Episode #14: Building a Successful Pest Control Franchise (with Dan & Amy Rae)

Welcome to the Local Guys Business show, the show that talks about all things small business. For people who would love to learn tips to make your business more successful or would like to own their own business one day. Sit down with your host, Jared Gording. Strap in and let's get the show started. Okay, no worries. Well, thanks guys very much for joining us. Really appreciate it. Do you want to start by maybe introducing yourself and what your role is at the Local Guys?

Okay. Well, I'm Dan and this is my wife, Amy.

Yeah.

We own a localized pest control franchise up in Queensland, so in the Gold coast region.

Yep.

Upper Coomera.

Yep. Beautiful.

That's our area. We love that. And yeah, so where I'm pretty much doing the technician and sort of the day to day with the customers, you know, booking the jobs and seeing them. And then Amy does a lot of the administration, the reminding the customers, you know, taking on leads and following up with customers. Yeah, everything like that as well. Yep. And making sure that I don't miss a beat.

Yeah, yeah.

Pretty much the glue that holds everything together.

So the manager. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how long has the business been running for now, guys?

So we are just about to come up to our 12 months, so probably about. Probably about another month away. So about 11 months.

Yep.

We've been up and running for. Beautiful. So, yeah, it's gone. Gone. Good.

Great.

Yeah. So it's been a journey as well.

Yeah.

We got married 12 months ago as well, like so. So that's right.

Because I remember when I met you for the first time when you were over here for training and you just had everything going on all at once, didn't you?

Yeah.

Just got married, new business, new everything.

Yeah. So went to the mat. Got went. Did the training with the, with the actual training organization.

Yep.

The rto.

Yep. Get licensed.

Yep. Then had our wedding, went on a honeymoon, was at home for a night and then flew down here and then come and finished off the training and then. Yeah. The rest is history.

Yeah. Wow. Do you mind maybe telling me what you guys were doing, each of you were doing before joining Local guys?

Okay. Yeah, well, I was, I was working in medical suppliers. Like I was doing like compliance and regulatory affairs.

Okay.

And some clinical consulting. And then I had enough of that. So I went on a big road trip and then went up, went up north and down over to the Northern Territory and then came back and was supposed to go to Melbourne for a job. Decided I didn't want to do that rat race again.

Yep.

I like the Gold Coast Too much. It was just. Yeah. And then I met Amy probably, well, two weeks after I got back.

Yep.

And then I was just like, yeah, no, I'm staying here. And then went and just got a job with a furniture supplies. Furniture and electrical supplies company. Sure. And had some great people to work for. Yep. But then my time was up and you know, it's time to find something on, to move on and I was just like, I didn't want to work for anyone else.

Yep.

Like it was. I wanted to finish on a high note with who I worked with and then I wanted to start my own. I've always wanted to start something of my own. Parents have always had their own businesses.

Yep.

And dad's had his own home service business for 20 odd years.

Oh, okay. What's he doing?

So they do cleaning. Cleaning everything now. But he sold it on to my sister now.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. So beautiful. She's running it. She's got over 30 staff and she's doing well. Yeah.

What about you, Amy?

I was in retail for 20 years.

Yeah.

So really excited to step away from that. But what I learned from retail has been invaluable and I spent the last six and a half years working for Nike. So big business, big teams and yeah. Huge turnover and just, just at Harbour Town, which was incredible. So, yeah, 20 years of retail, being a manager. So I think that's what is really helping our business grow, that attention to customer service and what we can offer and how you can translate those skills across.

Okay. So both working for someone else previously. So Dan, you were saying that got family that have, that have been in small business. So was that, that sounds like it was a bit of the driver for yourself to want to get it. What was the, the boiling point to sort of jump from, from working for someone else to work, working for yourself because there's a big change.

Well, yeah, I've always wanted to have something that I could call my own.

Yeah.

Well, ours now. Yeah, yeah. It's just, it was something that we could build, that we could create something that we could be proud of and. Yeah, yeah. It's just. But also seeing our family like my parents owning their own business and stuff like that. So, you know, my, my mom and my stepdad had a water sports business and you know, and that was, that was unreal and it was just so. Yeah. And then dad had his cleaning business. So it was just both of them together was really sort of inspiring and then just sort of. Yeah, no, we'll do our own. And eventually we got There.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But.

And so why, why pest control then? Because why, why wouldn't you go into cleaning or, you know, what drove you to pest control?

I don't like cleaning.

