In this FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:

• Section I – Background information on the Molly Maid franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates

• Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Molly Maid franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2020 FDD

• Section III – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees for a Molly Maid franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2020 FDD

• Section IV – Number of franchised and company-owned Molly Maid outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2017, 2018, and 2019, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2020 FDD

• Section V – Presentation and analysis of Molly Maid’s financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2020 FDD, including information on the:

• 2019 average, median, highest, and lowest gross sales for the 214 Molly Maid operators that had a franchised business or businesses that were in operation and reporting sales for the full 52 weeks of the 2019 fiscal year, grouped by number of territories (1 territory, 2 territories, 3 territories, and 4 or more territories)

• 2019 average, median, highest, and lowest weekly sales for the 199 established Molly Maid operators (i.e. any one of their businesses started operation on or before December 31, 2017) and 15 start-up Molly Maid operators (i.e. opened their business(es) between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018), grouped by number of territories (1 territory, 2 territories, 3 territories, and 4 or more territories)

• 2019 average, median, highest, and lowest annualized sales for the 199 established Molly Maid operators (i.e. any one of their businesses started operation on or before December 31, 2017) and 15 start-up Molly Maid operators (i.e. opened their business(es) between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018), grouped by number of territories (1 territory, 2 territories, 3 territories, and 4 or more territories)

• 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 average, median, highest, and lowest price per clean for all Molly Maid operators open during each year, regardless of whether they operate one or multiple franchises

• percentage of cleans performed in 2019 that were performed for recurring customers versus the percentage of cleans performed for occasional customers for all Molly Maid operators open during 2019, regardless of whether they operate one or multiple franchises

Section I – Background Information

17 Things You Need to Know About the Molly Maid Franchise

Pivots Amidst COVID-19 Concerns and Introduces New Contactless Services

1.  At the end of June 2020, Molly Maid introduced a new, system-wide initiative to create a safer and more social-distanced experience for both customers and service professionals. Molly Maid is implementing digital scheduling and estimating programs in an attempt to decrease the amount of physical interaction between service professionals and customers.

2.  The contactless services – digital scheduling and estimating programs – allow service professionals to set up appointments and provide estimates without having to step foot in the customers’ homes. This is a necessary shift in continuing to improve the already robust service offerings and customer experience that Molly Maid is known for. Molly Maid is offering this to homeowners to provide the opportunity for a contact-free and more streamlined experience for Molly Maid customers across the nation.

3.  Mary Kay Liston, president of Molly Maid, said, “We are always looking for ways to enhance our processes and provide our homeowners with the best customer service possible. Contactless services and digital options were the natural next step to complement our dedication to those we serve. These initiatives give customers the opportunity to streamline the process in a thoughtful and convenient way.”

4.  For additional safety precautions, Molly Maid franchisees’ office personnel are following industry-wide guidance and are now asking homeowners a series of questions to gauge necessary precautions before dispatching a team to the home, as well as recommending that all service professionals are properly distanced throughout the duration of their work day. All equipment that cannot be laundered is wiped down between each home and sanitized cloths are used in each home to prevent cross contamination from one home to another.

Franchisee Hits $1M in Sales

5.  In early March 2020, Molly Maid of Mahoning/Trumbull County in Ohio announced it hit a big milestone in 2019, topping $1 million in sales for the first time in its 26 years of business in the Mahoning Valley. “We did it!,” exclaimed Katie Burkey, owner of the local home-cleaning franchise. “We hit one million in sales. That’s a 10.2% growth over 2018 and almost $100,000 more in sales.”

6.  The company marked two other milestones in 2019 en route to its record-setting year. It set weekly sales records twice, logging $29,000 and $30,000. Burkey attributes the growth to her company’s dedication to spotless cleaning and customer service.

7.  As the Youngstown company’s footprint expands into Mercer County, Pa., Molly Maid is adding customer service representatives and field managers, said Burkey. Her company employs 28. “We expanded our training schedule and meet with [new employees] one-on-one each week for up to six weeks,” said Burkey. “We purchased newer vehicles and updated equipment overall with newer vacuums and step stools.”

8.  Molly Maid workers are a key to the company’s success and Burkey shares customers’ compliments with them at an event every Thursday, which she has dubbed Thankful Thursday. “We celebrate all birthdays and work anniversaries once a month,” she said. “This year we celebrated reaching the $1 million mark with a pizza party.”

9.  Youngstown office employees participate in the national Ms. Molly Foundation through donations and an annual basket raffle and fund drive. “In 2019, we raised over $6,600 and filled 28 huge totes with basic toiletries, diapers, wipes and other needs for Someplace Safe and Sojourner House,” said Burkey. “This was our best drive ever.”

