Jim’s Pool Care: Jim’s Pool Care is Ready to Grow

WANT TO JOIN A GREAT TEAM?

Jim’s Pool Care passed an exciting milestone of 100 franchise owners last year, and they are ready to grow even larger this coming season.

The success has been built off the back of meeting growing customer demand for home services, and a business model that is built around the franchisees’ goals. Jim’s Pool Care has developed a Mobile Pool Shop concept in all major cities around Australia and is now growing into larger regional centres. The attraction for new franchise owners and an exciting part of the pool industry is the ability to sell ongoing services, retail items and charge for your time — all these income streams from your Jim’s Pool Care Mobile Shop. Services include pool cleaning, regular maintenance, pool heating, pool pumps, lighting, pool blankets, and robotic pool cleaners.

“We have franchisees from all walks of life, including trades, banking, engineering, administrative and existing industry professionals.”

How do you build a franchise system to 100 sites?

As a key division of the Jim’s Group, Jim’s Pool Care began around 15 years ago in Western Australia. Owner and General Manager Brett Blair has seen the franchise chain grow from around 30 to 105 franchisees and 13 regionals franchisors over his ten years in the role. Brett believes a key success factor has been franchisee satisfaction by offering a system that is easy to follow and allows owners to build a business to suit their lifestyle and goals.

Brett says, “The Jim’s Pool Care concept is a true mobile pool shop that not only provides pool maintenance but sells a complete range of pool equipment and chemicals. Franchisees can charge for their time and earn great margins on lucrative chemical and pool equipment products.” Franchisees can work smarter and not harder by building long term relationships with customers by helping them with their pool care needs.

Brett told us, “Reflecting on the last 10 years and this amazing growth of Jim’s Pool Care and brand in the market place, I am very proud of the franchise team and the individuals who invested in our business and invested in themselves. Their reward is now they are in a business that has no limits on growth, they have full flexibility over their work life balance, and they are their boss. It is

not easy for any new business to start up, and it takes hard work each time, but my team are always here and committed to being there for their journey”.

A network that works

There are currently over 3800 franchisees as part of the Jim’s Group – making it one of Australia’s most recognised brands. Jim’s Pool Care encourages owners to build strong local relationships and to leverage off other divisions who are also out there every day in customers’ homes and backyards. While each division has a dedicated marketing team and website, all Jim’s franchisees are encouraged to cross-promote the other 40 divisions, using local area marketing, which is extremely useful to a newly launched franchise.

Brett told us, “Jim’s Pool Care has worked hard to develop a strong and supportive culture. The great thing about the Jim’s system is if new franchisees ever need any help, the support team is only a phone call away as we have an amazing network of friendly and helpful franchisees, franchisors and suppliers”.

To support the franchisees and encourage continual professional development, Jim’s ensure they have regular meetings and training sessions throughout the year. Many of these sessions are run by suppliers that educate the Jim’s Pool Care team on the latest equipment, technology and water management processes. Ongoing training and development ensures franchisees are up to date with industry standards so they can help customers and deliver the best service possible.

This strong support network is reinforced with an annual Jim’s Pool Care franchise convention, where franchisees fly in from all around Australia. The conventions are usually three to four days where attendees can hear from other franchisees, industry experts and sales and motivational coaches. This forum provides a great opportunity to learn and network with other franchisees. The convention is coupled with annual awards and recognition.

“There are some great stories shared each year at our annual conference, of business success and innovative ideas right around the country”.

Opportunities to earn

It is important when looking at a business to consider how many streams of income are available. With a Jim’s Mobile Pool Shop this includes casual pool servicing, regular maintenance programs, the sale and installation of new pool equipment, and a range of pool accessories. Domestic pools, body corporates, hotels and commercial opportunities are available in the pool industry.

Jim’s Pool Care franchises are now for sale in selected locations across Australia. The price for a new site starts at $69,000 and includes a complete start-up package. From time to time, there may be some established re-sale opportunities which can be discussed upon enquiry. Jim’s is committed to new franchisees and their success by offering a Pay for Work Guarantee of $1500 (incl. GST) per week. Conditions apply, but this means that if you follow all the systems, and do not meet the weekly guarantee at the end of the month, you can be topped up the difference.

