Australian Franchise News – 02-04-10
FINDING a job or business opportunity which fits-in with family can be a challenge for many women, but a group of South Australian ‘mumtrepreneurs’ have found a way – with an innovative franchise.
Founded by Stephen Spitz and Paul Crabtree in 2003 the franchise, called Xpresso Delight, works by franchisees installing Swiss made espresso coffee machines into businesses free of charge, with clients simply charged a flat rate per cup.
Adelaide Mum-to-be Nazarie Surquia took on the Xpresso Delight business in September 2009 after years working in a supermarket.
“I used to work 12 hour days, 7 days per week,” she said. “I wasn’t able to have to have much of a life or any time with my partner or friends.”
“These days I work 20 hours per week visiting clients and looking after my machines, which is great as I can spend the rest of my time on things like getting our house ready for the new arrival.”
Trevor Spurr, Xpresso Delight SA Master Franchisee, said the franchise had strong appeal for mothers because of its flexibility.
“Because our coffee systems only require a weekly restock and service our franchisees are able to visit clients when it suits them, meaning they can literally work around family commitments, he said.”
“All SA Xpresso Delight franchisees are either mothers or mums-to-be.”
Mr Spurr said he had seen a steady increase in franchise enquiries from mothers and said this was reflected by industry trends.
“The most recent FCA inquiry into franchising showed rapid growth in the part-time franchising sector in the past few years, driven by people seeking greater flexibility and work / life balance.”
“The data showed 40 percent of all franchisees in Australia were working less than 40 hours per week in their franchise business.
“Because Xpresso Delight coffee machines are always generating income, our franchisees generally only work 10 – 20 hours and turn over between $1,000 and $2,000 per week, with about 70 percent of that money being profit”.
Mr Spurr said the market for coffee in Adelaide was growing rapidly.
“People in Adelaide have developed an appreciation for quality coffee over the past decade and this is obvious when you see the number of gourmet coffee bars popping up. Alongside this there is also a growing corporate coffee market here for our franchisees to capitalize on.”