Series 2015-2016: Spotlight on Franchising Opportunities

Fox Mowing & Gardening is a leader in its field, providing a range of lawn mowing, gardening, pruning and landscaping services across five states and one territory. Launched recently in 2013 by Phil Maunder, the company has 44 franchise owners spread across South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Perth and the ACT.

Phil Maunder brings with him 25 years of experience in the lawn mowing and garden industry, having been a Jim’s Mowing franchise owner for fifteen years. As the Director of Fox Mowing & Gardening, Phil devotes his time to motivating and providing support to franchise owners. He is also deeply involved in looking after the company’ marketing efforts.

Since its inception less than three years ago, Fox Mowing & Gardening has grown rapidly and currently averages over 1,200 leads every month. It has already quoted on 29,000+ jobs and its franchise owners have a reputation for being highly motivated and committed to offering excellent and responsive customer service.

Fox Mowing & Gardening has put a great deal of time and effort into making sure its State Managers are the right fit for the business. All the company’s State Managers have come from the industry and bring a combined 50 plus years of experience to the business.

High level of expertise in gardening

Fox Mowing & Gardening has specialised in its field and its franchise owners have gained tremendously from the personalised training that has been provided to them.

Phil Maunder says, “What our franchise owners in the field do are mowing and gardening work. Most of them are involved in soft landscaping which includes new gardens. About 20% of our franchisees are also involved in hard landscaping which includes small retaining walls and that kind of work.

“One of the major key points of difference we have is that we sell only one type of franchise and that is mowing and gardening franchises. There will never ever be a Fox Antennas or Fox Cleaning or Fox anything-else. We specifically want to be in mowing and gardening because that is what we know.

“Anybody else operating across Australia is selling multiple franchises. So for these people the model is franchising itself. They are not particularly franchising a particular product or a particular service. So that is a key point of difference. The potential franchise owners can see that and we don’t pretend to be experts at something we are not good at.”

Focussed marketing activities

There is a great need for making clients aware about Fox Mowing & Gardening’s activities. Even 10 years ago it was possible for an independent contractor to set up a gardening business. All that was required was to put an advertisement in a couple of local papers and do some leaflet drops. Over a six month period, a dedicated contractor could build up a business of a respectable size.

In the current market, if an independent person tries to set up a gardening business by advertising in the local paper, it is highly unlikely that it would result in more than one or two jobs. Fox Mowing & Gardening spends a large part of its budget on advertising and marketing. It has an elaborate website, which is constantly upgraded.

The company also concentrates on internet marketing and utilises search engine optimization techniques to increase traffic to its website. Fox Mowing & Gardening uses a number of online directories and websites like Scoopon and Groupon to popularise its services.

In an effort to get customers, Fox Mowing offers big discounts for business sourced through these sites. They pay the franchise owners more than the amount collected from customers. This extra expenditure is justified by the visibility that the company gets.

There has been a sharp increase in the level of business through Fox Mowing’s website. This is due to the emphasis on search engine optimization and the use of Google AdWords. Based on this success, the company plans to increase its expenditure on these activities.

Traditional methods of advertising are used in a limited way. It has been seen that newspaper advertisements do not generate many leads, especially in the cities. Due to this reason, print advertisements are restricted to rural areas or other territories where the franchise owners get a good response from this form of publicity.

Low-investment business opportunity

At some point in their careers, many people decide that they want to work for themselves and build a business. Becoming a franchise owner with Fox Mowing & Gardening is a good option as the entry cost is low and hence the amount at stake is limited.

If the entry cost is $200,000 or $300,000 it can be a barrier, but an individual who wants to become a franchise owner of Fox Mowing needs to invest only $20,000 to $25,000. Many people consider this as a stepping stone to some other business. A number of franchise owners have opted for this line as it gives them an option to work outdoors.

It is a fact that in this industry salaries are very low. Golf course greenkeepers and those who work in parks or gardens for a Council are usually paid low wages. While there may be some exceptions, the number of franchise owners from this line of activity is increasing. The advantage they enjoy is that they can get into business for themselves while staying in the same industry.

As Fox Mowing & Gardening is a relatively new operation, which is not even three years old, franchise owners have an opportunity to become a part of the business in its initial stages. There are still several prime territories available for allotment giving new entrants the scope to build up a strong base of customers.

Why franchise owners prefer Fox

Fox Mowing’s franchise owners are spread across practically the whole country. Each of the franchise owners has an adequate number of regular clients who keep them occupied for most of the time. In fact, many of them need to turn away business.

Fox Mowing’s franchise owners enjoy a number of advantages. They are allotted a significant territory size at the initial stage. Over time, this allows them to establish a large client base. When this happens the franchise owner has the option of selling off parts of the territory to make a handsome capital gain. Alternately, additional employees can be recruited to service the increased level of business.

