Episode #1: Why I Left The Local Guys (with Taylor Grant)

So, Taylor, you're leaving us?

Yes.

So you've been with the Local guys since the inception, so we thought it would be ideal to do an exit interview. And then we thought, just to make it even more painful for yourself, why don't we turn that into our very first podcast? So for those people who don't know, why don't you tell us a little bit about your role? I know that you've had many different roles since the beginning of the Local guys, but even if you tell us what your main roles have been over the last year, and then we can kind of go from there.

Sure. So I don't really have an official title, per se. Obviously. We have started off as a small business and had quite fast growth, especially in the last 12 months, I want to say. So my role has changed quite a lot, especially since comparing it back to when I first started. In the last 12 months at, I think I would probably be best described as, like, an operational manager, so just making sure that the office stays afloat. National client project manager.

Yep. Beautiful. Now, one nickname that you've acquired over the last year is Queen Taylor. Can you explain to me the origins of that and why that one sort of stuck?

I think if the shoe hits, I don't actually know. I think Werner was the one who started it. So during a content day. Yep.

One of our pest control franchise partners. Yeah. And videographer.

Yeah. So when we were filming. Yeah, I think it was just because I was directing all the content. So.

Yeah.

Yeah, the name just stuck and it's just progressively floated through the office.

So I think it's a term because you're very good at keeping us all organized.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah. So we all know Queen Taylor's around. Just things are going to get done. So I wanted to talk to you about a little bit of your. Your story and how you sort of got to the point where you're at now.

Y.

So I know originally you're from Port Pirie here in South Australia.

Yeah, don't remind me.

So why don't you just tell us a little bit about your journey? So starting with, you know, being in Port Pirie and then you moved to Adelaide and on from there.

So, yeah, obviously went through schooling in Port Pirie. Moved here pretty much a year out of high. Didn't really have too much of a plan. I was starting university, so that's why I moved down. Took me six months to find a job. Applied for a bunch of different office jobs because I thought I would be well suited to it. Got Knocked back a lot just from not having any experience. So I stayed in hospitality, which is what I had been working in since I was 13. I was hired by yourself and Stacy at your restaurant business that you previously had. And then yeah, I guess as I was working there I became a team leader. So you guys obviously started to get a little bit of trust. For me.

Yep.

I was wanting some more hours obviously living at a home, paying rent, all the other expenses that come with moving to a city. So I approached you guys and asked if you had any other work available. I knew that you had a few other businesses. I didn't know about the test and tag business at the time and I remember calling you guys and you said, give us three days, we'll get something sorted for you. We want you to stay, we'll find some other work for you as well. And then yeah, basically said come down to our first office which was in Brooklyn Park.

Yep.

It was a shared office, tiny little office.

How big was the office?

It had like two desks, a filing cabinet and the printer and that was it. I think our chairs, all my touched.

About 6 square meters, nothing.

So yeah, we, I started off there just, I think it was two days a week between working at the restaurant and also studying. Yep. So just before the local guys was actually created. So when you were still doing just test and tagging. Yeah, So I was employed pretty much just as an admin person. So doing things like processing certificates, invoices, outbound sales, which I don't miss. But yeah, so just those foundation admin skills which was great because I knew like I said earlier, I wasn't going to get an opportunity to move into an office because no one hires you if you don't have experience. And I couldn't get experience without being hired. So yeah, pathway into it definitely. And then I guess as we started to progress, I remember I came to work one day and you were like so we're going to start franchising. And I was like, I don't know what that means. So you're like okay. Yep, we're changing over to the local guys. We've trademarked the names, it's all starting. And that's pretty much where the local guys was born. We obviously moved into a slightly bigger office in that shed.

Only slightly?

Yeah, slightly. We got an extra desk and yeah, so my role obviously would come to change from then onwards and obviously with that my hours increased. I went and moved over to more of a part time role and then it's just gradually growing as the Business has grown.

Yep. Yep. Beautiful. So how did that feel? I mean, that's a big change because essentially the business model changed completely.

Yeah, I mean, it's been a very fast change, but at the same time, I think we've all grown with the business. So looking back on it, I think, like, how did we rapidly get from here to here? But then I think when you're in the midst of it, it's kind of like you're growing with the business, so it doesn't seem that daunting, I guess, is the best way to explain it. So we're all learning and growing with the business. Yeah.

