Greg: I was on the tools all the time and running the business as well, so time becomes a real issue. You end up working 18 hours a day in the business, and you can’t do anything else. I needed a different challenge. I’d had enough of the renos, the long hours and so forth, and I’d sort of made up my mind that I was looking for something. I didn’t know what at that stage, but I was looking.
An ad came out for Stroud Homes franchises, and I had a bit of a look through it. I liked the immediate images I’ve got of the houses, the plans, and the way it presented. The marketing is well established. It seems to be working across a lot of media. We’re getting a lot of contact through it, so it’s certainly hitting the mark, yeah.
Pat: We can just pick up the phone, and we can talk to someone. The fact that these guys are already all working in the same environment, they understand what our IT problem is or what that build quantity is doing. We can ring someone, they know exactly how to fix it, and they’re more than happy to help. One of the perks of being a part of the franchise is that we can provide big builder pricing with the same level of small builder customer service.
We’re twelve weeks into opening our franchise now. We’ve just opened up our new shop in Highfields. We’ve got three contracts signed so far, and we’ve got our first slab down as well. One of the best parts is we’re already up to nearly five to seven leads a week coming in, so keeping us on our toes. Things are looking really good, and we are confident that within a few months, we’re going to be well on our way to our first 12 in the first 12 months.