Clifford Gardens branch of Lenard’s chicken franchises recognised with national award

Trevor and Katrina Harvey operate one of Lenard's chicken franchises in Clifford Gardens, Queensland, and recently won the Merit Award in the Franchise Council of Australia’s 2010 Excellence in Franchising Awards, Queensland.

Sine joining the network of chicken franchises in 2006, the husband and wife duo have experienced significant growth within the business.

In their first two years of operation, the Toowoomba locals increased sales by 80% and customers by 55%. With continuing growth annually throughout 2009 and 2010, sales have grown by a further 15%.

Trevor says he is thrilled to have their hard work within the network of Lenard’s chicken franchises recognised by the award.

He explains that the key to their success has been having a happy and motivated team of staff, and maintaining the balance between work and home life.

“Every day is challenging, but also incredibly rewarding,” Trevor admits. “Katrina and I try and support each other and work together whenever we can. We also try to maintain a good balance between work and home life - we never stop working on that.”

Celebrating the success of the business with staff is also important, Trevor says, and helps to keep the pair positive.

“If they are happy, we are,” he concludes.

The Franchisee of the Year Award judging is based on eight categories including:

• support networks and well being
• franchise citizenship
• systems management
• business planning and performance
• leadership
• marketing and customer contact
• openness to learning and change; and
• community contribution.