Yep. Okay. Beautiful. No worries. So tell me about some of those early days. You know, so obviously we've changed over and we've become struck from a test and tag business, and now we've completely changed that business model. Completely different brand, completely different. Absolutely everything.

Yeah.

And then we've onboarded our first franchisee.

Yeah, Good old Peter.

Yeah, Peter. Yep. Absolutely. And then tell me about that experience. Like. Yeah, in regards to. We had nothing. We had no training videos, we had no standard operating procedures, we had no online training platform or no online stores. Nothing. Yeah, yeah. And then. And then to boot, we had a global pandemic hit us as well. I think it was within his first month or so. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. It's definitely been a process. I think back now and compare what the franchise partners are getting when they come here. What? Peter's was so very thankful we had Peter as our first franchise partner because he, yeah, obviously saw something.

Yeah.

And, you know, decided to take that leap despite it being the first ever franchise partner.

It's a scary thing to be number one when it's unproven, isn't it?

100%. But, yeah, I think I am sometimes a bit of a stress head. So I remember freaking out to you and being like, what are we gonna do? We need to get all this organized. I remember.

What did I say?

Yeah, just, we'll go with it. We'll figure it out. So, yeah, I definitely had its challenges, especially with the pandemic. I mean, working from home and having to move everything online.

Yeah.

Everyone being remote. So. And then obviously with, you know, everything shutting down and, you know, work being closed and all that, we went from.

Extremely busy to very basically not working.

Like the rest of the world.

So, yeah.

Yeah, it was daunting, that's for sure. I mean, creating things from scratch as well. It's been a learning curve for everybody involved. And obviously, as time has gone on, we've had to, like, refine those processes, and that's come with trial and error.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I'm pretty proud of how far we've come in such a short period of time. Looking back on where we started.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Absolutely. Okay, cool. So finally the pandemic starts to slow down and things are easing. And then I remember we had our second franchise partner, Daniel, contact us during that time. Did you remember that?

Easiest franchise partner in the world.

Yeah, yeah. Friendly New Zealand. Our friendly New Zealand franchise partner that's just always got a smile on his face.

Yeah.

But I remember he was desperate to join up, and we were sort of like, no, no, stop. Like, don't join right now. We can't guarantee, like, work and all this sort of stuff. Just all this craziness is going on, so stay where you are. I think he had a. He was working in a. Out at Winfield.

Yeah.

Building homes, Building mining huts.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah. And he had stable income, so we're like, stay with that. Stay with that. And then when work started to come back and the rest of the world started to get a bit more normal again, we said, all right, come on aboard. So then we've got two franchisees. So tell me how things were tracking in regards to them. Like, still we're working out of this tiny little office. It's you and me, and we've got Stacy working from home. And, you know, so, you know, there was a lot, like, nothing was done at that stage.

Yeah. Like I said, I think it was just definitely a learning curve, because I.

Believe you took over the training.

I did around at that stage, so getting training kind of ironed out on how that will look in those days. I guess with Peter, we learned a lot, so we could then kind of start to mold it for Daniel. But I think as well, when you're starting out a business venture like that, the other end of it is that we were able to dedicate all of our time and energy to those franchise partners. So although we didn't have necessarily the processes set in place, and it's not as, you know, smooth as it is today, they had our full attention. It was just the two of them, so I guess that kind of outweighed that. And they understood that we were still new and starting up, and they kind of just worked with us through that process.

Yeah.

So, yeah, we definitely were very lucky with the first two franchise partners that we. I mean, we've been lucky with all of our franchise partners, but.

Very true.

Yeah. But especially those two Just because, you know, they really went through the ironing out of the crinkles.

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, cool. So, so we've got a couple on board and they're kicking along and they're making money and things are going well and it's, it's happy days. And then we did the crazy thing of we decided, oh, you know, we can do a couple here in South Australia because the guys are nice and close. Why don't we try a different state? So we brought in our first franchise partner from Victoria. Can you tell me about that experience and your concerns when we had around there, Gary?

Yeah, I think almost threw me into a panic attack.

Yep.

