Australian Franchise News – 17-04-12
GUTTER-VAC ACT South owner Peter Hayne has proven what hard work and dedication can achieve receiving the 2012 National ‘Franchisee of the Year’ award by gutter cleaning franchise Gutter-Vac at its annual conference this month.
The Canberra-based mobile gutter cleaning business finished ahead of 45 other franchisees across the country in areas including business growth, turnover and community involvement.
Mr Hayne was delighted with the award and said it was testament to the solid business model at the heart of the franchise and doing ‘the basics’ well.
“When I opened Gutter-Vac ACT South eight years ago, gutter cleaning in Canberra was dominated by ‘fly by nights’ and gardeners climbing ladders to clean by hand or making a mess with blowers,” he said.
“Gutter-Vac introduced the area to specialty-trained gutter care technicians equipped with the technology to allow the job to be done properly and safely and this is what has separated us from the market and continued our growth since 2004.
At $300 for a typical preventative gutter clean, 85 percent of Gutter-Vac ACT South’s work volume is domestic with 70 percent of these jobs repeat customers.
“Time poverty is a big factor in Canberra and coupled with our service being an essential part of preventative home maintenance we have a large client base which continues to grow through word-of-mouth.
He said finding clients as a new company was difficult initially but through his hard work and belief in Gutter-Vac’s service offering he was able to turn this around.
“I remember real estate agencies turning me away because they could find people to clean gutters cheaper but now they’re some of my best clients because we do the job properly and safely and they realise the real value of our service, especially as a preventative measure.”
The growing demand for Gutter-Vac ACT South’s service over recent years has seen Peter employ two full-time gutter cleaning technicians to allow him the time to take on more of a managerial role and focus on the growth of his operation.
“With the support of two highly-skilled staff who I can trust to deliver the same high quality service I’ve built my business around, I now have the time to focus on client relations, fine-tuning the service, keeping abreast of new industry regulations and generating new business.”
Over the past few years Peter and his wife Michele have also been involved in the ACT Schools Mountain Bike Championships and Peter has coached and managed local soccer teams at the Weston Creek Soccer Club.
Gutter-Vac Managing Director Warren Ballantyne said Peter was a worthy recipient of the award and was an inspiration to other franchisees.
“The ‘Franchisee of the Year’ award is reserved for franchise partners who have excelled in aspects of the business including business growth, sales growth and support of the franchise system and the Gutter-Vac brand,” he said.
“Peter is one of our original franchisees who has established a very successful operation in the ACT and he is a model franchisee for others in the network and ought to be very proud of this achievement.”