Stain Busters commenced in July 1990 in a very basic manner by Paddy Sweeney. It had humble beginnings, starting with one small machine and a rusty old 2×2 metre box trailer. Having been in roles where he had worn a suit for the previous twenty plus years, this venture pushed Paddy into a life he previously would never have considered.

One day Paddy was lugging his carpet cleaning machine through the streets of Surfers Paradise. He had been unable to get a park for his Celica and rusty old trailer close to where he needed to be. He had transportation from the trailer to the place of work down to a fine art of one trip. He had hoses, wands, chemicals, a mop bucket and other items all wrapped around himself and the machine and was weaving his way through the busy streets, when he ran into an old friend who was horrified at what he saw.

He previously knew Paddy as a well-dressed successful Commercial Real Estate business person. Couple that with the fact that Paddy had lost about ten kilos, and his shorts and shirts were now several sizes too big. The business was pumping from day one and he had not had time for a haircut. He wasn’t presenting a good look.

The well-meaning friend said looking worried and shaking his head, “Oh dear Paddy – what’s happened to you, we need to get together and have a conversation”. Paddy just smiled and agreed and said he was late for a job and had to go. He wasn’t concerned with what his friend was seeing that day. All he could see was the ‘Ten Vans carpet cleaning empire’ he was intent on creating in the ensuing future. It took a while before the ten vans became a reality and then go on to become many more.

From the very beginning he knew the business was more about “getting carpets to clean” than carrying out the work. This was his core philosophy of growing the business and it remains today. Proven sales and marketing drives any business forward into a growth trajectory. Relying on this he passionately worked diligently building a successful company with five technicians in less than three years.

In 1993 he started Franchising. With limited money and clear intention Paddy set out to build a Carpet Cleaning Franchise Network. It was always his intention from the beginning that it would be a Franchise Company and he would create a system that could provide the opportunity for those with the capacity to follow a proven system to create an enjoyable and significant income that gave them freedom and choices. From these modest beginnings the company grew to be a leading expert in Carpet Cleaning and Stain Removal throughout Australia.

Paddy believes we have never been at a better time than right now to take advantage of an ever changing market place that is leaving most of your opposition bewildered and in your dust not knowing how to keep up. This an era far more dynamic than at any previous time in our history for those who sift through and find what works in this ever changing economy. There is much that needs to be kept up with. Stain Busters strives to do this for the benefit and good of all Franchise Partners.

At the onset, despite having significant experience in sales and marketing, he knew nothing about Carpet Cleaning. He had a limited knowledge of Franchising. This meant he had to take the road less travelled, the one where he knew where he wanted to go and didn’t know how to get there. Six months earlier, he had started with nothing more than an idea and zero capital (and no chance of being able to borrow any). He began with a pen and paper and started to create the plan that eventually became the Stain Busters System.

The system had one basic premise: “We are not in the business of cleaning carpets.
We are in the business of getting carpets to clean.” It was based on the idea to establish a sales and marketing company first and a cleaning company second. This was as critical back then as it is today. The company was founded on the obvious idea: “You need to have carpets to clean first; otherwise, you don’t have a business.”In essence it was an organisation that grew through well-thought-out clever systems aimed at ‘getting carpets to clean’ then delivering the service in an exemplified manner leveraging off proven processes achieving exponential growth and now having ever increasing bottom lines for Franchise Partners. It is from this basic premise that the success of Stain Busters builds successful Franchise Partners.

Paddy stuck to the knitting with a clear intention to eventually build a company thatwould work without him being there. In addition, he aimed to create a system thatwould enable anyone to succeed who had the passion and ambition to follow the proven system and eventually create a business that would work without their presence. It requires people who will ‘consistently do what the success of the business requires and not wandering off and just doing what they feel like doing’. At the base of this is the absolute essential of following a series of established processes. By following this as a core principle Franchise Partners can leverage off the proven business model and create a business that could lead to them earning a significant income while also building a Wealth Platform that delivers a lifestyle others only dream about.

In 1990, Paddy set a goal to have this system operational within three years and working without him needing to be present. Three years passed and he wasn’t even close, he still had a long way to go – he only had one Franchisee. At that point, he had hardly scratched the scratch. It would eventually take him twelve years to achieve his goal of the business working without him. By 2002 he had the business operational with virtually no involvement from him. It was a constant learning process and he was driven to create a system that could do exactly the same thing for anyone else who committed to achieving the same outcome.

Paddy was ready for this best carpet cleaning franchises long before he ever conceived the idea in the beginning. He had a background in sales learning his craft over many decades, starting with selling Life Insurance door to door in 1969. Using this and many other experiences to draw from, he spent six months researching and planning, not on cleaning carpets, rather creating a Sales and Marketing Plan that could be leveraged off to attract an ever increasing number of carpets to clean. He launched forth into the first year and well and truly nailed it. He carried out 882 jobs in the first twelve months and made a profit every week. From the very first week the trend continued ever upwards.

The basics of this plan still exist although significantly modified. The Sales and Marketing Plan that endures today affords a Franchise Partner a road map on how to get to where they most want to be using a Stain Busters Franchise as the vehicle.

In 2001 David Pennell and John McEwan purchased the ACT franchise from MikeToozoff and they immediately ‘owned’ the idea of consistently doing what thesuccess of the business required and not just what they felt like doing. They alsograsped how dynamic the system was and the limitless opportunities it afforded.Later, in 2006, Paddy completed a transaction whereby David and John assumedcontrol of the business under an overall Master International Franchise Agreement,looking after Master Franchisees in both countries and providing a support centre for all Franchisees in Australia and New Zealand. The overall network was then ably looked after by David and John. An excellent support process continued with Franchise Partners to lock into and follow the system.

One: There were no new Franchise Partners being introduced to the network.

Two: The application of the Stain Busters System, as a proven successful business system, was slowly being paid less and less attention by existing Franchise Partners as they reached comfort zones and strong leadership was slipping away. The golden rule of consistently doing what the success of the business required and not just what you felt like doing was neglected by many as they coasted along. This was reflected within some individual businesses with little or no growth. This was a flaw in the leadership needed to keep Franchise Partners honest to the compliance of the system. While not directly involved in this role, Paddy fully takes the bullet for this; after all he still owned the overall business.

It was painfully apparent that unless something changed, this downward trend would eventually intensify. Having built his business to the model, designed for all Franchise Partners, where it worked without him needing to be present, Paddy realised it was time for him to step back in and be there. This required creating a new far more dynamic business model that reflected the needs of an ever-changing market place.

Paddy realised that the Franchise Model, while not being implemented anywhereclose to its potential, had also become outdated. It had become less attractive forprospective Franchise Partners to invest and take up permanent residency within the network. The business model had become redundant from its former glory.

It was obvious a new model was required. Based on a reinvention and innovation,Paddy has now created a new, more dynamic Franchise model with exciting potential.

Leveraging off this model, he has reinvented the entire business to be one of the best carpet cleaning franchises and that is what is presented in your further enquiry.