In 2006, Will Johnson made the leap from the furniture industry to the management of Merry Maids franchises. Now, he owns three separate locations in Culpeper/Warrenton, Richmond, and Fredericksburg and takes pride in the work that his team does that ultimately improves the lives of people within the community in multiple ways.
“We really enjoy giving people time back in their busy lives; cleaning is a chore that was left to the weekend and that cut into their free time,” Johnson said. “We say: relax, it’s done - you can go enjoy a soccer game with your kids or a baseball game or whatever it might be.”
Giving back to the Community
As a longtime community member with nearly two decades in the industry, Johnson is well-connected with other businesses and organizations in the area from carpet cleaners and power-washing providers to gutter cleaners and window cleaners, Johnson can connect customers with other reliable service providers.
“We try to find other services for our customers that we’ve vetted so we’ve become sort of a one-stop shop,” he said. “We’re always trying to find those great contractors in the market that we can recommend that we have personal experience with. And it’s really handy for a move-in/move-out type cleaning.”
Johnson credits the dedication of the management team to its employees as the reason for his franchise’s success. He says that they’re mindful of ensuring that their staff have every opportunity to make the maximum amount of money in the industry. They also offer flexibility with schedules and only operate Monday through Friday to allow employees the ability to utilize their weekends however they choose.
In addition to providing services for Merry Maids’ regular clients, Johnson’s franchises also partner with Cleaning for a Reason, a nonprofit organization that brings together cleaning companies with cancer patients to provide free cleanings of their homes. Johnson says that ultimately a number of those clients became customers.