S Opportunity: Financial Services
LOCALS BACKING LOCALS MTF Finance wants community-minded franchisees to help local people and businesses
G
len Strang had three children, two of them under four when he resigned from his regional manager’s job at ASB. ‘I was a classic company guy, apart from a spell playing professional rugby in the UK, so it was what you might call a courageous decision to become a franchisee with MTF Finance,’ he laughs. ‘But it has had a great pay-off – if they’d told me five years ago where I would be now, I wouldn’t have believed it.’ MTF Finance is one of those quiet success stories that few people know about. Founded 50 years ago as Motor Trade Finance, the company originally specialised in making funding available for people buying cars through motor dealers. In 2008, the co-operatively-owned company remodelled itself to create a franchise network sitting alongside the existing dealer network, with franchisees operating from stand-alone offices and able to finance vehicle and other business equipment purchases from dealers, individuals or online sales. The re-brand to MTF Finance has seen the company become much better known, its blue and yellow logo a familiar sight on buildings, on the cars, bikes and boats pages of TradeMe and on the motorbike of champion racer Avalon Biddle (see panel right). ‘We now have 47 franchisees around the country and room for probably 20 more, with opportunities available in most areas,’ says Glen Todd, the company’s CEO. ‘While the original core of franchisees came from the motor trade background, these days many come from a sales or finance background. What marks them out as different is that they are local people serving local people.’
A local understanding goes a long way It’s that focus on the local that helps MTF Finance stand out. ‘Most of our business walks through the door,’ says Tim Hintz, whose franchise covers Masterton and Wairarapa. ‘95 percent of our customers sit down with us face-to-face, with no need to make an appointment. The people they see on our poster are the people they meet when they come in the office, and we take time to get to know them and understand their needs.
Glen Todd, CEO
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Glen Strang
Tim Hintz
‘In a community like ours, it’s not just about lending them money – it’s about helping them with budgeting expertise, working out what they can afford to buy and borrow, and not allowing them to get into hardship.’ Tim is an old-school franchisee with a wealth of wonderful stories. He went into the motor trade straight from school, first as a mechanic and then owning a car yard with his father. ‘When we looked at the bottom line every year, we found that the most profitable part of the business was the finance,’ he chuckles. ‘So when MTF Finance started the franchise we took notice, talked to other franchisees and made the decision to sell the yard and focus on the finance instead. ‘It was a good decision; as the finance industry became more regulated, dealer finance became more complicated and all our former competitors became our friends. Now, with so many vehicles changing hands through private sales online, finance has become even more important. I love it when people come to us first to find out what they can borrow – it puts them in a strong position when they go out looking, and we know that they have a budget to work to.’
Faster, better, more personal Another former banker, Duncan Collins bought into his Rangiora franchise in 2018. ‘I’d always had a strong interest in running my own business, and I was interested because MTF Finance were a long-established company with a good business model. A friend owned an MTF franchise so I had some insight. ‘Coming from a large bank to a smaller outfit, I’ll admit I had some concerns about how good their systems would be. To my surprise, I found
Cheryl Renouf
Franchise New Zealand
Duncan Collins
Summer 2021
Year 29 Issue 04
3/12/20 2:10 PM