10.  Molly Maid of Mahoning/Trumbull County increasingly uses technology to serve its customers and its bottom line. “Technology has evolved in our software and through GPS programs,” said Burkey. “We can track our teams, estimate travel times between customers’ houses and manage efficiency throughout the day. We also recently updated our customer service software, which allows us to seamlessly transfer our potential leads into clients. Soon we will be adding a tool where the potential client can book a free in-home estimate online through our website.”

11.  One challenge facing the company is inspiring and motivating staff, and Burkey’s company has taken steps to do just that. “This past year we implemented attendance bonuses which helped motivate staff to be with us all month long, all quarter long, or even all year long,” she said. “We also added some flexible scheduling that allows Saturday volunteerism.”

Offered Chance to Win $500 Gift Card for Mother’s Day

12.  In early May 2020, Molly Maid announced that it was giving hard-working moms the gift they truly deserve – the gift of time. For the sixth year, the franchise offered the chance for moms across the nation to win Molly Maid gift certificates. The “Maid for Moms” sweepstakes awarded five winners with gift certificates that could be used to give mom some time off as someone else cleans her home. Molly Maid said that the five winners could use their $500 Molly Maid gift certificates immediately, or save for later.

13.  “Across the world we have been staying at home and parents across the nation have been working overtime,” said Mary Kay Liston, president of Molly Maid. “At Molly Maid, we want moms to be able to enjoy a clean home. We are excited for this year’s ‘Maid for Moms’ sweepstakes and the opportunity to surprise moms with the gift of time and a clean home.”

Company History

14.  Molly Maid was founded in 1979 by Adrienne and Chris Stringer in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Stringers wanted to provide their local community with an affordable home cleaning service that would ease the stress of busy families. The company was named after the character Molly Brown from the 1964 film The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

15.  After Molly Maid had grown around Canada over the next few years, entrepreneur David McKinnon brought Molly Maid to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1984. McKinnon wanted to provide busy American homeowners a reliable, professional, affordable solution to messy, dirty houses.

16.  McKinnon founded Service Brands International to franchise Molly Maid as well as Mr. Handyman and ProTect Painters. In 2015, Service Brands was acquired by Neighborly (formerly the Dwyer Group). Today, Molly Maid has locations all across the U.S, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Portugal.

Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500

17.  Molly Maid ranked No. 65 on Entrepreneur’s 2020 Franchise 500 list.

Section II – Estimated Costs

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Molly Maid franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2020 FDD.

Section III – Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, Marketing Fee, and Other Fees

• Please click here for detailed information on Molly Maid’s initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2020 FDD.

Section IV – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Outlets

Franchised

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  475
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  475
• Net Change:  0

2018

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  475
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  485
• Net Change:  +10

2019

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  485
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  492
• Net Change:  +7

Company-Owned

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

2018

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

2019

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2020 FDD) and Analysis

• The following tables are a historic financial performance representation and are not a forecast of your future financial performance

• As of December 31, 2019, there were 492 Molly Maid franchises in the United States. These franchises were owned and operated by 247 franchise owners (collectively, “Operators”) who consolidated their sales for the purpose of reporting.

• Of these 247 Operators, 115 Operators operated a single unit, 63 Operators operated 2 units, 42 Operators operated 3 units, 18 Operators operated 4 units, 3 Operators operated 5 units, 4 Operators operated 6 units, and 2 Operators operated 7 units.

• The information contained in this Item 19 includes data from 214 Operators, which all had a franchised business or businesses that were in operation and reporting sales for the full 52 weeks of the 2019 fiscal year (the “2019 Reporting Period”).

• The information in this Item 19 does not include data from (a) 6 Operators of 15 businesses that opened in 2019 and therefore were not in operation for the entire 52 weeks of fiscal year 2019 or (b) 27 Operators, operating 35 franchised businesses, who failed to otherwise report reliable data to Molly Maid for the entire 52 weeks of fiscal year 2019.

• Unless otherwise noted, all tables exclude Operators that ceased operation on or before December 31, 2019.

• Eight franchised businesses closed during the 2019 fiscal year, and so they did not report data to Molly Maid for the entire 52-week period of fiscal year 2019 and therefore their data is also excluded from this Item 19. Of the 8 businesses that closed during the fiscal year 2019, no businesses closed after being open for less than 12 months.

• The representations below consist of both single and multiple unit Operators. The representations below also consist of Operators who have operated for several years. The number of units and the length of time in business may materially differ from a new franchise operation.

• Neither Molly Maid nor its independent certified public accountants have audited or verified any of the sales figures reported to it. Operators are not required to use generally accepted accounting principles when reporting these figures.

Part 1 – Statement of 2019 Average and Median Annual Gross Sales Information

• The table shows separately data for Operators with single territories, Operators with two territories, Operators with three territories, and Operators with four or more territories.

• The average and median Gross Sales data are based on the Gross Sales figures for the calendar year 2019 as reported by the Operators directly through the Software System.

1 Territory