Q & A - Outdoor Living Designs by Outside Concepts

There are a lot of things to consider before becoming a franchisee. Do you believe in the direction the business is going and are you confident you will get an adequate return on your investment? Is there a natural fit between the culture of the company and your own personal views and beliefs? To help kickstart yourresearch we've put the spotlight on the following franchise.

Outdoor Living Designs by Outside Concepts , home services franchise previously known as Mr Carports.

How would you define your brand?
I guess our change in name reflects our brand. We take great pride in building beautiful outdoor living designs, including verandahs, pergolas, patios, decks, gazebos, carports and blinds, which complement and improve the value of a house. Apart from increasing the value of a property we also strive to improve the way in which our clients can enjoy outdoor living and as a consequence, increase the value of their property.

How old is the company and when did you start franchising?
The building and utilities franchise is 17 years old.

How many franchises do you have?
Currently 31 franchises with two more training.

How are you going to grow the business in 2008?
We are going to establish a few more branches in Sydney and Brisbane, but our main efforts will be invested in improving the performance of our existing franchises and concentrating on our new products such as cafe blinds and the introduction of aluminium beams with stainless steel fittings. I expect we will also be spending more time with our first US branch. We cannot only teach them how we do things more efficiently but we can also learn and bring back ideas to our Australian franchisees.

Where do you expect the business to be in 2010?
I trust that 2009 will see the establishment of a number of franchises in WA and ACT, and expect we will see a substantial growth in our Californian operation.

What do you expect from a franchisee?
A successful franchisee should be open minded and willing to accept new ideas and new ways of doing things. He or she must have the skills to be able to operate their own business whilst being a part of a group. Most importantly they need to be intelligent with good communication and organisational skills and the ability to project manage from quote to completion.

What are the start-up costs for a franchisee and what working capital should they have?
The cost of a franchise, including training, is $52,500 +GST with perhaps $10,000 working capital for advertising, but it takes between six and 12 months for a franchisee to start achieving their potential in sales and income. Many of our new franchisees continue with their existing employment whilst building the business, or they take a part time job to cover living expenses until the franchise provides suitable profits.

What is the length of agreement?
15 years (5 + 5 + 5)

What sort of hours will the franchisee have to work to get the business established and how long should that take?
Most of our franchisees settle in to a reasonably regular income after about 12 months, but the business will continue to grow. The majority of our franchisees work between 35 and 45 hours per week, but we do have a few doing fewer hours to earn a smaller income and some working longer hours to earn a substantially higher than average income.

What profit can a franchisee reasonably expect to make after two years?
It all gets back to how the franchisee wants to work the bi Most of our franchisees working full time earn $80,000 to $120,000 but a few of them do substantially better than th putting in the extra time.

This article appears courtesy of Franchising Magazine.