Molly Maids - Harry Young

I'd like you to meet the $3.1 Million Dollar Man! Some of my clients tell me that they don't think they could make the kind of money they want by owning a franchise. They often tell me that flipping burgers or cleaning toilets isn't what they want to do. Plus, quitting their job to go after blue sky dreams just seems too risky. Sound familiar? Entrepreneurs are not risk takers. They're educated risk takers. They take advantage of opportunity and take the steps to make dreams a reality. Since a franchise is a proven system, providing training and support with a history of success, the risk is certainly mitigated. But can one make enough money to support a family and how does one shift from employment to empowerment? Our entrepreneur this month had a plan and worked his plan. Celebrating his 15th year in the residential cleaning business, he hit $3.1 million in sales, proving once again that you don't need Super Bowl advertising, drive-thru windows and late nights and weekends to succeed as a franchise owner. I'm happy this month to share the story of Harry Young and his wife Emelie. Congratulations Harry on a job well done!

Harry Young

Harry Young and his wife, Emelie, have owned their Molly Maid franchise in the greater Austin, TX area since 1995. They did 4,337 cleans that first year. In 2010, they did 29,531. Today they have a fleet of 40 cars, 34 cleaning teams, and a total of 80 employees-big numbers for a small business.  It is worth noting that for the first nine years Emelie ran the business day-to-day. Harry spent six years of Friday afternoons tallying finances and dispensing payroll while serving as CEO of Advanced Programming Concepts, Inc., a company he grew from $1 million to over $65 million in annual sales developing and implementing tactical air defense and command, control, computer, communications and intelligence processing systems for the military. He earned a chest full of multi-tasking ribbons after 9/11 traveling the world non-stop for more than three years doing work he cannot talk about, but he considers his greatest accomplishment: "Keeping the skies safe over our cities and above our battlefields." During his career he has made time to hold 11 board memberships. He has held offices in the American Management Association, the Instrumentation Society of America, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, and the National Contract Management Association. And, he was a member of the Government-Industry team that developed the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) for the U.S. Government. In 2000, the Youngs hired Nellie Salinas as VP of finance and administration. Nellie is now a part owner. Emelie has retired from the business, and Harry recently settled into a new 2,000 square foot space for the business (for the first 15 years they managed out of 1,350 square feet), and except for 20 minutes of "managed chaos" in the morning, he's always willing to help others. We borrowed a few minutes to ask several questions. For someone who could have been a brain surgeon or rocket scientist, why Molly Maid? This will sound like a cliché, but it's really very simple: the recurring revenue, the family friendly hours, and the fact that technology can never replace the service. Was your business affected by the recession? 2009 sales were up 5.52%, and for 2010 up another 11%. What are the reasons for your success? We follow the Molly Maid system to a T.  And when the economy sputters, we don't curl up in a fetal position and become defensive. We go on the offensive and squeeze every customer out of every phone call. Give us an example of how you solve problems. Our office staff meets every morning to review the events from the previous day. We practice what Deming (W. Edwards Deming, American professor, author and consultant) called "continual improvement." Whether a policy, form, script, or anything to do with the business, we are constantly striving to be better every day. What are your greatest management strengths? Nurturing, coaching and motivating staff. What keeps you motivated? Helping others. If I have a hobby, it's going around the Molly Maid system advising other owners and helping them not to make the same mistakes we have made. If you or a friend or relative live in the greater Austin vicinity and need some help in keeping your home spotless, please give Harry and his team a call at  (512) 323-6400. Otherwise, find your local Molly Maid franchise owners at www.Mollymaid.com. Congratulations Harry, Emelie and Nellie, and to your entire team. Harry chose Molly Maid because it was a scaleable service business.  It has normal business hours with no nights and weekends. The service couldn't be replaced by technology nor could one buy it on the Internet. He has proven that he can grow this business during a major recession. With a substantial build up of equity, he will see a nice payout when he's ready to sell and retire. Although this business isn't rocket science, sometimes a very simple business model produces "out of this world" results.