
#36 (2008); #22 (2007); #16 (2006); #11 (2005); #15 (2004);

Last Updated: 4/30/2008 12:00:00 AM