It was an all-women conference where even the managing director had to leave after his welcome speech.

More than 20 female franchisees gathered in Melbourne for the third Hotondo Homes Women in Business (WIB) Conference.

The conference was an opportunity to share franchisees’ experiences and hear from expert speakers about how to grow and prosper in their businesses.

Hotondo Homes managing director Michael Renwick said the conference attendees represent a new and different force in the home building industry.

“A major part of our success lies in the empowerment of these women in our franchises. Over 60% of our franchises have a huge involvement from wives or partners,” he said.

Husband and wife teams generally own the family businesses. Women often take the lead in key business areas such as marketing, finance and human resource management.

Renwick said the company decided to hold a women-only conference because women are a minority in the building industry. He believed the women needed to be put in an environment where they can talk to their peers and share the issues they face.

“The original idea for this conference was from the franchisor and was received very well by franchisees. I would have loved to be a part of it but unfortunately I’m asked to leave after my managing director’s welcome speech,” Renwick told Franchising.

Hotondo Homes Horsham franchisee Jenny Lynch said the conference will help her learn from other women about how best to run their franchises.

“The beauty of franchising is we are not competing with each other for work as we all have our own territories so we are all in this together as a brand,” she said.

“What that means is that we can be completely open about our processes without fear of losing business.”

The conference focused on topics such as leadership preferences and profiling, crisis management, human resources and people management, and building profiles with public relations.

“Between the two business days we held a social day, which was a winery tour in the Yarra Valley. The social day is always a hit as it gives the women a chance to speak with one another and network,” Renwick said.

Attendees had positive feedback about the networking opportunities and knowledge from expert speakers, and said they walked away with tools they can implement to their business.

The WIB conference was previously held in 2010 and 2011. Before this, Hotondo Homes held female only meetings but this conference focused more on operational aspects of the business. Future WIB conferences will be held every two years.