Hands on, hard work that cleans up

Often the appeal of owning a mobile franchise or one that doesn't have a bricks and mortar shopfront is that you will be able to work flexible hours of your own choosing, where you can squeeze in a couple of hours of admin or marketing when the kids are watching TV.

This might be the case for a number of franchise systems in Australia, but it certainly isn't for Stay Clean Hands , an Adelaide based franchise which distributes automated hand sanitising units in shopping centres and supermarkets.

Launching its first company owned territory in August last year, founder Luis Nevares is on the lookout for franchisees committed to expanding their individual territory and growing the brand across the country.

"Maintenance [of the machines] is not something that is very demanding. This is more about creating business and developing the business. It's a business to business approach and the day to day tasks for the franchisee will be to approach new inquiries ... generate new inquiries and attend to those inquiries, as well as putting proposals forward and signing the contracts, then doing the installation of the units," explains Nevares.

"I'd like people that have business experience, that have owned their own business before or are proactive; people with entrepreneurial characteristics. I don't want reactive people that need to have their hands held. I want energetic people that can foresee future trends and that are not afraid to go out and talk to people."

Slow and steady growth is the key to Stay Clean Hands' longevity, Nevares says, and that's why there is currently only one territory available in each state and why franchisees will not be able to become multiunit owners until they prove themselves as profitable and committed single unit operators.

"We're conservative. We want to be certain of what we're doing. We want to make sure that our franchisees are successful," he says.

"Any franchisee has to start with one and prove themselves, and then, based on merit we can discuss multiple territories at a state level. We're not flooding the market."

One territory will cost franchisees $ 80,000 plus GST, and for that they will get 150 hand sanitising units, an exclusive territory based on business numbers in the area, training and the business' intellectual property, including contracts, systems and the operations manual.

"We will also organise the launch of the business. We launch it in their specific area, through a mail out campaign and we provide them with leads and the initial contracts to go and start contracting the units," says Nevares.

"We have KPIs [key performance indicators] for the franchisees based on our own experience and we will expect the same performance to be replicated."

Despite Stay Clean Hands' controlled growth, Nevares hopes to have close to 40 territories across the country in close to three years.

"In the first year, starting from January this year, we'd like to have five franchisees nationally, depending on demand. If we have a very strong pull from the market we're not going to let it go. By the second year we expect to have more than double that, I would say between 14 and 16 in total and then in the third year we expect to be at 35 and above."

Stay Clean Hands was born after Nevares travelled overseas and saw similar units in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore. Now, he is adding another interesting element, and another revenue stream, to the business.

"Our dispensers come in three different models, two of which have a display area. Our strategic partners in America have developed a very good advertising model in that display area. They have 16,000 units in the marketplace and they have advertising in most of them, and it sells really, really well.

"It's interactive advertising because people spend about nine seconds seeing the machine, using it, and rubbing their hands and during that they're reading what's on display. So if you can image a hand sanitising unit at the entrance to a supermarket, that represents a prime advertising opportunity," says Nevares.

The business is in the process of talking with a media agency and Nevares says the advertising space will be rolled out very shortly across the 50 units that are already installed in Adelaide.

"They [the media agency] are very interested because we have supermarkets and shopping centres associated with us, places with great exposure. They want us to go into hospitality as well, and if we can place machines inside pubs and hotels that will be something that they'll jump at straight away."

A bonus for franchisees is that it will be the franchisor's responsibility to source advertising for the dispensers, although they will still be entitled to a percentage of the revenue it creates.

However, Nevares reiterates that Stay Clean Hands franchisees mustn't rest on their laurels if they're going to be part of this new opportunity. They need to create their own success.

"We are looking for serious business people who are looking to establish the franchise and then grow it in time, and not be content with having their 150 units out there. This is a concept that is growing very fast and will grow very fast in the next 24 months, so we want to capitalise on the growth."

This article republished with permission from Franchising Magazine Jan/Feb 2012, VOL.25/No.1.