Want to be a poolcare franchisee? Ten questions and answers you need to read

Sarah Stowe

Before you investigate individual franchises, you want a good idea of what the system entails and how your working life will shape up. So we asked the questions for you.

In the first of three articles, we questioned PoolWerx on what a franchisee can expect.

1. What's the day job?

PoolWerx franchisees maintain pools and spas for residential and commercial clients. This consists of pool servicing, water testing and equipment installation.

2. What else will I be doing?

Other activities include product purchasing, invoicing, scheduling and marketing to potential and existing clients.

With the support of your regional manager, you will develop and execute a year-round business plan. This process involves planning for ways to grow your business and how to execute day-to-day jobs.

3. Who will support me from head office?

PoolWerx’s national support office (NSO) is dedicated to providing you with support in all areas of your business from new business generation through to financial reporting. Your regional manager is your first point of contact for all day-to-day jobs and planning, while NSO provides support with marketing, legal, HR, retail, training, recruitment and supplies up-to-date information relevant to the pool and franchising industries so you can concentrate on running your business.

4. Can I do this by myself or do I need staff?

The ‘man-in-a-van’ mobile entry-level franchise option is suitable for a single operator. However, because PoolWerx has a career path to grow your business into multi mobile and retail, there is potential for franchisees to take on extra service vans and team members.

Mobile operation is just one franchise option at PoolWerx

5. What do I need to know before I start trading?

When you start the PoolWerx journey, you undertake a three week training program – known as Pool School – that covers all areas of business management and pool and spa care. This gives you all the basic necessary competencies and skills required to operate your business successfully.

Everything you need to know about running a successful PoolWerx business is covered during PoolWerx’s Pool School induction program and through the business planning process.

6. What are the costs each month?

Monthly overheads include stock, operational costs to run your store and vans, royalty and advertising. The PoolWerx royalty fee structure rewards growth with reducing fees depending on sales volume.

7. Can you help with marketing my business?

PoolWerx franchisees are supported with national, regional and local marketing activities. Nationally, these include sponsorships, national television advertising, digital advertising, public relations, national website and e-commerce platforms. At a local level, franchisees are supported by telemarketing campaigns, a digital marketing platform allowing individual businesses to send out branded emails and SMS messages to their clients, and public relations to leverage national activity at a local level. Individual franchisees also have their own localised webpage they can manage.

8. How can I grow my client base?

When you first start on the road a number of marketing activities are focused on assisting you to grow your database and client acquisition. This activity is supported by the NSO, with ongoing inbound and outbound local area marketing training available.

One of the benefits of PoolWerx is the constant flow of repeat clients due to the need to look after their pools on a regular basis.

Water testing in winter

9. How do you ensure my business success?

Along with quarterly and annual reviews to ensure franchisees are on the right track to achieve their business and personal goals, ongoing training and business development is a major focus for new franchisees. PoolWerx has also invested heavily in an online learning platform called Learning Seat that allows franchisees and their team members to undertake training modules in areas such as OH&S, supplier product training, chemical handling and marketing. Learning Seat allows training to be completed at a time convenient to the learner and helps foster the growth of our people as small business operators.

10. What are the income streams available to me?

PoolWerx has four income streams that contribute to annual turnover.

Mobile: domestic pool or spa maintenance and equipment supply is the staple of your business.

Retail: PoolWerx has dedicated systems in place to assist franchisees in moving to a retail shop if they so choose. PoolWerx retail stores carry a full range of pool equipment and chemicals from industry leading suppliers.

B2B: commercial client relationships are built at a national and regional level. By developing our services and processes to meet the needs of commercial partners, we have developed a strong offering that sets us apart from competitors. We give extensive training to franchisees in this space to contact various commercial pool operators including real estate, strata and hospitality to help them grow their business.

Online: PoolWerx’s e-commerce platform (available at poolshop.poolwerx.com.au) and the PoolWerx eBay account aim to improve market penetration and improve franchisee turnover both on and offline. All sales made online are passed onto the respective local franchisee.

Coming up… Narellan Pools