As the biggest franchise in Western Australia measured by the number of outlets, Jim’s (WA) reflects two of the major trends in franchising – it is a service-based business and a diversified group.
As the biggest franchise in Western Australia measured by the number of outlets, Jim’s (WA) reflects two of the major trends in franchising – it is a service-based business and a diversified group.
The company has been ranked the number one franchise on the WA Business News Book of Lists for the past two years, although there has been no real growth in outlet numbers.
According to founder Jim Penman, the tight employment market in WA is a major impediment to the growth of the business.
“There’s no lack of work. We could double our franchise numbers in WA in 12 months,” he told WA Business News.
The company uses a number of staff retention strategies, including a contractual clause which allows franchisees to vote out franchisors if they feel they aren’t performing.
Despite a shortage of franchisees, Mr Penman said revenue for the business had increased.
“What has actually happened is the non-mowing divisions, which generally make a higher income, have increased,” he said.
The group’s pool care division, which is headquartered in Perth, has had particularly strong growth in the past year.
One area of recent diversification is electrical testing and tagging, a division that has more than doubled, from 20 to 50 franchises, in the past year.
Mr Penman said the service would be introduced to Perth in 2007, provided a suitable franchisor was found.
With 198 franchises in WA, Jim’s Group is nearly double the size of the next largest franchise, commercial cleaning business Jani-King Australasia.
The international company opened its first outlet in Perth 13 years ago and now has 174 outlets in WA, with 100 outlets opening in the past five years.
Jani King WA regional manager Geoff Samuels says the Perth office is ranked second in Australasia and 19th internationally, with an annual turnover of $14.5 million.
Franchising Council of Australia chief executive officer Richard Evans said the growth of service-based franchises since the mid-1990s was a response to a time-poor society.
“What we now see is, domestic service is becoming a major part of the economy again, in a small business sense,” he said.
Mr Evans said the baby boomer generation was driving demand, and franchising systems in the aged care sector were expected to grow.
Travel would also become an increasingly franchised industry, while the deregulated workforce would drive growth in bookkeeping, accounting and coaching franchises.
The growth in franchised financial services is reflected in the position of Mortgage Choice, which is the sixth largest franchise in WA.
The company has achieved a 230 per cent growth in outlet numbers in WA during the past five years.
Outside of the services sector, franchised bakeries Bakers Delight and Brumby’s make the top 10 list, at fourth and fifth, respectively.
Fast food chains Subway and Domino’s Pizza also rank highly, with the latter having doubled its number of outlets in WA over the past five years.
Fitness franchise Curves is ranked 10th and is part of the rapidly growing women’s fitness and weight loss industry. All of the company’s allocated franchise territories in the Perth metropolitan area have been signed up.
Other fitness franchises to have entered the WA market include Contours and Fernwood Women’s Health, while Healthy Inspirations has recently established four centres in the state.
Of the top 20 franchises in WA, only three are WA-based or established companies. Jesters Pies, Car Care and Dome Coffees, are ranked 12th, 18th and 19th, respectively.
Another WA-based company, communications retailer Allphones Group, is ranked 27th.
The company recently opened its 150th store and has appointed Citigroup to advise on its growth options, ahead of a planned listing on the stock market.
In the real Estate sector, Harcourts, formerly Roy Weston, is planning a significant expansion, following the company’s recent rebranding in WA.
New Zealand-based company Harcourts bought Roy Western three years ago and rebranded the WA offices this month.
Harcourts WA operations manager James Reid said the company aimed to open at least one new office per month in WA for the next six months, with a plan to open 70 during the next three years.
