Award-winning Oz Bin Cleaning franchise cleaning up household services

The Oz Bin Cleaning franchise is on the expansion trail with the granting of a master licence in Queensland and Victoria and the selling of its initial franchise in Wyong NSW.

While still relatively new in Australia (the first outlet made its debut in 2001), the home services franchise is backed by an award-winning international system and has already begun carefully increasing its presence in its home territory, NSW.

Incoming Queensland masters Gary and Mary Kellet made their decision after first deciding to acquire a single franchise, and then realising the potential in gaining rights to the state. Other states are also available.

“Like most intending franchisees, we had been carefully researching the various offerings carefully,” Gary Kellet says. “It’s fair to say that the OZ Bin concept jumped right out at us and we moved very quickly, but only because we had a number of criteria quite carefully plotted. The whole idea and system dropped right into our slot.”

Meanwhile, when new franchisee Darren Carbonaro was asked why he and his wife chose an OZ Bin Cleaning franchise, he responded: “We decided on OZ Bin Cleaning because it was a new franchise that offered large territories. That gives us a great opportunity for growth in our business. We liked the fact that they charge a flat rate for the management fee, not a percentage of the revenue. Other attractive points for us were the low running costs and the fact that the small amount of cleaning fluid required is purchased in bulk by me from a supplier, not from the franchisor,” Carbonaro says.

“Overall I found (franchisors) Mark and Penny Campbell very friendly and easy to deal with. They are guiding me through all facets of running the business. The contact did not end once I paid the franchise fee. We would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a career or lifestyle change and an opportunity to build your own business and be in control of your own future. It’s the best move we ever made.”

According to OZ Bin Cleaning CEO, Mark Campbell, today’s intending franchisees, like Carbonaro, are becoming far more sophisticated in their business selection processes.

“They’re looking for opportunity in a ‘new’ field with substantial growth prospects and frankly, in Australian franchising, there’s not a lot of that left,” he says. “They’re looking for industries where, if there happens to be competition, it’s disorganised and lacks weight. They’re looking for affordable entry so they’re not stretched for working capital, but they also want opportunity to build a significant business. And while they’re prepared to start by doing the yards in a ‘blue collar’ role, they are keen to build their own networks and move on to white collar status, in an organisational and business building capacity, as quickly as they possibly can.

“When you put all that together, they’re generally interested in a young and affordable system that offers high growth potential, and disorganised, fragmented competition, but which also has strong credibility. You don’t often find the two in a single package.”

OZ Bin is in the business of cleaning and sterilising all kinds of waste containers, using a process and machinery that makes the job fast, palatable for the operator and environmentally friendly. Asked if franchise enquirers were put off by the prospect of a ‘dirty job’, Campbell makes the following points:

· Someone has to do it. Not many people like the idea of doing it. Therefore demand tends to exceed supply. Price of the service offered by franchisees reflects this. Oz Bin Cleaning is not ‘cheap’.

· The process and machinery make the job simple, clinical and (for the money) by no means unduly stressful. A foul bin looks a lot less foul if you view it as money in the bank and an ongoing contract.

· There is strong repeat business. Once you start managing a bin you maintain it in good hygienic condition. You reap what you sow.

· The market is strong and territorial arrangements are configured so that motivated, hardworking franchisees are soon able to be what’s becoming described as ‘multi-van moguls’ within their own territories.

· Once well proven in their own territories, multi-territorial opportunities are available. This is one of the key advantages offered by a young system.

· Oz Bin continues to develop technology to stay ahead of competitors.

There is also an environmental angle, which according to Campbell is not to be underestimated. “I like the fact that when kids ask other kids what their parents ‘do’, we have answers reported like ‘my dad stops yukky things from going into the environment’ or ‘the people who work for our dad are making the world green’. There’s more, of course, but it is all reassuring in terms of the social ‘rightness’ of the business,” he says.

Water is another topical environmental issue. Oz Bin mobile units have an onboard water recycling plant, a high/low pressure washing system and an electrically powered water extraction system to leave bins thoroughly cleaned, dried and deodorised. They capture and recycle all the water used in the cleaning process so that it is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, in accordance with Water Authority and Environment Protection Authority (EPA) guidelines.

“I think one of the big things about taking on a franchised business is that you are comfortable socially with what it does,” Campbell continues. “You can be the chicken guy, the pizza man, the mortgage advisor, or the dog washer, provided that you are comfortable with that. Our network is about environmental protection. A lot of people are very comfortable with that.”