I definitely was the stressed one in the office as per usual. I also don't have a marketing background so I didn't fully understand like how, you know, Google SEO works and all the behind the scenes that go into making sure that that franchise partner gets leads within their area. So looking at it now, I'm like, yeah, whatever, like we can start up in America tomorrow. I don't care. Like I know you'll figure it out. But at that time I didn't understand like the behind the scene work that goes into getting those leads to come in.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Cool. No worries. So I mean obviously that one all worked out exceptionally well. Yeah. So now we're, we're pretty much in every state and territory across Australia. I think it's just Northern Territory that we need to tick off left. So I mean how do you see the business now that we've had that growth and now that we've got franchise partners that are national and we've got other plenty of people lining up to come in the door. How do you see the business now moving forward compared to back in those days?

Yeah, I guess I don't have those same concerns that I did with the first one. Obviously we've proven that, you know, we're able to do it interstate.

So yeah, bigger team here at the.

Support center and our team has grown so that we can support more people.

But I think also bigger brand new office.

Yeah. And like with any brand, you know, as that brand continues to grow, it's only going to grow all the other franchises that are attached to it. So it's all about the brand awareness. So you know, as we continue to grow Queensland, that's also going to help continue to grow Tasmania.

That brand awareness is.

Yeah. So you know, it's a bit of a domino effect, I guess.

Yep, absolutely. So my last step along this path that we're Talking about. But it'd be silly not to talk about. The next one is we then had the crazy idea of building a second division.

Yeah.

So if we didn't have enough on our hands with the electrical test and tag, we came up with the idea of going into pest control. What were your thoughts when that was an initial thing? And, you know, we didn't have anyone on board yet. This is what we were doing.

I think those nerves obviously sunk in again, because at least I knew, you.

Know, you had test and tag.

Yeah. And I had started off in that business. Business working from inside the business, not so much from a franchising perspective. Whereas with pest control. I knew nothing about pest control.

Yeah.

Just that I didn't want them near me. So that was the extent of my knowledge. However, you know, I did know Sean, our divisional franchise partner. And, you know, I had already started to build a little bit of a relationship with him leading up to him joining the local guys. So I think with his experience. Experience, I was somewhat at ease because I was looking at it as, you know, we've already created this model. We can just reapply it to another division. We have the expert in the industry who can pour all the knowledge into it. We just need to kind of duplicate this and it'll be fine.

Yeah, yeah. So that's obviously. That's the model that we use at local guys. We have. We partner with someone who's got years of experience in that. We know that we're not experts in pest control, though. I'd say that we could probably change that.

I think I'm getting a pretty close.

Yeah, I think things have changed significantly in that regard. But we knew. We knew the business side of things and the marketing and the legal and the franchising side of things. So we thought we're only a couple of pieces missing away from this, and if we could partner with someone or who had that technical ability and that technical side, then we could definitely look at growing this thing. So we did that and we brought Sean on originally. We do a test case on that, don't we, where we just have them have their own pest control business. The idea is that we'll iron out any kinks with them to begin with to make sure that we can provide that service and make sure that they're busy and everything like that. So can you talk a little bit about that? When we brought Shaun over and started doing pest control with real clients from the beginning.

Yep. So, again, another learning curve. It's, you know, it's pretty much the same kind of process. You just need to know a little bit about the industry. So, you know, we have to learn that too. But I guess it's not as stressful with a divisional because they already have that wealth of experience within a small business and they have somewhat of an existing client base. So it's not as stressful in that you're concerned they're going to fall over. It's more so just that we can, you know, help elevate their business rather than establish it. Yeah, but like you said, it helps us iron out any kinks with them before we then apply it to somebody who's brand new. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So got Sean in and I think he got to the point where he just couldn't keep up with any. We kind of over serviced him a little bit when it came to leads.

And I think we had some record months still to this day back then.

Yeah, yeah. So he's since obviously brought on his brother to help him run the business and that one's growing really well. Can you tell me how I think it's appropriate to talk about Werner probably at point this stage and what Werner's background to us was and then. And then how he came into the business.

Of course. So Werner was originally our videographer. Still is kind of starting to transition out of that now. So did all of our marketing videos, all of our SOP videos. And I guess he was looking at it and, you know, he was learning the franchise from our perspective by doing the videos. Yeah. And seeing, you know, he was talking, doing interviews with other franchise partners and I guess he was watching their success and how, you know, we're set up. He had relationships established with us. He knew what kind of people we were, what our values were and all the rest of it. So I think, you know, he did what a normal person would do. Start to consider maybe that could be an option for myself.

Yeah.

