NEW ROAD RULES

Lower costs, flexible working...what’s not to love about a mobile franchise? NEW ROAD RULES

Over the last five years, there has been an increase in food vans that are developing mobile dining communities, as opposed to merely catering to convenience culture. Whether it’s food-based or a service business, there’s plenty of action out on the road.

Becoming your own boss can be an exciting step, and the good news is it can come at an affordable price. The world of mobile business is far more exciting today with the variety of franchises operating in this space, some of them well-known brands.

Recent additions into this marketplace are taking the business model into new areas of success.

LORD OF THE FRIES

After 15 years on the Aussie fast-food scene, booming vegan chain Lord of the Fries is going back to its roots. The iconic restaurant business has announced the original Lord of the Fries food truck is set to make a return, and this time, franchisees can get in on the action.

Fans of the brand will remember the chain’s humble beginnings, starting off as a three-person mobile operation, before launching an initial bricks-and-mortar restaurant in Melbourne. And while Lord of the Fries has gone from strength to strength, launching 28 outlets across Australia and New Zealand, a growing demand has sparked a return to the mobile format.

“It’s back to the future really,” co-founder and CEO Mark Koronczyk says. “We thought it was a good time to bring the model back because nowadays there’s just so many opportunities for vans and food trucks. It’s a great way for someone who wants to own a Lord of the Fries to get in a very-low cost rate.”

The new Lord of the Fries food truck is about half the cost of a shopfront restaurant, says Koronczyk but, unlike the early incarnation, the new van is significantly more decked out.

“It will be under $200,000 and that presents a full turn-key operation,” he explains.

“It also includes all stock on hand and also the money you need for the first few festivals. These are still working numbers, but that’s what we’ve landed on.”

The announcement of the Lord of the Fries food truck follows significant growth in the mobile restaurant movement. “It’s been a huge change,” Koronczyk said. “When we had the van, it was pretty much just us and a few all-purpose vans that sold Chiko rolls and dim sims.”

“We were able to position ourselves as something different through our specialised offering of fries and boutique sauces. We really did stand out – there were huge queues – but the van industry has changed dramatically and become far more hip, more gourmet. You can get any type of cuisine now.”

For aspiring entrepreneurs looking to take up the new Lord of the Fries food truck format, the options are seemingly limitless. Koronczyk revealed the chain has been turning down offers from big-name festivals for years, but with the right mix of aptitude and hard work, the opportunity was ripe for the picking. FEB/APR 2020 | 120 | WWW.FRANCHISEBUSINESS.COM.AU

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DELICIA

Superfood and protein bar Delicia has taken its brand of health-conscious operation to the next level, launching two innovative, low-cost mobile franchise formats that allow more prospective franchisees to realise their dream of business ownership.

Hitting the roads in early December was Delicia’s first mobile caravan, with two more of the low-cost mobile franchise options soon to launch in its home town of Adelaide. Scott Dempster, Delicia managing director, said the brand also plans to roll out an Espresso mobile coffee model early in 2020.

“We wanted to introduce a coffee trailer that featured an exclusive, limited product offering in a smaller footprint that could be towed behind a car. We’re big on towed over self-propelled, from an environmental perspective, but it’s also a numbers thing. We will always be a low-cost opportunity because we want everyone to be able to open their own business.”

According to Dempster, the caravan model is around $60,000 drive away, with the Espresso coffee trailer at just $50,000. “I imagine these models will really suit the Monday to Friday, nine-to-fiver who wants to get further ahead. They can get the trailer, work all weekend and pay the investment off in one season.”

ACAI BROTHERS

The new Acai Brothers mobile cafe concept is expected to take to the roads within the year and will significantly reduce the entry point for franchisees, meaning more Aussies can buy into the booming healthfood business.

Since launching in 2014, Acai Brothers has grown to 21 stores nationwide, with up to 15 stores planned over the next 18 months. Sam Carson, director and head of franchise sales and operations, explains why the business is putting the pedal to the metal.

“We get so many inquiries for catering, whether it be birthdays, weddings, fetes, sporting events – it’s amazing. We get asked to go to so many netball events, it’s unbelievable. Gone are the days where you go to a kids’ sporting match and chow down on a sausage roll or pie. People really want something healthier.”

Over the next six to 12 months the food truck will launch as a stand-alone mobile model, perhaps appealing to younger potential franchisees without the means to get a $300,000 business loan. The food-truck model comes in at $150,000.

POOLWERX

This service-centric outfit performs a large portion of its business out of a van, but that’s not the only option for franchisees. The Poolwerx model features vans and retail stores in its network, and this provides the ambitious franchisee with the option of a career path.

