Grace Removals

In 1884, Joseph and Albert Grace opened the first Grace Bros retail store, in SydneyÍs George Street. Grace Bros Removals was established 27 years later when the company purchased a small business in nearby Camperdown. It consisted of a single repository and two horse drawn vehicles.

The first franchise was sold 28 years ago.

ñIt was probably one of the first franchises in Western Australia and, at the time, it was quite a departure from anything done previously,î says managing director Steven Brown.

Today, there are 38 operations around Australia providing both domestic and international moving services and storage. Of these just 11 are franchised, which is in line with the Grace strategy of keeping 65 to 70 per cent of their operations company owned.

ñSelling franchises isnÍt our only focus,î says Brown. ñWe will grow the relative number of franchises in the future, but we will always keep our company-owned stores.î

There are franchisees in major sites like the Sunshine Coast, but many are running a thriving business in smaller locations such as such as Bundaberg, Mt Isa and even the tiny WA town of Esperance.

ñOur franchisees tend to be entrepreneurial by nature; theyÍre keen to take on the challenge of helping us develop regional Australia,î says Brown. ñThe strength of our national brand is a powerful asset _ itÍs fairly iconic in terms of the Australian public. And there tends to be a lot of international business in smaller regional centres where thereÍs significant industry, particularly mining.î

Franchisees are included as part of the wider Grace family.

ñWe live the same business they do and we are actively promoting the business,î says Brown. ñOur corporate team of 20 business-to-business people is out in the market every day promoting our service. This benefits our franchisees as well as company owned offices.î

Franchisees also benefit from a robust IT platform with high-level transparency in all transactions.

ñWe are aware of activity in franchise area, and franchisees are aware of whatÍs taking place in the broader business area. This gives them a level of control which many not be found in other models.î

Control is particularly important in a business as seasonal as removals. When families are moving house, their first priority is usually making the resettling process as smooth as possible for their children. That makes Christmas the busiest time of the year, followed by the mid-winter and June school holidays and, to a lesser extent, long weekends.

ñThese peaks and troughs have to be very closely managed,î says Brown.

ñCorporate clients are relatively consistent, and one of the good things about our model is that the storage aspect provides a very stable revenue. This enables franchisees to forecast their income, and also to consider the real estate aspects of business ownership _ buying a warehouse can be an affordable option for them.î

Along with all-round business acumen and plain common sense, Brown says it helps if new franchisees have experience in a service-related industry, particularly in some kind of transport environment.

ñOne franchisee who joined us with no relevant experience is making a very good fist of it, but integration is definitely easier for someone who understands how transport works,î says Brown. ñYouÍre up against challenges in transport that donÍt necessarily exist in other industries. For instance, a week and a half before Christmas there were two derailments in Queensland. All of the cargo behind them was held up so, at our busiest time, we had to find a way of rescheduling all of our container movements so that we could still meet our delivery deadlines.î

Brown says the most successful franchisees are empathetic problem solvers who communicate well, are good at dealing with people and who understand that emotions can run close to the surface at such a stressful time.

ñWhat separates the moving business from transport in general is that people are entrusting us with their priceless possessions and valuable emotional cargo,î says Brown. ñWe have a duty of care; people look to us to ensure their wellbeing. Ultimately, our clients arenÍt after a product, they want confidence and knowledge _ reassurance that everythingÍs going to be OK.î

Hire A Box

Barry Harris owned a removal company for 35 years, so he knows first hand that most people receive their packing boxes when they have signed a contract with their removalist. He also knows that the majority would prefer to start packing earlier than that. Hiring out boxes seemed an obvious solution but, when he began researching this idea back in 1998, he found that no-one was doing it anywhere else in the world.

ñIÍd imagined IÍd do the typical thing of finding a successful model and improving on it,î he says. ñWhen I couldnÍt find anything like it I thought there must be something wrong with the idea.î

In fact, he had come up with an eminently workable new concept and now operates the only box hire franchise in the world.