In the effort to provide franchise owners and customers with the highest level of service possible, Fox Mowing has invested a great deal of time and money in developing a customised software package to manage operations. This franchise management tool has been a great improvement over the off-the-shelf software that was previously being used.

Earlier the company’s system took all of two minutes to process a new lead. Now that the software has been tailored to suit the business, it takes just 30 seconds. This has resulted in large productivity gains and allowed the company’s personnel to devote more time to marketing and customer acquisition activities.

Seeing the positive results provided by improved software, Fox Mowing is planning another technical upgrade to further enhance the system’s capabilities.

Training for franchise owners

A personalised training program is devised for each new franchise owner. It is ensured that by the end of the training period all the required skills have been imparted to each new franchise owner.

Describing the approach of Fox Mowing to training, Phil Maunder says, “As someone gets involved in this business, they find that it is pretty simple. They contact us, we provide them information and the costs and prices and so forth. We interview them and they spend one or two days out in the field with one of the franchise owners and we set up the training for them.

“We have got a couple of guys that are ex-golf course greenkeepers. They do not need much training in the actual work to be done. But they may need help in acquiring jobs, customer service, looking after clients and marketing and so forth.

“Others may have come from a middle management background where they do not need much help as far as book-keeping or customer service is concerned, but they need quite a lot of help in the systems and in the actual day to day job.

“They need expert help on how to prune trees and bushes and how to garden quickly and so forth. We tailor the training package to suit individual needs depending on the skill set that they are bringing.”

Prospects and scope for growth

Fox Mowing plans that by 2023, within 10 years of its launch, it will have a total of between 200 and 250 franchise owners. It already has about 44 on board and there is no reason why it should not be able to meet this target.

From the date of its inception, the company has very successfully adopted online marketing techniques. Its website is the source of a large portion of its business. The coming years will see more leads being generated through this source as Fox Mowing is constantly upgrading its web presence.

The company’s online portal is currently being renewed for the third time. After the current revamp is complete it will become more interactive and allow customers to book jobs and pay online.

Having had a strong start, Fox Mowing & Gardening is poised for great success in the years ahead. Its business model has attracted a number of franchise owners who have enjoyed a rewarding relationship and have built up a lucrative enterprise in the process. The company is well on its way to realise its vision of becoming the best franchised lawn mowing and gardening business in the country.

Car Care started in Perth in 1987 with a single van to visit customer locations. The car cleaning and detailing business did well and the franchise model was launched in 1990. It has since grown to become Australia’s largest mobile car detailer with operations in Sydney, Central Coast NSW, Canberra ACT, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Northern Territory and Tasmania.

Operations have also been initiated in New Zealand and currently Car Care has a total of about 85 to 90 franchisees. The business model has worked very successfully for over 28 years. The company’s longest serving franchisee has been functioning for 18 years and there are a number of franchise owners who have been in the system for over 10 years.

Car Care franchise owners are widely acknowledged as providers of high-quality cleaning and detailing services. Customers find their services extremely convenient to use especially as all the franchise owners’ vans are equipped with their own water tank and generator. This obviates the need for franchisees to locate taps and power points.

The company is highly conscious of the requirement to help preserve the environment. Its detailers use only bio-degradable products. All franchisees also carry water permits. In case a customer requires a waterless wash facility, it is available, subject to the vehicle condition.

This capability was one of the deciding factors that helped a Car Care franchisee get selected by luxury car manufacturer Audi, to accompany a fleet of cars across the Nullarbor. Despite the rough terrain, the cars were kept in pristine condition by the Car Care franchise owner.

In addition to providing car detailing services, franchisees are also called upon to clean boats, light airplanes, heavy earth moving and mining equipment and caravans.

The company’s franchise owners offer several options to customers that range from a Mini Detail & Polish service to a Pre-Sale Detail, a service that can result in a higher resale value for a car. A Mini Detail is relatively inexpensive, but it still provides a number of services including pressure rinse of the car’s interior, vacuum cleaning of its interior and cleaning of the wheels, door jambs and mud flaps.

What does Car Care look for in a prospective franchisee?

Car Care has a very clear idea about the type of person who they want as a franchisee. It is preferable that the prospective franchise owner has some knowledge about cars. More importantly, the individual should be strong at building customer relationships and converting a one-time job into a regular detailing assignment.

Mike Stringer, the owner of Car Care Australia describes what the company looks for in a franchisee and how the profile of applicants for this position has changed over the years, “We have got a wide variety of people who have become our franchisees and in the recent past their profile has changed

“We seem to be attracting less trades type people who love cars.  Most of our new franchisees over the last year are older and have come from a management type role.