Okay. Yeah, fair enough.

Yeah, pretty much. It's like I tried it with dad and he said you're really good at it.

Yeah.

Because you're really thorough. But it just wasn't my thing. Yeah, it was. It's.

You tried it for a bit and. Yeah. Didn't stop.

Yeah, no, yeah.

I think you're either that sort of person or you're not. And I think the people that do it love it, love it, love it because they're so passionate about it and they love to see the end results. And then there's other people like me who, you know, and it sounds like these guys as well. Or at least you, Daniel, that. Yeah. Just. It's not, it's not in the DNA. Yeah, yeah.

It wasn't something that like, I mean, you know, there was, there was thoughts about sort of processing through that sort of side of things, but just. Yeah, I want to enjoy what I'm doing and look, you know, I, I enjoy doing the pest control.

Yeah.

Like, you know, if customer has a need and I can fulfill it, like, you know, I mean, it's just probably like there's cockroach jobs and stuff are probably my favorite because you see, you see when you do your follow up, it's. You actually see the results and yeah, you've had a good success. That's a good win. But that was just, look, we wanted with looked at a few different options and that was one of something that we saw. That's always going to be a need. You know, you can't get rid of pests. No, it's like, I mean, that's why they actually changed from pest exterminators to pest management technicians. Because if you could exterminate pests, there wouldn't be a pest control industry. Like they would have fixed the issue.

And stuff like that.

So it's all about controlling it and finding how to manage them as best as possible.

So.

Yeah, and it was just sort of something that's like, okay, that's always going to be around. So it's going to be a solid.

Solid feels like a safe sort of industry. There's always going to be demand for work and stuff like that, which, you know, you can build, you can build a great business off of the back of that because just say that's, that's a big need that people sort of have and I know, like even from us being here in the support center, you know, we're talking to the people clients at that initial stage of their inquiry. And no, out of the three divisions that we have, no more. Do you feel like you're helping people who have got a genuine problem right there, as you sort of said, because it might be wasps, you know, at the kids party or cockroaches or a million different things that going on. And, you know, it's like you're coming out the. When they must see that van rocking up and thinking, Superman's here.

Yeah.

Save the day.

Yeah, yeah, it's. It's like we're getting a lot of. Especially through winter time is the, the rodent treatments and stuff like that. Because, you know, as they, as it gets colder, they're coming inside more.

Yeah.

And so people are hearing them in their roof and it's just like, I just want a peaceful night's sleep. It's just like, can you come out and fix it? Sure, yeah, no worries. Oh, okay, cool. All right, sweet.

When can we get here?

Yeah. All right, sweet. So, yeah, so having that feeling and then it's just like, you know, you get a text message, you know, the next morning, and it's just like, I've had a peaceful night's sleep. Thank you. Thank you so much.

And it's just like, how good is that good feeling?

And for them to actually follow up and tell you. Yeah, I love that.

Yeah. Got accustomed for life, don't you? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, that's another reason Sorry.

Yeah, no, please.

Joined pest control was because I kept leaving containers everywhere in our house. So he'd walk. I think the worst he'd walked in and there was nine containers because we had so many cockroaches.

Wow.

Moved in.

Yeah.

He got sick of it. I think that's what really prompted when we started talking about what kind of service based industry we'd like to be in.

Yeah, yeah, we saw it firsthand and you saw that there's a demand right there. And if you can see it firsthand, then you go, well, would I be a customer then? If I would be a customer, it's probably a service that, you know, we could properly offer.

Well, that's it. Yeah. Containers all through the house. And then that odor of that cheap can of spray.

Yeah.

And it lingers. Oh, it's. Yeah.

Do you want to, do you want to talk about that a little bit? Because that was one of the questions that I sort of had for you in regards to the diy version of pest control versus having a professional in. Do you want to potentially talk to that? If someone's sort of watching and they've, you know, thought about doing the DIY stuff themselves, why would they want to get a professional?

Yeah, look, I mean, there is always a. A place for diy.

Yeah.

I mean, you're never going to get away from someone. Like, you know, previously, myself, like, you know, I always wanted to try and do things myself.

Yeah.

But it's.

And it's cheaper. Right?

So. Yeah, well, sort of.

Yes. Yeah.

The supplies that you get from.

From Bunnings or whatever. Yeah, yeah.

It's, you know, they're not cheap.

Yep.