I think he was also reaching the stage where videography was, you know, maybe he had run his course with that, wasn't enjoying it as much. So he moved over to joining our pest control division. Obviously originally looked at test and tag and that wasn't for him. It's not going to be for everyone. But, you know, found his love for the pest control industry and now I'd say he's probably one of our most passionate franchise partners about the industry. So, yeah, definitely picked the right industry for him.

Yeah, absolutely. And he's got another business that's just really thriving at the moment, isn't it? Yeah, it's Fantastic to watch. Beautiful. Well, and then obviously we've seen the continuation of the growth into pest control. We're in Queensland now, we're talking with guys in Victoria and we're just really excited to see where that one's growing to. And then finally our final division, and I dare say last division is cleaning.

Yeah, yeah. The one that probably has stressed me out the most.

So. So tell me about cleaning.

Sure. So we had spoken about doing cleaning for quite a while. It was definitely something that we had been talking about for a few years. It was something that we always knew we were going to eventually move into. It was just about finding the right people to partner. Partner up with, to work as that divisional franchise partner. You obviously found those people and, you know, we had 5 million other things that we were working on. Our team, you know, was a lot smaller. There was only the three of us in the office still. Then lots of national clients were being worked on. So it was a very busy time. But you decided to, to come in and say, guess what, girls, I have released the ads for cleaning. And we had nothing. So it was a very ad hoc moment to quickly whip up some brochures and get the legal contracts drawn up and pretty much quickly get this up and running.

Yeah.

But I guess the pros of having two other divisions is that it's not a brand new process. So it was just, you know, again, rinse and repeat. But, you know, that does take a little bit of time.

Yeah. Stressful day that day. But again, we worked with, we're working with divisional, who's got 10 years plus experience in the cleaning industry, managed a very large cleaning business and grown it from nothing. And we're doing the exact same process. Yeah, yeah.

Definitely have full confidence in them, that's for sure.

Yeah.

I think, you know, perhaps if it was someone else who wasn't as experienced, maybe not so much, but yeah, we have a great relationship with them, so I don't have any concerns with that. I know that it's going to be as successful as the other divisions, you know, maybe more.

Yeah.

Who knows?

Yeah, we'll have to wait and see on that one, but. Yeah, I know, I know. There's been a lot of excitement around cleaning, which is, which is great. I just wanted to talk a little bit about franchise partners in that initial stages. You've seen every franchise partner and every franchise partner knows you and you see them right from the beginning. And we talk about the J Curves that they go through and going through the Death Valley, as we call it, and they're the most scared part and they need the most guidance. And then you see them all the way to the other end, where we've got people like Peter, who every time we see him, he's just got a smile on his face. So I just wanted to, I guess, talk to you about. What do you see people's biggest fears are in those early stages in the buying decisions and stuff like that. Can you talk a little bit about that because you've seen it so many times?

I think it's pretty much the case for every franchise partner that comes on board is that they are generally coming from being an employee to being a business owner. So I think it's just that shift in mindset from moving from I'm an employee with a guaranteed income every week and the stability of that coming in to moving over to being a small business owner where obviously, you know, there are fears coming into that. They are then responsible for ensuring that that business is successful. There's, like, no guarantee. It's all dependent on what they put into it.

Yeah. I mean, we've got the income guarantees, but. But aside from that.

Yeah, yeah. Ultimately, if they don't put in the work, that business is going to fall over. I think it's moving away from that employee mentality to business owner mentality that's probably the biggest struggle. Yeah, I think that's mostly where it stems from. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, I couldn't agree more. And what. What do you think makes the most successful franchise partners?

Yep. So I think the ones that really own the fact that they're now a business owner and they throw the absolute heart and soul into it. Yeah. So the ones who, I think as well, they take on our advice. So, you know, we've created this model which is working and it's not about reinventing it. So the ones that just come in and they, you know, they take on the processes that we've built up and, you know, we've had to go through all the trial and error as to, you know, what's the best way to do a sales call, what's the best way to invoice, what's the most effective programs like. We have done the work to figure that all out. So when they just come in and they, you know, get all the wins from us. Yeah, I think they're the ones that ultimately the most successful, you know, they're happy to throw themselves into marketing. They're happy to, you know, really pour everything into the business to build it up. I guess, as a team with us so obviously we're making sure that that business is successful. As I always say to them, your success is our success. Ultimately, if their business falls over, that does affect us and our brand as well.

Yeah.

