Ray Snooks was manager of Fletcher Jones’ corporate division in Queensland when he felt the urge for a change and took up a PoolWerx franchise in Brisbane eight years ago.
“I started with no customers and no nothing,” he said, expecting the first year with the pool franchise to be his hardest.
But it wasn’t as difficult as expected and his selling background in retail clearly helped with his very own pool maintenance franchise.
“I was prepared to do the hard things like going around doorknocking and telling people I was in the area. I used to get one customer a day doing it that way,” the PoolWerx franchise partner said.
Mr Snooks, 50, has now reached the top tier of the pool franchise system. He has three pool maintenance franchise areas – Middle Park in Brisbane’s west and Shailer Park and Springwood in Logan, south of Brisbane - and shops in Middle Park and Shailer Park that are owned in partnership with fellow PoolWerx franchisee Ian Jenkins and the franchisor.
Wayne Piercy, 36, was a call centre manager in Sydney before taking up franchises at Beenleigh and Helensvale, south of Brisbane, earlier this year.
His background equipped him for dealing with people, but the technical and practical skills needed came as a shock for someone who had never owned a pool and entered the pool franchise.
PoolWerx’s three week intensive training course gave him a good “leg up” into the pool maintenance franchise.
“I started on May 1 and I have already got 56 clients, and this has been the quiet time for pools.
“I haven’t broken even yet, but if I had this number of clients for a year, I would have, absolutely.
“I would like to think that in five years my business would have quadrupled,” he said about the PoolWerx franchise.
29-Nov-2006