Gary Critzer decided to build a new business after selling his old one

“[The broker] brought up a variety of opportunities, but JAN-PRO was the one I settled on,” Critzer said.

However, based on his background, being a Master Franchisee helping unit owners succeed in the commercial cleaning sector may not be the first thing to jump to mind.

Critzer previously worked in a family business that dealt with truck equipment distribution. He was there for 25 years, spending the last 10 as president of the company. After selling the business, Critzer found himself on the hunt for an opportunity with plenty of potential. JAN-PRO fit the bill.

“The model was of great interest to me,” he said. “Through my due diligence, speaking with a number of current Master Franchise owners, I felt confident that this particular business model and the company could be a good fit for me.”

Once he made his decision, Critzer headed off to Chicago for two weeks of training.

“I was training during winter in Chicago while my wife went on a cruise to the Caribbean,” Critzer said with a laugh. “After that, it was a simple matter of coming back, leasing an office space, getting an ad in the paper and getting down to work.”

While Critzer knew he could always count on corporate support, he was even more impressed by the community of Master Franchisees he found himself in.

“I’ve become close friends with many of them,” he said. “In the beginning, I leaned on them to help me, answer questions and share expertise. Everyone was more than willing to talk and listen.”

Running the JAN-PRO Northwest region out of Spokane, Wash., Critzer said his business’s performance has exceeded his expectations.

“Based on what were able to do here, we blew our forecast out of the water,” he said. “We were one of the smallest markets in the system, but we’ve been able to have great success. Part of that was growing up in this market; I knew a lot of other people from business, friendship, guys I went to school with. It opened a lot of doors for clientele.”

And those doors keep opening, with Critzer and his unit franchisees exploring new verticals as their businesses continue to grow.