We asked a handful of franchisors for their take on low cost franchise v start-up, and their frank responses, coupled with clear passion for what they do, was refreshing – even in such a highly competitive market place for the right franchise investor.

The key takeaway is that there are so many diverse franchise business model opportunities out there to suit all different types of people. The business must be a good match for you and what you want to do whether it be your own start-up or a franchise.

The Coffee Guy

Type: Mobile Coffee
Investment: from $60,000
Territories: Available Nationally

General Manager, John Stanton explains that The CoffeeGuy (TCG), “…is a great model if it is your first time in business, partly because the entry costs are very low. There is no complexity, so you don’t need to bring any specific skills to the table – we will train you on all operational aspects, which further reduces your risk.”

“I think about it this way - if you’ve been a wage earner all your life and you’ve really wanted your own business, but you don’t want one that is going to put your house on the line (loan security), then a franchise with an entry price point and low complexity like ours is an excellent option.”

A franchise can can also be a great platform leading onto other things for the rest of your working / business career according to Mr Stanton, “We have franchise partners that stay for ten years and beyond, and we have others that do a year or two, get an understanding for business, and then move onto something larger.”

In direct comparison to a non-franchise low cost start-up, Mr Stanton’s view is that, “…in most cases you will work things out for yourself, but there is every chance that you will make quite a few mistakes without the support of an experienced team guiding you. The great part of franchising and particularly with a company like ours being part of Retail Food Group (RFG), is that small businesses can benefit from big business advantages
they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Just the way we create our territories for example - it is not looking at a map and doing some guesswork! We invest in data, we invest in statistics, we drill down and can give you information on each and every building in your territory.”

For Mr Stanton, the big difference he sees most often is the time taken to achieve profitability. “We have done it all before, many times over. We identify the customers that we will be targeting well before your first day on the road. Again, as an independent, you might find your way eventually but most small business owners don’t have the time or cash resources to take that risk – we don’t want it to be eventually, we want it to be profitable and successful right from day one.” Find Out More: www.thecoffeeguy.net.au

Drug-Safe Communities

Type: Mobile Drug Testing for the Workplace
Investment: from $95,000
Territories: Available Nationally

A business that has been operating for over 15 years, the Drug-Safe Communities franchise is providing a unique business opportunity across the country, while also allowing owners to make a significant contribution to the communities in which they live.

Managing Director, Michael White asks, “Why go it all on your own in a start-up when you can tap into the experience of a business that has been successful over the period of a decade or more, AND play a vital role in brining communities back together? In particular we have a strong focus on regional communities and helping them tackle the drug problem head-on.”

“We are an Australian based franchise business that gets right behind our business owners to help them achieve success and make a difference where they live. Many people just don’t realise the scale of this national challenge, and we are helping to tackle it one town at a time.”

As a Drug-Safe Communities franchise owner, you operate in an exclusive local territory to educate business, local government and community leaders in; Issues of drug use, It’s economic and personal impact on their community, and Delivering education services and seminars
around this.

These essential community services form a key part of, and lay the foundation for the ongoing drug testing services franchisees provide to employers for pre-employment and ongoing employee testing. These businesses pay Drug-Safe for the drug testing services and support. And, according to Mr White, “Most importantly, we differ to other options in the marketplace in that our long-term presence in the market means we provide an immediate flow of work to franchise owners as we have a large number of national clients who already engage us in varying locations for field testing services in remote regions.”

Existing clients include, “Airports in country towns, quarries, fisheries, agricultural services, and civil engineering completing infrastructure projects…” says Mr White. No specific related experience is required with both practical field, and classroom based instruction provided to ensure that every franchise owner “…will be very well equipped to provide your community with the National Standard of testing for alcohol and drugs.”

Find Out More: www.thefranchiseshop.com.au

Finn Business Sales

Type: Business Brokerage
Investment: from $30,000
Territories: Available Nationally

“Anyone looking to get into business needs to be certain they are buying into something that really suits them in order to give it the best
chance for success – otherwise you are swimming upstream from even before you open the doors!” according to Len Ferguson, Co-Founder and
Director of the Finn Group.

