Honey, I've Shrunk The Jobs List

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday May 17, 2008

Keeli Cambourne

Busy people with little spare time are helping to push the growth of home services franchises, reports Keeli Cambourne.

Cleaning the oven, washing the dog and mowing the lawn are important jobs but it can be hard to find someone in the family to do them - even when you're going to pay.

But with the growth in the home services sector it is getting easier to find help. For a reasonable fee, most of these mundane, thankless tasks can be completed by making a few phone calls, giving time-poor families and individuals a break.

The executive director of the Franchise Council of Australia, Steve Wright, says some of the biggest franchise systems in Australia involve home services.

"We don't want to spend our family time doing tasks that someone else can do for us at an affordable rate," Wright says. "And a brand offered through franchising means reliability, quality control and purchasing power."

He says that for some people a lot of these tasks are just part of everyday life but other people are quite happy to have someone else do the work.

"Pampering is one of the growth industries, as is health and wellbeing, and once again it is all about affordability.

"People now value the time they spend on things more than they did in the past. We are not more time-poor, but more critical about how we spend our time, especially the younger generation who are used to a good quality of life and don't like to spend too much time on things that they see as menial."

A director of Franchise Works, Tim Dixon, says there has been a huge growth in cleaning franchises including the standard domestic and commercial cleaning services, but also specialised areas such as cleaning the barbecue, car detailing and window cleaning.

"The more bizarre ones also seem to be quite logical because they are jobs that people don't like to do," Dixon says.

"And the people who are investing in these franchises seem to be choosing a job rather than a business. They are happy to earn an income less than what they may have had in a salaried job to have a lifestyle. There is trend for those work chores, as well as for things that give us social enjoyment like beauty treatments and mobile massages."

Wright says healthy living is one of the biggest growth areas in franchising, a trend also observed by Matt Rolfe, the NSW marketing manager for the Aussie Farmers Direct franchise.

Aussie Farmers delivers fresh food to the door - similar to the way the milkman or baker did many years ago.

"The two young blokes who started Aussie Farmers just took that concept and modernised it," Rolfe says. "People love it because they are getting fresher food than they would get at the supermarket, from Australian farmers, better quality, priced competitively and delivered to them."

Aussie Farmers started three years ago in Melbourne and now has franchises in most states. It has continued to grow at a rapid rate.

There are 41 franchises in Melbourne and eight in Sydney. It moved into Brisbane three months ago and has sold a further five there. On average it is picking up about 1000 new customers a week.

"The difference with the franchise is that we can guarantee a customer base and there is such a large potential for growth," Rolfe says.

It's not just busy executives or overworked mothers who are using the service.

"People will still go to the supermarket if we aren't around, but we save them time and money and provide a better service, as well as helping them feel as if they are supporting their local community," Rolfe says.

"We are not a faceless multinational and we get a cross section of customers: from the older couples who aren't so mobile anymore, to the single young man."

Another success story is LookSmart Alterations. It is convenient and fast but it's not just those qualities that have helped the business grow into an international operation that turns over more than $25 million a year.

The tailoring and alteration franchise is one of the most successful to originate in Australia. It has 60 branches around Australia and 14 in New Zealand and a customer base of more than 1 million.

"What makes us different is that so many franchises are about luxury but we are more about being an essential service for people who want to look their best," says Abraham Hatoum, the company's founder.

"Having someone come and clean the house is more about luxury because people just don't want to do that job so they pay others to do it for them. Getting the perfect fit for a dress or suit is essential if people want to look their best.

"There is an old saying that behind every great man there is a great woman. But I believe that behind every great dress is a great tailor and behind every great suit is an alterationist. We provide a service that not only gives people that perfect fit, but we also offer style advice."

Hatoum says LookSmart is predominantly in shopping centres, consistent in pricing, service, quality and turnaround time. Shortening pants or repairing garments can be done in just half an hour and clients get to sit back with a coffee while they wait.

"People aren't taught these skills any more. We used to have our grandmothers to shorten our pants and general sewing skills were taught at school, but these days it is a dying art," Hatoum says.

"In the past tailors used to be found in backyard workshops or old alleyways. We have bought them to the forefront of fashion in the heart of shopping centres so they are convenient.

"We get all sorts of people and the average age of our customer is 34, with the biggest users between the ages of 41 and 45 years.

"We find that our customers are not just seeking simple alterations, they really want speed, convenience and the luxury of a shopfront, and we have put it all together successfully."

Tender oven care from UK franchise

IT'S a dirty job but someone has to do it. Which is why Bernard and Janet Bannon decided to bring the Ovenu franchise to Australia.

Ovenu was started in Britain by Rik Hellewell, who originally decided to buy into a carpet-cleaning franchise. But with so many other companies already in the market he looked around and hit on the idea of oven cleaning.

"He didn't want to use caustic cleaning substances, so he had some developed by chemists, and started advertising," Janet Bannon says.

"After two years he saw how much the business was growing and decided to franchise it. There are now 100 in the UK, and we have sold another five in Western Australia and are moving into Queensland and NSW."

Bannon says Ovenu doesn't just wipe away the grease. It does a detailing service for ovens and stove tops.

"We take off the door, split the glass if that needs cleaning, take out the side panels, clean all the parts and then put it all back together," she says.

"We charge about $130 for a single oven detail. We clean every part, and not only does it make it look better, it actually increases the life of the oven and makes it more energy efficient and safer."

The Bannons originally thought the service would be more suited to the middle and more affluent sections of the community but, she says, they have found it has broader appeal.

"If people can't afford to buy a new stove, [we'll] clean and detail their old ones and it makes them last a lot longer," Bannon says. "Our customers aren't just those who don't want to do the job - we get a lot of elderly and disabled people who just can't do it, as well as young, single people who don't know how to do it."KC