Chief operating officer Nic Brill explains how it works.

“Our traditional model has been to set up the business via mobile with a transition to retail once a critical mass of regular customers and sales has been achieved. In today’s environment, we are finding that simultaneous entry into retail and mobile is a client need and is proving to be a successful business strategy.”

Mobile franchisees can get into business with an investment of $150,000 and join the 400+ mobile service vans operating across more than 350 territories.

“Our approach is to review growth areas in conjunction with our B2B industry associates and pool industry database statistics in order to generate a viable territory size in conjunction with our geographic mapping tools,” says Brill.

There’s plenty of room to grow as Australians install about 20,000 new pools each year.

SUPERGREEN DIRECT A business that has latched onto the power of personal delivery is energy-efficiency retailer SuperGreen Solutions. Backed up by a stacked showroom, the new Direct van service takes the business to the buyer. “This is the disruptor. Shopping now is on your mobile phone. Five to ten years ago, people were walking down the strip mall, then they moved to a shopping centre, now they are shopping on their phone,” says SuperGreen Solutions franchise CEO Sean Cochrane.

“No one is driving 10kms to go and look at solar power and solar hot water on a Saturday morning. This is an opportunity to converse with your builder and have the products come to you.

“The van displays all of our products – everything that is in that showroom is now in the van. So the van goes to the home show, it goes to the homeowner, it goes to the builder’s display village. We’ve taken the showroom and made it mobile.

“The next step is we found the electrician and solar installer that wants his own van. He doesn’t want a showroom, he wants that identification with the tools. When the bricks-and-mortar retailer sells a Tesla battery, he needs someone to install it, that’s where this model works.”

Cochrane points out there are three different mobile franchises, as well as the one store franchise, or retail hub.

Investing in a store is about $220,000 (depending on fitout) a much heftier cost than the $85,000 fully equipped, drive-away van.

CLARK RUBBER

The brand’s new low-cost mobile franchise sees Clark Rubber step into the standalone mobile space for the first time as it shakes up its business set-up. Vans are not a new addition to this iconic Aussie retailer but a new mobile-only opportunity offering a far more affordable entry for prospective franchises. When it launched the new low-cost mobile franchise model a limited introductory offer gave franchise buyers the chance to sign up for just $24,995.

Anthony Grice, Clark Rubber CEO, said that removing the

significant entry point barrier was just one way the brand was committed to supporting franchisees.

“We know that the type of candidate that is interested in this model will be very different than those of our larger format, so by breaking down that barrier to entry we can provide a pathway,” Grice says.

More homeowners and renters are time-poor and happy to outsource their maintenance duties, he says.

Franchisees are supported with national marketing campaigns and local area marketing support which helps drive business in their allocated territory.

New franchisees take on a month of practical training and complete the on-boarding course with a Cert III in Pool Servicing.

5 TIPS IF YOU ARE BUYING A MOBILE FRANCHISE

Peter Buckingham, Spectrum Analysis managing director, shares his expert tips on franchise territories…

Most mobile franchisors sell you an area and the main purpose of this is: • To guarantee you the leads that are generated if they have a call centre or a web-based contact system. • To give you security that all the leads from within your agreed area are coming to you – and not being given to a company operation or some other franchisee, or just being lost in the system. When buying this business expect that other franchisees will service clients in your area – they may have been requested by the client.

What you want is an agreement that you have the sole right to actively market in the territory. For instance, you are the only one who is allowed to make a cold call, drop a letter into a letterbox or put up a sign in a bus shelter in your area. You can think of many more ideas, but the concept is that you are the active marketer. So if you are going to invest in a mobile service franchise, what should you be looking for? 1. Ha s the franchisor got skin in the game, and been prepared to run the mobile franchise they are selling? Can they show you evidence that it can be operated profitably? 2. There is a defined territory that has been established on a logical basis not a map drawn up by franchisors and franchisees without any research. 3. Is there logic on how many territories can be sold in the market, so that each territory should offer similar opportunity for the franchisee? Whether this is based on number of swimming pools, number of new building permits, total number of people of a certain age group or demographic or numbers of target businesses – there must be some logic, and not the wet finger in the air approach. 4. Make sure the territories are properly defined, preferably on a map showing the boundaries, and backed up by a spreadsheet showing the postcode / suburbs, and whatever relevant data has been used by the franchisor in their decision-making. 5. Make sure in your agreement there is a clear understanding on what is your territory, and there is minimal opportunity for the franchisor to make any alterations throughout the current life of your franchise agreement.