Another exciting point of difference is that only a flat monthly franchise fee is charged, which is not percentage-based. Meaning the harder you work; the more money you can make. The flat fee is an important factor for many of the franchisees who may be concerned about fees while trying to grow their business.

What does it take to succeed?

“When looking for a franchisee, we are ideally looking for somebody that is personable and able to build great customer relationships. We are not only about one-off jobs in pool care, but it’s also about the ongoing regular maintenance. We are looking for people that are motivated to get into business for themselves, have a positive attitude and can get out on the road and build their own business with our systems. I am very proud of the team we have built and the service they provide pool owners around the country.”

The recruitment and application process starts with a phone call or enquiry. Jim’s then send out a detailed information package. Next step

“The success has been built off the back of meeting growing customer demand for home services, and a business model that is built around the franchisees’ goals.”

is an initial meeting, usually over a coffee where both parties have the opportunity to learn more about each other. Potential franchisees are then offered a day on the road with a franchisee; this is a great concept, and the potential franchisee is free to choose any working franchisee, as Jim’s Group fully believe in being transparent through the process. Potential franchisees are also encouraged to ask as many questions as they want.

After they have been out on the road and experienced for themselves how the business works and if they are keen to move forward, the next step is to start formalising the application. Part of this process is selecting a territory to build the business. Usually, the location is close to home, to help reduce travel times and to help maximise chargeable hours for the franchisee. It also means that they can pop home if needed or help out with family commitments if they arise.

How can you grow your income?

“We have franchisees from all walks of life, including trades, banking, engineering, administrative and existing industry professionals. Our franchisees don’t need to have existing industry skills as Jim’s Pool Care provides comprehensive training; they need to be willing to try new things, follow the systems we have developed and provide great customer service,” Brett says.

This in-house training starts with three days at the Jim’s Group Training Centre in Melbourne. All franchisees, from around the country, fly to Melbourne to meet Jim Penman and to learn more about the Jim’s system and how to become successful in business. The franchisees then go back to their respective cities and states where they complete an on-the-road and face-to-face pool school training program which lasts approximately 15 days with their local franchisor and trainer.

To make it easier for new business owners, Jim’s Pool Care has been leveraging the latest technology for many years including digital water testing and cloud-based invoicing which help with accuracy and the ability to improve cash flow. The cloud-based system enables real-time business reporting and customer management that can be discussed with their local franchisor. They have begun to incorporate online training systems which help the franchisees to become experts in the field, with easy steps which can be completed in the comfort of their own homes. The training includes practical videos and hints and tips from experienced franchisees.

Working with the best brands in the pool industry, including Fluidra, AstralPool, Zodiac, Maytronics, Daisy and Sunbather, the training and support that the franchisees

“The Jim’s Pool Care concept is a true mobile pool shop that not only provides pool maintenance but sells a complete range of pool equipment and chemicals. Franchisees can charge for their time and earn great margins on lucrative chemical and pool equipment products.”

receive from the brands concerning ongoing training and product support is impressive.

Franchisees are encouraged to enhance their professional development each year, attend local team meetings and training sessions. Jim’s Pool Care also encourage franchisees to become specialised if they wish in certain pool areas. On top of this, all new franchisees are now required to complete the Certificate III &IV Pool Technician course, which is a nationally accredited qualification. The qualifications are provided in conjunction with the in-house training completed by Jim’s Pool Care.

“Ongoing training is provided by using a local, regional franchisor model; this is perfect for a new business owner. We have someone on the ground in every region that provides ongoing training and support. Once trained, every month, at a minimum, the regional franchisor will contact the franchisee to provide technical and business support. There are between six to eight local, regional meetings a year, which allows all the franchisees in that particular region to get together and share ideas and attend a range of supplier training. This provides our franchisees with a strong support network,” says Brett.

A Jim’s Pool Care franchise is a mobile retail business with huge opportunities. This system provides you with the opportunity to work outside, to work your own hours, to be your boss and to build your business without limit. If you too would like to take control of your future, contact Jim’s Pool Care now on: