This month, Dallas franchise owner Rafael Rueda celebrates his 25th year as a Jani-King franchise owner and we are honored to take this opportunity to recognize his accomplishments. This is Rafael’s story as proudly presented by Jane Tapken and Steve Tapken, Master Franchise Owners.
Rafael actually began his career with Jani-King more than 25-years ago while working full-time at a local Dallas restaurant. Wanting to supplement his income, Rafael took a job cleaning buildings in his spare time. After about a year of working in the restaurant and cleaning buildings, Rafael decided that he wanted to explore the opportunity of owning his own business and open his very own Jani-King franchise. To do that, Rafael’s first step was continuing to clean buildings in the evening in order to save enough money for the initial down-payment.
As a new business owner, the early years were not easy for Rafael. There were a lot of challenges and mountains to climb and it took some time for him to realize the full opportunity that lay before him as a Jani-King franchisee.
A couple of years went by and there continued to be many ups and downs in his revenue. But then, there was a turning point. One day, Rafael came into the regional office and said, “I would like a new start as I now have my priorities in order and I know that I want to build my business.” That day, and those words spoken by Rafael, turned around the future of his franchise.
Rafael immediately began to provide the best customer service that any customer could want. He asked to learn everything he could about every aspect of cleaning, whether it was everyday stripping and refinishing floors to wood floor care, marble floor care and more. There was no aspect of the cleaning process that he did not learn to do perfectly. As a result of his dedication and efforts, Rafael’s revenue began to steadily grow and grow and grow.
When Jani-King of Dallas signed their first hospital in 2004, Rafael was awarded this prestigious account and he quickly discovered there was a whole new opportunity for him in the cleaning industry. Being new to EVS accounts, there was definitely a lot to learn. But Rafael was determined to be the best EVS franchise owner in Jani-King and he was not going to be content with just the cleaning of one section or room. He wanted to know about everything in the hospital including the function of all the medical devices on the wall so he had a clear understanding about how things worked in a surgery room. Today, Rafael manages the cleaning of six hospitals and he is a shining example of the proper way to clean an EVS account.
Rafael continues to be involved in ground breaking accounts in the Dallas region, as he was one of the original seven franchisees who started the construction clean at AT&T Stadium. Six years later, Rafael still maintains his area for all events at the stadium. His business runs like a well-oiled machine with many long-tenured employees who know the meaning of People, Pride and Performance. His customers regard him as a part of their work family and always invite him to Christmas parties and other celebrations.
The Dallas and Fort Worth regions certainly consider Rafael a part of their family.
On behalf of the entire Jani-King team we are proud to say:
“Congratulations, Rafael. Thank you for 25 years of continuous professionalism and excellent representation of Jani-King. It’s great to have you on our team!”
