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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:50 pm
by howhud
hallo there
basically my question is, i am thinking of buying a franchise and was wondering if you people in the know, could give me any advice, the franchises are drive doctor and revive a drive.
1 is there a market out there for this type of business ?
2 what sort of prices are being charged for cleaning and sealing drives, whether it be tarmac, paving, imprinted concrete etc.
3 is it better to just buy the equip myself and go alone ?
thanks in advance for any help
just left the army and dont want to waste pension money
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:41 pm
by Tony McC
1 - There is a market for driveway and patio cleaning, but some of the prices charged by the franchised operations are ludicrous and seem to be a stumbling block. People are reasonably interested until they hear the price.
2 - Prices seem to be made up on the spot, but generally start at around 200 quid for a basic cleaning service, and then rise on a size-of-area basis. The francise company will tell you what they expect you to charge.
3 - I wouldn't get involved in a franchise unless I knew what was being offered. The basic tools needed to run this sort of business are readily available for minimal outlay. However, the training and experience needed to successfully operate a business such as this seem to be much harder to acquire.
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of complaints and concerns received via the website over the past year regarding some of these companies. Top of the complaints list is the fact that block paving has visibly settled and/or moved after being cleaned, and in the few cases I've seen for myself, the eejit cleaners have blasted out the jointing sand and failed to replace it.
There's also been problems with the wrong type of sealants being applied, blocks of a totally different colour/texture/size being used as replacements for stained/damaged blocks, damage to tarmac surfaces and PIC pavements that were obviously unsuitable for power washing in the first place, blocking of drains with silt/sand/sediment, and so-called 'repairs' being carried out by patching in with mortar. It seems to me that there's an element within the cleaning trade that mean well, but don't have the slightest clue about how paving functions, and in their attempts to clean up, they actually make matters worse.
The worst job brought to my attention was one in Staffordshire where the jointing sand was removed by power washing and a sand/cement mix brushed in over the still-damp tumbled blocks, with obvious consequences.
I'd want to know what the franchise operator was offering but it's more likely that, if I were to get involved in such a business, I'd set up using my own name.