Mr Rental emerging as Australia’s best franchise

Mr Rental Franchising Pty Ltd is the Franchise Council of Australia’s current Emerging Franchise System of the Year.

Established by Glen and Kerrianne Hickman in 1991, Mr Rental places a great deal of importance on maintaining the unique culture on which the company was founded.

“We created a culture of excellence and constant improvement that we believed would position the business for effective growth,” says Glen.

The appliance rental franchise group has only been franchising for eight years and has grown from one store on Bribie Island, to a network of 60 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Alan Payne, General Manager of the appliance hire franchise group said “A constant focus on innovation to increase efficiency and bottom line profit means Mr Rental is better managed and more prepared for growth than many franchises twice its size.”

Mr Payne continued to say that the reality of current economic times is not likely to negatively affect the appliance hire franchise group as they are well positioned to ride out times of economic uncertainty due to more families looking to rent home appliances as an alternative to buying.

“Due to the current economic climate renting has become an increasingly attractive option throughout Australia for families looking to maximise their cashflow by not having to purchase big ticket items outright, while ensuring they’re not denying their family’s basic needs,” says Mr Payne.

“People like the flexibility of renting and the way in which it allows them to have the latest and greatest appliances, furniture and technology at their fingertips.”

For franchisees searching for the work/ life balance, the business model of the appliance hire franchise group is ideal. The business hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm and a unique culture exists that encourages living life by ‘above the line’ values – ownership, accountability and responsibility. The hire franchise group is well positioned to cultivate an environment of hardworking, enthusiastic and happy franchisees.

The focus on innovation also leads to ongoing improvements in the work/life balance of franchisees, such as the introduction of recent and ongoing IT improvements.

“We’ve been able to tangibly show franchisees they’ve regained more than two and a half hours a week to work on their businesses as a result our IT improvements over the past 12 months,” says Mr Payne.

“In the past 12 months we’ve undertaken extensive legal review of rental contracts to ensure compliance with legislation changes, introduced an Accredited Franchise Traineeships to enable franchisees to successfully train in their own stores, instigated a network rollout of collective agreement templates meeting the requirements of new employment legislation and launched a national marketing campaign including television advertising and catalogues that introduced the results of a re-branding project and ongoing customer research,” Mr Payne said.

The vision that Mr Rental has is to be the world’s first choice in renting home appliances.

Two years ago the appliance hire franchise re-branded and introduced the Rental family of characters to create a market presence that is making an impact that is reflected in sales leads. Regular catalogues, radio and television advertising and a constant focus on bringing the brand to life, has added significant value to the core business of renting.

One of the key benefits for this business and the foundation of its ability to provide a sense of stability to franchisees, particularly when they first start, is the business’s model of ‘recurring revenue’, a system similar to a gym membership in that once a customer is signed up, a payment is made weekly or fortnightly for the term of the contract.

Husband and wife teams in their mid-forties are typical Mr Rental franchisees and have usually completed or partially completed educational qualifications and have business experience. They also have a psychographic profile that means they are generally achievers, hard workers, team players and looking for work/ life balance.

A committed and passionate team at the National Support Office (NSO) in Brisbane, Queensland supports franchisees and a team of 20 people in the areas of operations, IT, marketing, HR and training, events, products and purchasing, finance and administration provide the required support to franchisees.

The strength of this emerging appliance hire franchise system is demonstrated by steady growth, regular high listings on sites such as Top Franchise and positive franchisee relationships.