7 START-UPS AND UPSTARTS

Choose a niche business with a twist when you want to invest in something original. Check out these disruptors and business newbies who are forging their own paths to success.

Disruptors and newbies franchise systems forging their own paths to success.

When it’s time to purchase a franchise and an established brand just isn’t on the cards, there are a host of fresh opportunities to consider. Some are brand new, others tested elsewhere, while some have been quietly building their reputations as challengers to the status quo.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Fresh from the US, the Better Homes and Gardens license is being introduced to Australia through a master franchise agreement.

The real estate business will benefit from the high profile multimedia branding of one of Australia’s best known lifestyle TV shows and publications. The media brand has a total reach of 7.4 million people across its print, broadcast, digital and social channels.

While the business will list properties through a wide base of online channels, the link with the Pacific Magazines’ popular brand gives the real estate franchise access to 2.5 million readers of Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) monthly publication.

Simon Cashman, project manager for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Australia, says “Pacific Magazines has a really broad sweeping readership. That’s something quite unattainable any other way.”

The shopfronts themselves will be branded experiences with the emphasis on engagement rather than a property hard sell.

“We want them to be warm and welcoming offices, with a kiosk where consumers can download recipes, watch the shows, come in and engage with the brand, not just be chased up by an agent,” says Cashman. “We have a big opportunity to focus on women in real estate, and make this a feminine brand.”

The concept is to continue the relationship with clients through the average seven years between buying and selling a home. This will take the shape of aligning with brands in the wider BHG community for tasks and jobs that will maintain and improve the home’s value, for instance landscaping, repairs or refurbishment.

HomeVisitWills

New research from the NSW government shows that at least 45 per cent of Australians don’t have a valid will, with only 35 per cent of the country having a current will.

Identifying a need for a cost-effective, time-efficient and easily accessible will solutions, in 1995 Colin Chapman, HomeVisitWills CEO and founder, set up operations in the UK before bringing his mobile estate planning business model to Western Australia in 2009.

Now there is a three-year plan to become established nationally.

“Our focus right now is building our presence in Queensland and establishing a team of franchisees there. We believe in building foundations that are solid before adding more numbers to our team, hence the eight-year establishment in WA,” says Chapman.

“From inception to now we have proved that this service is of great value to people who are time poor yet have a real need to get their wills and estate planning in place. In eight years we have over 4000 clients and strategic partnerships with over 200 financial professionals.”