“This rule applies to whether it is your own start-up or a franchise. By ‘suiting’ you, this means for example, if you don’t like to take advice and instruction, and stick by some rules, then a franchise is not for you. You’ll probably hate it! A franchise works at the consumer level because of consistency of offer first and foremost, and if you are the type who wants to re-engineer things and push in a different direction to others just
for the sake of it – then don’t buy a franchise!”

Finn Business Sales is a business brokerage franchise where franchisees operate a territory where they ‘work it’ to become the business broker of choice in that area. “You work it, you own it, you are EVERYWHERE when it comes to being the person of choice when it comes to selling businesses. Our dominant brand presence online and face to face makes this very achievable where ever you may be.” says Mr Ferguson.
“We are already sold out of territories for our Finn Franchise Brokers business, where franchisees have a territory and act exclusively as brokers of franchise businesses.”“We became so good at that, that we expanded our offer to also include a broader brokerage franchise for selling non-franchise businesses, which is actually a much biggermarket. We already sell more franchises than anyone else in the country, so we know what we are doing when it comes to business brokerage. We are also adding on many other types of specialist brokerage franchises in commercial property, hotels & accommodation and so on”. 

The Finn Business Sales (and franchise sales) businesses can basically be run from home. “We have a full cloud based set of tools our brokers use to operate on a daily basis.” The type of people that are best suited to the franchise according to Mr Ferguson, are “White collar, sales professional types. We don’t work weekends, it’s generally 9 – 5, Monday to Friday and the business operates much more like a professional practice type like an account or legal office, rather than a comparison to a real estate type business.”

“Franchisees are attracted to us as they have often sold their business before and had a bad experience doing it, and it caused them to be attentive to seeing a really good brokerage system and processes that we have.”

Find Out More:

www.joinfinn.com.au

APA Flyer Distribution

Type: Own a Territory Distributing Marketing Flyers to Letter Boxes

Investment: $20,000 

Bob Bajaj, CEO of Advertising Printing Australia (APA), has built a large business in advertising distribution and printing production, and now he is franchising the distribution territory arm of that business starting with NSW - territory by territory. “We have built a business around a solution to an existing problem that we as marketers ourselves, knew was a problem. The effort and expense that so many companies put into the design, production and distribution of marketing material to letter boxes in commercial and residential locations – and never being certain if they were delivered.” 

“Our clients love us – we give them real-time reports showing them when and where their flyers are being delivered.” Mr Bajaj also reports that contrary to other marketing mediums, “The recent research undertaken by the Australian Catalogue Association said that while ‘mainstream’ media advertising spends are decreasing, the internet and direct mail advertising spend is growing. And this makes good business for us and our franchisees into the future.” Mr Bajaj reports that APA is already the fourth largest distribution company in NSW and delivers roughly about 7 million flyers every month, equating to 50 million flyers every year. “We (and our franchisees) use technology via GPS trackers worn by every deliverer, to ensure marketing material is delivered to letterboxes. This certainty for advertisers is what makes us so attractive to use – transparency is vital.”

Typically, the APA franchise business opportunity is about 100,000 homes, and the franchise owner is managing between 6 - 12 people daily to ensure they are delivering the marketing material to letterboxes, is motivated, looked after, and basically doing the job correctly. On the business itself, Mr Bajaj explains that “By following our systems, process and training fully and effectively, our existing franchises in their first year are making between $80,000 - $150,000. Of course this varies depending on the individual and circumstances, but our system is long-standing. We have existing territories already making money because we are already distributing marketing to them with our own team. We have 18 territories in Sydney and 14 of them are already sold.” 

The type of people Mr Bajaj said are ideal for the business means it is suited to many, “People like mum and dads who love an outdoor business, are healthy and fit who are motivated to run their territory and even add further territories beyond the first one. They have no shop or warehouse to worry about, not affected by seasonal changes, and we find the customers!” “Also, investment for the business is staggered to make entry even more affordable with $20,000 initially, with the balance of $15,000 payable over the first year.”

Find Out More: www.advertisingprinting.com.au