So we're going to pour a lot of into them. But those franchise partners that pour equally as much, they're the ones that, you know, are definitely thriving. The best.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. So, I mean, what would you, what would you say to someone who's looking at getting into a franchise?

What's.

I mean, you, you've seen it from the inside now. So what would you say to someone who's looking at and weighing up their options and all the rest of it? What would be an inside tip that you would give to anyone, whether it's our franchise or any franchise? What's some of the tips that you would give them to or questions you would ask or things that you would particularly do when they're in that buying stage? What's some good insider tips? I guess.

Yeah, I think get to know the franchise that you're joining because if it's not the franchise, their values don't align with yours and what they are offering doesn't align with what you're expecting, then it's probably not going to be the best fit. I think also, like I said earlier, go into it with a small business owner mentality and stop looking at it as an employee. So to kind of take, you know, you need to take the outgoings with the ingoings. So I think at the start, that's where the struggle comes the most because they're seeing all the outgoings going out when they're still in those initial stages of building that business from scratch. But, you know, I guess that's the Death Valley. But then on the outside of it, there's, you know, a glowing business that's going to come back from it. So really just focusing on investing into it and being prepared for the journey, that. That is going to be emotional as well. Yeah, for sure.

Definitely emotional.

You know, and these people are supporting families. They're, you know, some of them are leaving, you know, big corporate companies and things. But at the end of the day, at the end of it, they have their business that they've built and they have an asset that they've created as opposed to, you know, just building up someone else's. So, yeah, I think that's the way I would look at it. Take your time, do your research, ask as many questions as you need. That's why we have things like the support centre. That's why we're here. We have our franchise consultants. You know, we encourage them to talk to yourself. And our divisionals, where I feel like we're a very open franchise with those things. So I think, you know, just pick a franchise that aligns with what you're looking for. Yeah, yeah. And be passionate about the industry you're going into. Like, if you're gonna start a business, make sure it's something that you're happy to wake up and do every day. Like Werner, I don't think he would have been happy in the test and tag industry with his personality. But pest control, he's thriving and he's loving every second of it. Me, I could never do that. So I think, yeah, make sure it's something you're really passionate about. Because if you're gonna make the investment, you know, you need to make sure that you wake up and you love what you do.

You get the blowtorch out, would you just like the whole house. What's your. And I'm getting close to closing up here, but tell me your. Your favorite memory of. Of the local guys so far.

Have a few favorite memories. I love all of our social events that we do with our franchise partners. Her Christmas shows, things like that. We also do franchise partner lunches. I love training the franchise partners. That's definitely going to be an aspect of this job I'm going to miss the most because you really get to know them on a personal level before they start their business. I loved our charity day that we did where we donated to the Hutt street homeless shelter. I think that was quite a warming day. We've also done lots of fun things like go karting and ex golf and, you know, activities like that, escape rooms. So. Yeah, but I mean, I generally love coming to work. You know, we're quite a young, vibrant office. We have quite a lot of banter that goes back and forth. There's not a day that I'm not, you know, carrying on, acting silly, but, you know, it's great. Yeah, yeah. I've had a lot of good memories. I think moving into our new office has been, you know, very bittersweet moment for me. It's, you know, it makes me very proud. But, yeah, it's exciting to see the direction that the business is, you know, heading into and all the hard work where it's actually going.

Where do you see it going? The business?

Yeah. I think in the next couple of years it'll. I mean, I look back on the last three years of just test and tag and, you know, we're already pretty much at the national coverage, so I think, you know, in another couple of years we'll be at that same level in pester and trail and cleaning will be up and running and thriving. Yeah, don't want to spoil too much stuff that we have planned, but hopefully a little bit of international work. But, yeah, I think especially in the last few months, we've had a rapid increase of staff members and I think that's only going to grow as well.

Yep.

Yeah, yeah.

And so you're obviously leaving, not just leaving us, but you're leaving Australia as a whole.

Yeah.

So you're over to. Over the pond to move to the UK and do your teaching. You've been studying and finally all done and you're going to be a teacher over there. So, yeah, no, obviously wish you all the best and we thank you so much for everything that you've done for the local guys over the last four and a half years. And, yeah, we're. We're gonna. As I said all week, we're gonna have a candle going for you and keep your shrine. Yeah, of course, yeah. And keep your spot going over there and. And, yeah, no, no, we wish you all the best. So, yeah, appreciate it. Yeah.