Hire A Box delivers boxes as soon as people want them, then collects them any time within a three month hire period for delivery to another customer. Clients benefit from convenience and cost savings, and the environment is another big winner.

ñFrom an environmental point of view, reusing is much better than recycling,î Harris says. ñWhen a box is used three or four times, thatÍs three or four times less that boxes are being thrown away.î

Hire A Box costs around half as much as buying boxes or getting them from a removalist, and that includes delivery and pickup after use.

ñMore and more removalists are now using us for their customers because itÍs a lot more convenient for them too,î says Harris. ñThey prefer to focus on their prime business of moving people.î

The typical Hire A Box franchisee enjoys the flexibility of having a home-based business, is happy to be out on the road, enjoys personal contact with customers and understands the importance of providing a good, reliable service.

ñWe give a two hour window for delivery and pick up,î says Harris. ñPeople are very impressed by that as they donÍt have to wait in all day. And, if needs be, weÍll ring them a set time beforehand so they can get home in time to meet us there.î

Franchisees also spend 10 or 15 minutes with each customer providing tips on packing and getting ready for their move, and explaining how to look after the boxes.

ñWe charge a deposit on the boxes which is refunded on the spot when we collect them,î says Harris. ñPeople want their deposit back so, generally, they treat them very well.î

Harris went to great lengths to prove the strength of his concept before starting to franchise _ he ran a pilot operation for over six years, doing every delivery and pick-up himself, meeting customers and finding out how they felt about the service.

ñMost people move home within five years and I wanted to know how many would use our service again,î he says. ñI found that over 50% of our work came from people who had used us before or through word of mouth. That means half of the work is already there, and thatÍs pretty good. It certainly produced enough work for the pilot operation with very little advertising,î

His experiences on the road enabled Harris to design a model thatÍs very franchisee-friendly.

ñFranchisees donÍt have to worry about taking phone enquiries or bookings as everythingÍs done through a central hub,î he says. ñWe just send them a list of jobs for their area at the end of each day. We also supply boxes and ancillary products and, when the boxes have reached the end of their hiring life, we replace them with brand new ones.î

Harris is even committed to keeping half of Sydney company-owned so that he can fairly distribute jobs from these areas to his franchisees.

ñWe know the jobs that are coming in and we want each franchisee to have the same opportunity to make a decent income,î he says.

JimÍs Skip Bins

For most of us, a move is like a fresh start _ the perfect opportunity to get rid of the rubbish that has been cluttering up the old home. Skip bins are well established as a practical and cost-effective choice, but brothers Andrew and Craig Parke believed there was room for a better service. They were also well placed to try it out.

After joining the now legendary JimÍs Mowing as a franchisee, Craig opened the Jim’s Trees division in 1997. Then, as chief franchising manager with the Jim’s Group, he helped to launched and develop a number of other divisions including Paving, Concreting and Irrigation. Meanwhile, Andrew was growing Jim’s Antennas division to around 100 franchisees. Finally, in 2006 they joined forces. Together they developed the JimÍs Skip Bins division, which launched last year.

ñPeople do appreciate our friendly service, cleaner bins and the modern trucks and equipment,î says Andrew. ñThey also appreciate the convenience of being able to do everything by phone with their credit card _ they donÍt even have to be at home when the bin is delivered or collected. And, of course, JimÍs is a well known brand that people trust.î

After just four months, interest is running hot from both customers and potential franchisees.

ñWeÍre looking for people who are well presented and pride themselves on customer service,î says Andrew. ñThey also need to be able to communicate well, particularly as theyÍre likely to be building long-term relationships with commercial clients.î

JimÍs Skip Bins are committed to recycling waste wherever possible, and franchisees are encouraged to join the local Waste Management Association in order to stay up to date with industry developments. They also receive ongoing training and support.

ñThe most common reason our franchisees give for joining us is lifestyle,î Andrew says. ñThey enjoy working in the great outdoors, being in control of their own destiny and get a great deal of satisfaction from being self employed.î n

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