“We have got a number of ex Supermarket Store Managers with us. They were used to having a lot of responsibility, a lot of staff and they wanted to do something else. They bring with them the ability to take responsibility for themselves. They are self-motivated. The other benefit this type of person brings to the business is they help improve the system as they are used to looking at how to improve things. We provide them with pretty extensive training so that they can function effectively.”

It is essential that a franchisee has the capability to work alone. For a person to make a success of this business it is required that the franchise owner promotes himself and their business. The scope for business is tremendous. It is only limited by the number of cars, truck, vans and motorbikes on the road.

A Car Care franchisee has a tremendous advantage in that he/she is part of the only national car detailing company in the country. The major motor companies Ford, Holden, Mazda, Honda, Audi and Mitsubishi regularly employ detailing companies for product launches, sporting events, etc.

As they prefer to deal with a single company, Car Care is the only choice as it is present across the entire country. The franchise owner will be required to take up this corporate business and should be capable of handling it.

It is not important whether a franchisee has had previous detailing experience. Only a few of Car Care’s franchise owners have done this work in the past. The company provides adequate training and guidance to its new franchisees.

Training for franchisees

The comprehensive training that is provided includes practical training consisting of five days spent in the franchise owner’s territory that includes making actual visits to customers. The person undergoing the training is usually surprised to learn that there is more to car detailing than is first apparent.

Specific guidance is provided on how to properly detail a car so that the best results are achieved in the shortest possible time. This will allow the franchise owner to do more jobs in a day and earn a proportionately greater amount.

Car Care’s trainers have vast experience in the field and are themselves successful franchise owners. Many of them have spent 12 – 15 years in this line of work and their experience is invaluable for new entrants to learn the practical aspects of the trade.

In-depth training is provided in operating the generator, high-pressure water cleaner, shampoo machine, buffing machine and vacuum. The trainer also demonstrates the products to be used and the order in which they are to be applied so that the detailing achieves the intended result.

In addition to technical skills, new franchisees are also imparted training in commercial matters. Guidance is given on how to price a job, customer handling skills and the steps to be taken to market Car Care’s services in the allotted territory.

The company provides on-going training to its franchisees so that they are in a strong position to maximise their earnings and promote Car Care. Managing business operations is another skill that needs to be acquired.

Towards this end, the company has arranged access to Griffith University’s ‘Business Essentials’ course. This online training course is split into various sections so that individuals can learn at a pace that they are comfortable with.

Summarising the training facilities that are made available, Mike Stringer says, “Every franchisee gets a week onsite. That means we equip them in their van – that is all included in the franchise. They do not have to buy anything else.

“We have a trainer who travels the country and they have a week in their van in their territory. We predominantly focus on their skills and processes and how to detail a car to make money as opposed to washing a car as you might wash your own car every weekend.

“Our franchisees obviously have to do it in a particular way that gets them the best result in the least amount of time. We have different packages so we teach them those packages. We also do top-up training.  We also put our people through an essential business tools course.”

Relationships with suppliers

“We have a number of suppliers,” says Mike Stringer, “Australia is such a big country and every state is so far away from each other that a lot of our suppliers are state-based. So where we might have recommended Autosmart in some states for our chemicals, in some states they do not operate so we find an alternative.

“In terms of the chemicals and the equipment we use, we deal with local suppliers. We do not deal with the major manufacturers. We also do not get involved in the selection of vans as the franchisees can bring their own van, anything from a $12,000 – $13,000 van to a brand new van. In terms of our national suppliers, probably the large ones are the insurance company and our web developers whom I deal with directly.”

Plans to expand through web-based marketing

In an effort to boost customer service and automate operations, last year the company developed an online booking system. A person who wants to get their car detailed need not phone the company. They can simply log on to the Car Care website and fill out a web form. The system will automatically inform the concerned franchise owner in whose territory the customer is located about the requirement.

In case that franchise owner is not available, the system will allow other franchisees to service the customer. The new system is doing well and has resulted in a sharp uptick in business.

Car Care is already the foremost car detailing company in the country. It has established a high degree of trust with its franchise owners due to its open and forthright management style. When awarding new franchises, Car Care is totally transparent in its dealings and strongly urges potential franchisees to talk to its existing franchise owners before taking a decision on whether they should invest.

This allows it to recruit only those people who fully understand what they are getting into. Over the long term, it has resulted in the sustained high performance and growth of Car Care.

Car wash and detailing services in Australia are growing at a compound annual rate of 2.5%. The popularity of mobile car detailing services is steadily increasing as car owners, especially those who have bought expensive models, realise the benefits of detailing services provided by professionals. Car Care is in a strong position to take advantage of the growth in the market and increase its business volumes.