Hard road, but journey is worth it
When he plunged into business at just 19, franchise boss Nick Crosland had to survive flood and the GFC. Now he fears for a generation that wants overnight riches
WITH ANN WASON MOORE
NICK Crosland still can’t believe his parents trusted him. At the age of 19, having quit his university studies and working part-time on the Gold Coast, he asked his mum and dad if he could take out a loan against their family home to buy into a business opportunity.
Being a teacher and a carpenter with five children, it was not a decision the Crosland parents made lightly … but they still said “yes”. And now, just over 10 years later, Nick is a boss of Highgrove Bathrooms, owning nine franchises with more on the way, as well as turning his skills to multi-million-dollar residential developments. In retrospect, Nick says his parents really did know best and perhaps knew him better than he knew himself.
“Oh my God, I look at 19year-olds now and I’m like, how did my parents ever let me do that?” says Nick, who lives at Tallebudgera with wife Katie, who is due to give birth to their first child in two weeks. While Nick acknowledges he is not your average Millennial, he says there is no reason he should be the exception to the rule. Although his parents helped pave the way to that first franchise opportunity, his road to success was no easy street, requiring plenty of personal sacrifice.
He says too many of his generation seem to expect high rewards without contributing the hard work.
“I am not from a wealthy family by any means. Taking out that loan was a huge deal for my parents,’’ he said.
“I moved to the Gold Coast in the mid-2000s to study quantity surveying and estimating, and I worked in the first Highgrove Bathrooms shop with owner Lindsay Sinclair in Ashmore on the weekends.
“I was also working at Coral Homes as an intern and I just realised that this was not for me. I was sitting in a cubicle looking at paper work. That was not my idea of living.
“At the same time, Lindsay was realising that he was on to a good thing with direct importing and he wanted to franchise the business. I could see this was going to work. I explained it all to Mum and Dad and they agreed.
“Sadly, Dad died before my first franchise in Brisbane opened in 2007, but I know he would be so proud. I’m now the second-biggest shareholder in Highgrove, after Lindsay, and I love it.
“But it’s been bloody hard work. I spent all of my 20s reinvesting my cash, opening new stores, being married to work.
“The first few years were all GFC and then we had a shop flooded in Ipswich. It was not plain sailing.
“Everyone else my age was partying and travelling and enjoying their smashed avo on toast.
“I was working six days a week on the showroom floors.
“But now here I am at 33, about to have my first child like my other friends, and they’re saying to me they think they did it the wrong way around.”
Nick says what concerns him most about younger generations, including his own, is their lack of persistence.
He says too many young workers change jobs every couple of years when they feel bored or that they’re not being promoted fast enough or paid well enough.
“I think people should try to take risks, but more importantly they need to stick with it.
“Overnight success does not happen for most people. You have to be willing to make the sacrifice in the short term to make it long term.
“That’s true whether you’re starting your own business or working for someone else. You do have to pay your dues but a good work ethic and loyalty will get you a long way.
“I just feel like a lot of younger people change jobs every couple of years and then complain about how hard things are.
“But they should focus on being thankful for what they have. They can’t buy property in inner Sydney? Well, neither can I. Focus on what you have and what you can do.
“I earned long service leave by the age of 28 … five years later and I still haven’t used it. Dedication pays off.
“That’s the benefit of starting early, of not using your 20s to just party. I was able to use that decade to work. I wasn’t married and I didn’t have kids, so I wasn’t letting anyone down. Now that I’m married and we’re about to have a baby, I have the option to make my own decisions and set my own path.”
Nick says the immediate gratification mentality has been on display during the COVID-19 pandemic, with workers and businesses easing short-term pain at the expense of long-term gain.
He says while his Highgrove businesses have been affected, the worst seems to be over and profits are picking up.
“The stimulus packages have been great and necessary, but the early access to super is a big concern,” he says.
“There are people who are taking the money now to buy a jet ski. That $10,000 will cost them exponentially more in the future. This is a time to make cutbacks, not to buy toys. I guess as a business owner I’ve always had that mindset. I bought my first franchise just as the GFC started and it’s made me a tougher player.
“We did see sales affected at the start of the pandemic, but things have picked up.
“It’s sort of similar to the GFC in that people become more interested in spending money on their own homes, and the first things they do are kitchen and bathrooms.
“It will be interesting to see what happens in September/ October, but right now it does feel like things are trending upwards. The fact that no one can take big holidays and still can’t go out much means there’s a bit more cash around than there was in the GFC.”
Now that he’s hit the ripe old age of 33 and about to become a father, Nick says he is still considering his next big business moves. He has two new franchises opening over the next year and he has just sold the last of his residential developments in Monaco St, Broadbeach Waters.
While home design has long been a hobby of his, Nick says he does not think he will be heading back to the developing drawing board.
“We made money on all of the projects, but they just take up a huge amount of time,” he says. “We were going to live in one of the duplexes on Monaco St but then we moved to Tallebudgera Valley and my wife refuses to leave.
“We have acreage and it’s really nice to be away from the hustle and bustle. But it’s still close to the beaches and I’m passionate about surfing.
“Even though none of my franchises are here, the Gold Coast is where we want to live. It’s the perfect mix of business and pleasure. The Coast is somewhere that you can take a risk and watch it pay off. It’s somewhere that doesn’t tempt you to leave after a few years. It’s a city where persistence really does pay off.”
You just have to trust yourself.