JOSH AND FLEUR NADZIELSKI
QUEST SERVICED APARTMENTS
Josh and Fleur Nadzielski have taken the Quest Serviced Apartments brand to the agricultural area of Griffith in New South Wales, finding the regional city the perfect place to build a business.
They had been running other Quest properties in Sydney and Melbourne before deciding to take the plunge themselves and invest in a franchise.
“I’d been with the group seven years, and Fleur five and a half,” says Josh. “Owning a business was a medium/longterm goal. In earlier years I’d had some good mentors in the group who talked about what it would be like.
“We’d decided we had a passion for hospitality and for bringing other people along and helping them upskill.”
The move to Griffith was not a goal in itself; the couple applied some objective analysis to their options when doing their homework on which property would best suit them. “We came out to Griffith, and everything stacked up,” says Josh.
They left behind family in Sydney, but since the move Josh’s parents have also relocated to the regional city. This will be a real bonus for the couple as they welcome their first child in October, and the first grandchild for Josh’s parents.
“I don’t mind the distance, but Fleur was a little worried at first. She’s one of six siblings. But she just hops on a flight if she needs to spend time with the family.” Not that there has been much time to do this since the pair opened the doors to the greenfield Quest site in November 2016. The business has absorbed the couple’s time and energy, Fleur working with housekeeping and training, while Josh drives sales and the business structure. They share the accounting duties.
“In the beginning we spent a lot of time inside the business, maybe too much,” reflects Josh. But after the first three months he and his wife started to let go a little, and hand over more responsibility to the 18 employees.
And they have achieved a high retention rate among housekeeping staff, Josh says. There are now two housekeeping executives leading the team, and the business has extended into smallscale conference rooms, filling a market need in the region.
The key to profitability is room rate and occupancy, and business has exceeded the couple’s expectations with the next projection looking good, says Josh. The growth in business will come from the agricultural sector he predicts. But as well as the irrigation, agriculture and wineries in the so-called food bowl of Australia, there is expected to be a significant boost of weekend tourists.
Josh is on a committee planning for the growth that lies about two years ahead, with road upgrades and direct flights from Melbourne improving access.
The opportunity to be masters of their own destiny is a big bonus for the pair, who after years of working for someone else can now put their ideas into practice. The nearest Quest apartments are two hours away in Wagga Wagga, but many in the Griffith business community are familiar with the brand from their own travels.
Josh says the locals who don’t know the brand are keen to find out more once the apartments are up and running. It is a mostly corporate client base, with a constant stream of smaller business owners.
“We may see them only once or twice a year. It’s more local business, so much more personal and not tied up in bureaucracy.”
This has enabled the pair, along with staff members, to build up all-important rapport with customers and ensure repeat business.
Both Josh and Fleur found associations such as the business chamber and young professionals of Griffith an ideal way to build relationships and forge friendships.
“We’re very mindful we need work life balance,” says Josh. “We aim for two solid days off a week. HR and operations don’t always allow it, but that’s the goal.
“The best thing about moving to the region is that the community is so open and friendly. You notice who’s a local and who’s not when you walk down the street and see who is on their mobile phone,” says Josh. “There are some great coffee shops, and people stop and ask how business is going. They are genuinely curious,” he says.
It is important to understand how the community works, and being part of social groups has made it easier for Josh and Fleur to enter into a social scene that he says can be “cliquey”.
Meanwhile, as a sign that business is going well and their five- to 10-year plan is firmly set in the Griffith region, the pair have bought a 1000 sqm plot of land.
“We decided we would move out of on-site living after a year, but couldn’t find what we wanted when we looked for a property. There is the opportunity in the regional areas to buy land, and the prices are quite different to Sydney or Melbourne,” says Josh.
Life could be looking quite different by Christmas this year if the build goes according to plan, with a new baby to move into their new home.