Began franchising: 2004
Number of franchises: 24
Investment needed: $500,000 minimum
David Reid Homes never builds the same home twice.
"Our franchisees build show homes, but that's just to showcase our quality," says director Roy Baker. "When a client is interested we work on their own unique design from scratch."
The
building and utility company's niche market is people who want their new home to be architectdesigned and custom-built. Typically, this would involve getting plans drawn up by an architect or designer, putting these out to tender to three or four builders, selecting the building, managing the project and attempting to keep it running on time and within your budget. In other words, it can be time consuming, hard work and very stressful.
"Often people give up and compromise with a project home, which isn't what they really want," says Baker. "We make it easy for them by taking care of everything."
David Reid
real estate and property franchisees oversee and run the operation.
"We look for people who have previous business or management experience and train them to run the company," says Baker. "You don't need building qualifications as no hands-on building is involved. Experience in the construction industry can be helpful but it's not essential. For instance, our first Sunshine Coast franchisee, who used to be a dairy farmer, just won the Australian Master Builders Association award for National Display Home over $500,000."
Despite the economic downturn, David Reid
building franchise is seeing month on month growth —June was their biggest month yet in terms of sales.
"I'd say that now is a good time to get into David Reid because it is quieter," says Baker. "It's certainly harder to get a business up and running in a building boom. Realistically, getting a show home built takes from 12 to 18 months. If you start in a boom, everyone is busy and it's harder to get tradespeople. Start now and you'll be ready when the economy turns round."
Franchisees need a cash reserve or other income stream until the show home is open and Baker admits that this narrows their market.
"We're not like a Gloria Jeans or a McDonald's where you open the door one day and sales start the next," he says. "But our franchisees are passionate about great design and quality. For them, this is a fantastic product to be working with. And they love the fact that they're creating dream homes for their clients – it's very different from building investment homes where it's all about cost and there's no emotion involved."
13-Oct-2008