Read how Fernando Suarez overcame language and cultural differences to become one of Maid Brigade’s top franchisees.
By Eilene Zimmerman Fernando Suarez and his wife came to Miami in 1996 from Bogota, Colombia. Now, he’s not only the owner of four Maid Brigade franchises in Florida, but he’s also a corporate trainer for newcomers to the company.
Suarez knew he wanted to start a new business when he arrived in the U.S. But he was far from fluent in English and had difficulty adjusting to American culture. And, with little money saved—he and his wife moved in with relatives—Suarez realized he needed to a find something that required a minimal upfront investment. During his research, he learned about the possibility of buying a franchise, something he’d never heard of before. The idea appealed to him. “You wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he says. “And the company would provide an established model that had been repeated successfully.”
In Search of the Right Franchise
Suarez figured he didn’t want to run a restaurant—it required working seven days a week, he realized—and decided against buying a retail store “where I would have to sit and wait for people to come to me,” he says. He didn’t consider residential cleaning services until he read an article on franchising, while on a flight from Miami to Dallas. An ad for Maid Brigade, in particular, caught his attention. “I could visualize myself in that kind of business,” he says.
When Suarez began trying maid service franchises, two of them didn’t return his calls. “I think because of my name or accent, they thought, “This guy doesn’t have any money. He’s wasting my time,” says Suarez. But Maid Brigade got back promptly and, after a first meeting, offered him a large territory with lots of potential, in southern Miami.
With no credit history in the U.S., Suarez faced a big challenge in getting a loan. “The bank ran a credit history on me and couldn’t find anything,” he says. “They said, ‘How can you be 43 years old and have no history?’”
Instead, Suarez borrowed the $50,000 he needed to start up from his wife’s family. The couple paid the money back in about three years. (See Your Guide to Small-Business Financing or Friends and Family Financing for ideas on how to find startup funding).
One Success Leads to Another
Within six months of opening, Suarez bought another franchise in northern Miami. Then, three years ago, he opened a third franchise in the Fort Myers, Fla., area. After a tough first year, the business is now breaking even. In 2008, he took over a franchise in Jacksonville.
Then there was the matter of networking with other immigrant franchisees in the Maid Brigade system at conferences and afterwards. “We’re able to get ideas from each other, and that’s something immigrants really need, because we don’t always know how the system works.”
Suarez credits several activities with providing valuable insights into both American culture and running a franchise. First was the training the company provided. For Suarez, most important was the chance to learn about marketing, something he hadn’t had to do much of in his previous business in Colombia. In addition, seven years ago, Suarez also took on additional responsibility: conducting training for Maid Brigade’s corporate headquarters. But his travels around the country in that role produced an unexpected bonus—crucial lessons in the geography and culture of his adopted country.
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Then there was the matter of networking with other immigrant franchisees in the Maid Brigade system at conferences and afterward. “We’re able to get ideas from each other, and that’s something immigrants really need, because we don’t always know how the system works,” he says. “We learn much faster through this kind of experience.”
