Q & A with Fred Nadde of Steadfast Eastern

What is your main goal as a business?

Our purpose is to ensure we provide impartial advice to our customers. We listen first and foremost to their needs, what brings them to us in the first place, we work with them to understand their business, their risk exposures and find a risk management and insurance solution.

What service/s do you provide for franchisees/ franchisors?

Having provided a consistent service to the franchise industry since 1999, we have seen a range of different franchise models.

Most Franchise models expect the franchisee to have a minimum level of insurance coverage to protect the franchisee, franchisor and the public. This might range from a minimum liability coverage of $20 million especially if operating in a shopping centre, property cover for business equipment and business interruption cover in case of a loss such as a fire.

We work with Franchisor’s who want to establish a cost effective program for their franchisees, we guide them with risk management strategies and be their sounding board with insurers to ensure they get a competitive insurance arrangement for their franchisee members and their own company stores. We then work with the group through the year to ensure all parties expectations are met. Some Franchisors leave the insurance and risk management to the franchisee to obtain, provided they meet the Franchisors minimum insurance requirements. It can sometime become daunting especially to a new entrant, our team works really well getting the franchisee to understand the covers they should consider and what is becoming major industry concerns and trends, for example, currently cyber related crime. We provide genuine care and assistance.

When was the company established? What was the driving force behind starting the company?

Our company was established in 2014 with what now is our parent company Steadfast Group Limited. An ASX listed 100 company, Steadfast Group Limited provided our company the network and strength to ensure we can deliver to our customers world leading broad policy wordings and broking systems that allow us to better manage customer expectations. Our focus from inception was to build a company that delivers broad range of products to customers in a fair and honest manner, without influence or biases.

What is your background?

I completed my HSC (VCE) finishing school on a Friday and starting in the insurance industry the following Monday as a mail clerk with Federation Insurance in the 1980’s. I have worked through the ranks in different roles with Australian insurers before moving into banking, health insurance, estate planning and finally running our own general insurance broking firm in 2002. Through this time we have seen many changes to the general insurance sector and the intermediary market. The role of the broker has never been more important than it is today in ensuring good advice to consumers.

how does you service benefit franchisees/franchisors?

Our involvement is the insurance franchise market started in 1999, we have a genuine understanding of this market. We are up to date with changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct, we have daily conversations with franchisees and we understand the pressures they face, ranging from managing expenses, staffing issues and general business demands.

A good broker will ensure that the right information is conveyed so business operators can make the right decision for their business.

What are your thoughts on the franchising industry?

Overall, as a mature market the franchising industry will continue to expand. Our focus has been over the years on franchisees operating in shopping centres across Australia. Whilst unfortunately many businesses were affected during Covid-19 lockdowns especially in Victoria, the market has slowly returned to normal. However, we are likely to see in years to come a more vigorous push towards concept stores and more e-commerce trading. This may change the space required in shopping centres, storage size, rent etc.

Why is there a need for this product/service?

We offer our customers a unique approach to insurance and risk management. We work with our customers on ensuring their business has some healthy risk management habits that work to minimise risk and in return ensure our suppliers reward our customers with premiums substantially lower to reflect the risk management taken. For example, if you are operating a food store such as a Michelle’s or Gloria Jeans, Good practice might involve simple strategies such as ensuring your machinery are serviced 6 monthly to minimise breakdown and downtime, power units are tested and tagged as a standard protocol to minimise work cover issues for staff.

Why are you different to your competition?

You are not a number when you come to us. We don’t treat our customers as someone purchasing a commodity product. We understand customers come to us for advice, premium savings, product knowledge and genuine assistance.

If they are unfortunate and have a claim, we know every business has a human being behind it and the business is their livelihood. It is up to us to ensure we provide them with genuine impartial advice and give them the necessary information for them to make a rational decision for their own business.

success in previous 12 months? and your focus for the next 12 months?

Premiums in the insurance market continuous to increase from year to year and in some cases certain types of insurances are becoming out of reach for some customers. We stress to our customers the importance of ensuring property, liability, business interruption and management liability as a minimum. An unfortunate property or liability loss could lead to the end of many brick and mortar businesses if not insured correctly.

Other classes such as burglary, money loss, machinery breakdown, cyber will impact the business and the exposure and severity will vary from business to business.

Our focus over the next 12 months is to ensure we continue to provide a solid insurance and risk management business to our customers. Make it easier for customers to reach us and have access to a range of suppliers. We should always be a phone call, text message or email away in case of an unfortunate event and be ready to assist.

What is the cost involved if any?

We charge a small fee for our service in line with industry standards, but our advice could be the real difference between being able to get back into business after a loss or closing the business permanently.

For example, if you operate a coffee shop and you purchase insurance online because it appears cheap with no consideration for all the covers necessary to run a business. You have an insurance claim where your income is greatly affected, only to find out you have no Business Interruption cover. If you had been provided the correct advice it could have been the difference and your income loss would have been insured.

Our team of experienced and trained managers are always ready to assist.