JENNIFER AND ROB STEWART,
BEDSHED BUNDALL
Husband-and-wife team Rob and Jennifer Stewart are happily ensconced in a family franchise. It was just a few years ago that Rob was a Bedshed store manager, son Kyle was the delivery driver and a promising film-maker ready to head overseas, and Jennifer was working in a cafe. Then everything changed.
“We went overseas with, along with franchisees, on a buying trip. While we were away, we were approached about being a franchisee,” says Jennifer.
The couple didn’t make the decision immediately. This was a family affair, and the Stewarts have a large family: out of seven children, four lived at home, two with fiances. Add to this Jennifer’s elderly mum.
“It was a big step. It took 12 months to make the decision.”
The pair looked at a few sites in Melbourne, one near Brisbane, then looked at opportunities in the Gold Coast. “We were big fans of the Gold Coast. We had had holidays there, and had worked there for a spell.”
When they compared their existing lifestyle with the delights of the coastal city and the chance to build something for themselves, there was no contest.
“We felt we were on a treadmill, bringing money in, paying money out but feeling powerless, just subsisting, not living. I’d been working six or seven days in a cafe for 12 years, my son was being badly bullied. Rob had a good job, but sometimes it is time to move on.
“Rob had been at Bedshed for seven years, had worked with amazing franchisees in Mornington, and he’d helped build a business. He couldn’t see any issues with our move.” Even the franchise-sceptic accountant who reviewed the business could not see any reason for the couple not to go ahead with the purchase.
The family backed the move, and Kyle deferred the place he had won at the New York Film Academy.
“You have to make sure it is the right thing, and listen to advice,” says Jennifer. “The biggest step was taking care of our own destiny. We were absolutely petrified: it was like jumping off a long plank. I almost had a breakdown when we were loading the moving truck. I wondered if it was a mistake, giving up our security. There were seven of us, five dogs and my mother to move, all at different times.”
Plus the Stewarts left behind three adult children while they employed a “try-andsee” approach. They kept their house in Melbourne as a safety net, but have ended up selling it. Not that finding a rental house to accommodate their diverse and largenumbered family was easy – but they did: two properties on one block to cater for everyone.
As the Bedshed store they had bought was reopening in August 2015 as a new outlet, the Stewarts were effectively starting from scratch. The challenge was that business knowledge was limited to Rob and a few members of staff.
Jennifer had to learn the processes and systems and about the product, beds. But it did not take her long to handle this and start having an input in the business.
Unexpected and heartbreaking news was much more difficult to deal with.
Within the first few months, Jennifer discovered her mother was dying. “I had to keep running back to the hospital and I had no back up. I felt very stranded and I was losing a mother.”
The family kept the sad news to itself. “We didn’t tell the franchisor, no-one knew until the funeral. I’m sure they would have helped, but it was so deeply personal. We’re a very close family. We leaned on each other and we got through.”
It truly is a family business. Son-in-law Andy is warehouse manager, son Jarryd is also in the warehouse; Kyle is store manager; another son, Cameron, and daughter, Jenna, are both on the sales floor.
The family got to know the local area, and Jennifer likes to promote her business and offer Bedshed’s services whenever she finds great service herself.
“We go out and constantly have our business out there. That’s building a community for us.”
The result has been friendships and referrals. Developing relationships is key, she says. “For us it’s a big win. We’ve been successful. We actually became Bedshed Franchisee of the Year for Queensland 2016 and Kyle was Bedshed Employee of the
Year for Queensland last year.”
Bedshed has a group buying process that includes franchisees, and approved suppliers provide a standard range to which franchisees can add their choices.
“The group chooses really well, but we’re now starting to import too,” says Jennifer. “We have a say in what we run.”
The mid-term goal for the Stewarts is to continue to build the business to reach a point that allows the younger family members to buy their own houses. “We don’t have a mortgage, and we want to pay off the balance of the business. Kyle is 21 and he’s bought a home.
“It’s been a great lifestyle change for all of us. We actually have a lifestyle. We go up to Noosa and down to Byron. We’re getting to know our state. I can tell you that the Gold Coast is stunning, the people are far more relaxed. It’s good for family.”