Franchisee Spotlight: Meet Tom Jackson, a Successful Merry Maids Franchise Partner

At Merry Maids, we’re proud of the success stories of our franchise partners.

Each of our franchise partners has a unique background and set of experiences that have led them to where they are today.

In this article, we’ll spotlight one of our top-performing franchise partners, Tom Jackson from Merry Maids Dudley, Wolverhampton and Stafford and learn about their journey to success with our franchise.

Tom has been a Merry Maids franchise business owner for over 20 years.

Now the top-performing and highest-earning franchisee last year with a revenue of more than £770,000, Tom was awarded the Merry Maids Franchise Partner of the Year in 2023.

Tom’s Background

Before becoming a Merry Maids franchise partner, Tom had previously managed other people’s businesses, which provided a steady income but limited the benefits of his efforts and took up much of his time as he worked a lot of evenings and weekends.

“I was in gaming for a while, and then I was a customer service manager for a car dealership. Different in terms of the industry. I think that no matter how much effort you put into working for somebody else, you don’t get any extra benefits from it.”

Choosing Franchising

Tom felt that running his own franchise business, with the support of a head office, would allow him to reap the rewards of his hard work.

He was drawn to the franchise model as a “halfway house” between working for someone else and being completely independent.

He appreciated the support and benefits of being part of a network, such as marketing and brand recognition, which he felt would be difficult to achieve on his own.

“Running your own business (particularly a franchise where you’ve got the support of a head office or a franchise centre) by putting the extra effort in, you get the results out at the end. You get support from both the other franchisees and yourselves at ServiceMaster. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Tom conducted research on various franchise opportunities, including attending roadshows and events.

He says he ultimately chose Merry Maids because he felt it aligned with his desired work-life balance and the needs of his growing family.

“In my previous jobs, I worked evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. Whereas with Merry Maids, typically, the staff are out working nine till 3:30, Monday to Friday, there are no bank holidays, and there are no weekends. So, I thought that the Merry Maids fit was fantastic in terms of my growing family. My son’s now 21. And he was going to nursery at 7 a.m., coming back at 7 p.m. And I knew if it didn’t do something, that wouldn’t change.”

Franchise Support

As a franchise partner, Tom has received significant support from the Merry Maids marketing department, which has helped him with initiatives like Google Ads and our partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society.

“The marketing department here is fantastic,” he says.

“If I were ‘Tom’s Cleaning’, I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near the sort of benefit that we get from being part of a franchise network. Again, with [The Alzheimer’s Society], they wouldn’t partner at all with ‘Tom’s Cleaning.’ It’s the brand(s) that are pushing that forward.”

Tom also emphasised the value of the franchise network, where he can share best practices and support with other franchise partners without being in direct competition. This collaborative approach has been beneficial for his business growth.

“I am quite competitive, so I will have the targets that we want to achieve. We’re the biggest Merry Maids in the UK now and want to keep it that way. We’ve got a couple of other businesses that are growing, and my team want to keep that distance and push our business forward.”

“But we’re not in competition; other people are quite happy to share things that have worked for them and share best practices across the network. It works across the board because you know we’re not going to steal their customers we all want to grow.”

Could you be the next Tom?

At Merry Maids, we’re proud to have franchise partners like Tom, who embody the values of hard work, dedication, and a commitment to excellence.

If you’re looking for a franchise opportunity that can help you achieve your dreams of business ownership and financial freedom, we encourage you to learn more about our franchise today, click here to receive your Investor Information Pack.