Stratus Clean master franchise
Want to open a Stratus franchise? Start with Rob.
Rob Lancit leads franchise development at Stratus Clean. A master owns a territory and builds a network of cleaning franchisees. Masters do not do the cleaning.Rob Lancit leads franchise development at Stratus Clean.
- 300+Units added in North America, 2021 to 2022
- 5,000+Units, U.S. and Canada
- 30+Years Rob has spent in franchising
At a glance
- Brand
- Stratus Clean, formerly Stratus Building Solutions
- Industry
- Commercial cleaning, franchising since 2006
- Ranked
- Entrepreneur’s No. 1 Fastest-Growing Franchise, 2023 to 2026
The video
Stratus Clean Franchising, with Rob Lancit.
Stratus Clean’s own film about the master franchise, featuring Rob. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
The company
What Stratus Clean is.
Stratus Clean is a commercial cleaning franchisor. It began franchising in 2006 as Stratus Building Solutions and now operates as Stratus Clean, with more than 5,000 units across the United States and Canada. Its franchisees clean offices, schools, medical offices and other commercial buildings, with an emphasis on green cleaning products.
Entrepreneur ranked Stratus No. 1 on its Fastest-Growing Franchises list for 2023, after the brand added more than 300 franchise units in North America in a year, and asked Rob how it got there. Stratus has held the No. 1 spot four years running, 2023 to 2026.
How it works
Three tiers. The master is the middle one.
- Stratus Clean, the franchisor, trains and supports its master franchisees.
- The master franchisee holds a protected territory, a state or a cluster of counties sized by population, and inside it acts as the franchisor: awarding unit franchises, winning commercial cleaning contracts and assigning them to unit franchisees.
- Unit franchisees are the local business owners who do the cleaning. The master trains and supports them and handles collections, billing and invoicing for them.
- The master does not clean. In Stratus Clean’s own words, it “does not expect or want master owners to do any cleaning.” The job is business development: recruiting, training and supporting a network.
“We award a master franchise over a state or geographic territory, and then the master goes out and awards unit franchises.”
Who it fits
Business builders, not people looking for a mop.
Stratus describes its masters as executives, entrepreneurs and professionals with sales or management experience and strong people skills. No cleaning experience is required, and its masters have come from education, sales, insurance, engineering and retail.
Rob has put the bar in plain terms: “We look for somebody who’s got people skills and who really wants to help others succeed.” Much of the current growth is in secondary and tertiary markets, the cities other franchisors tend to overlook, which was also the subject of the panel he sat on at Let’s Grow! in January 2026.
It is not a fit for someone who wants to run a cleaning crew personally, or for a passive investment. The work is selling, recruiting and supporting people, every week.
Working with Rob
What Rob does in the process.
- Discovery. A first conversation about you, your goals and the territory you have in mind.
- Territory. Which territories are open, how they are drawn and what is realistic for your market.
- The FDD. The Franchise Disclosure Document is where the investment (Item 7) and any financial performance information (Item 19) are disclosed. Rob goes through it with you. He has written for Entrepreneur on how to read one.
- Validation. Talking directly to existing Stratus master franchisees. Rob has written about why validation matters so much.
- A straight answer on fit. He has said on record that he will turn down a check when the fit is wrong.
“Talk to real franchisees. Validate. Dig into the data. Ask hard questions. This is a long-term relationship, not a transaction.”
The road to 100
On the road to 100.
In November 2025 Franchising Magazine USA profiled Stratus under the title “On the Road to 100,” with 93 master franchisees and 100 as the next milestone. Earlier that year Stratus had added master territories including The Bronx and Westchester, Birmingham, Barrie, New Haven, Lexington and Charleston.
Talk to Rob
Talk to Rob about a Stratus master franchise.
A few lines is plenty. Digilu, the team that manages this site for Rob, reads every note and gets it to him.