Meet Our Franchisees: Matt Canonica

After more than a decade spent moving across the country again and again, Matt Canonica is more than ready to settle down. And, he’s found the perfect opportunity to gain the life flexibility he’s sought: residential cleaning.

After graduating from the University of South Alabama with degrees in business and political science, Canonica worked in consumer lending at a bank for two years, then ran a small medical company for two years. But, he found himself being called in a different direction.

For the next 12 years, Canonica worked for Terminix in sales and consumer services leadership. It was a position he loved, but it required a significant investment from both Matt and his family.

“I moved around, a lot,” Canonica said. “In the span of 12 years I lived in San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Wilmington, and Mobile. That was hard on me. And, it was hard on my family, including my two boys who are 11 and 9 years old now.”

In early 2015, Canonica, who grew up in Southern California, decided he needed a new direction once again, and was immediately attracted to the potential freedom offered by owning his own business.

“But, I knew the statistics behind start-up small businesses. So, I looked toward the benefit of owning a franchise where I had great corporate support,” he said.

Canonica saw a local ad online for The Cleaning Authority, and did more research.

“I was instantly attracted to everything I read, and then when I met Iric Wexler, that sealed the deal. It was just three months from start to finish and I closed on the territory in March,” he said.

The existing business in his Northwest Houston/The Woodlands terrirory is 11 years old , but was underperforming. Canonica has quickly turned that around.

“Four months in, we’re on pace for 16 percent growth,” he said. “This was a strictly business decision. Being involved in the residential cleaning industry never scared me away for a second and it never weighed one minute into my decision. If anything, it was more of an attraction factor. It’s no different than pest control, and so I feel I have a chance to leverage my experience and success from that industry into this one.”

Now that he’s no longer tied to a life of travel, Canonica is looking forward to setting down new roots in The Woodlands community.

“Now that I’m no longer traveling, I don’t have late night arrivals, I can become more involved in community causes and spend more quality time with my family,” he said. “The business success is icing on the cake compared to that.”

Learn more about our other franchise owners by watching our other testimonials.