And then they're just not as effective. Like, I mean, there's stuff that. There's a reason why our products are registered only for pest control providers. We've had the appropriate training, we've. We've got all the knowledge and how to actually apply it safely.

Yeah.

You know, because it's. If you do it wrong, you're not wearing your right gear or anything like that, you can put yourself and your family at risk.

Yeah.

You know, just. You can't just go spray willy nilly and just expect it's going to work.

Yeah.

And, you know, we guarantee our work. So if there's issues and stuff like that, you come back, you'll let us know, we'll come back out, we'll fix the issue.

Yeah. So that gives people a lot of peace of mind.

Yeah, yeah, it's the peace of mind. Yeah. So. Yeah.

And it doesn't fix it at the throat either. Like, you know, you're talking about pest management quite often. If you have that and you do DIY and you spray a bunch of stuff from Bunnings or whatever, then it might not necessarily fix it at its root. Like there might be an ongoing issue, you know. Yeah.

Especially with things like ants or even cockroaches. It's just a lot of people just spray what they see.

Yeah.

It's just the next day they're back.

Yeah.

And they do it again and it just keeps happening.

Yeah.

It's just like. Well, because the root cause is not on over there. And then also at the same time you're spraying your food bench top. Like, that's. That's not safe. You just put chemicals all over your bench. And then so it's like you want to find the root source.

Yeah.

Like the source of the issue, you want to eliminate it at the source and actually sort of gain that control back.

Yeah.

So you're not Constantly doing that, putting, putting everyone at risk, having all those fumes going over through your house. You want to minimize that chemical presence. Sure. So it's, you know, do it once, do it right.

Yeah. So look after pets and things like that.

Yeah, exactly. And I mean everything we are, everything we do use is, it's just. Is approved by the avpma.

Yeah.

So it is safe to use around. Yeah. You know, and your family around, your pets and kids and everything. Obviously not whilst we're treating.

Yes.

Once it's dry, once the treatment's no longer active in the air, then. Yeah, then it's, then it's safe around. Around your family. So that's, that's probably the big thing, especially with a lot of young families up in the Gold coast now.

Yep.

That's the biggest primary concern is what about my kids and my pets?

Yeah, so. And I know you guys leave like after service information as well for all of our customers so that they know what to expect after, after the service and with pests, you know, you need to know that because it's an active insect and they need to know what's going to happen after the fact.

Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, now we've got all our aftermarket material that, you know, we will provide to them. You know, we also, you know, we've got emails where we will send to them. So they've got it at a glance as well.

Yeah, perfect.

All goes through there. But we have to do all our required reporting because we are dealing with pesticides. We have to report what we've used, how we've used it, where we've used it and everything like that. So we do have those records there as well. And you know, we forward them on to the customer so they know what's been done, that's going to be what we've done and any recommendations as well. So what you can actually do to minimize the activity in your home, it's not going to eliminate them completely.

But that's, that's what they're there for sure now. I mean, obviously you had mom and dad that had the cleaning business and the other businesses as well, but did you have any other or either of you have any sort of business experience before taking on this venture personally?

Well, I did because I worked fairly close with them.

Yep.

So like, I mean, it was with, with mum's business. I did a lot of the, a lot of the side of the administration side of things. Okay. Like you bookkeeping and, and all that type. And then with, with dad, he showed me how to sort of like, you know, get on the, get on the, you know, get, get your feet moving. Get out there.

Yeah.

You know, the door knocking, the flyer drops everything like that. Getting out, getting out the community.

Yeah.

Is a big thing. So, yeah, learn a lot from that. And then. Yeah. And then like the sales experience I got from my jobs. Yeah, sure, that really worked. And then. Yeah, it's got. Learn a lot from them. And then also now from, from our family. So. Yeah, so like Myra, she's looking after the cleaning business now. And then, and then, then Rowan, he. He actually has a lot of. He's. He's got his own company in medical supplies. He's doing quite well. Yep. And he's always got a lot of useful information. And then. Yeah, I, I get a lot from. A lot, a lot from my family. And then my old boss, as I said, that was some of the best people to work for.

Yep, yep.

And he's. They've always, you know, the. Matt. Matt and Louise both always there.

Yep. Leveraging off your network and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah.

You know.

Okay, so when you were sort of doing your due diligence on joining the local guys, was there a reason why you didn't sort of. Did you look to start up your own pest control business at all or was it always going to be a franchise?

We did have a look at both options.

Yep.

Yeah, we definitely did.

Yeah.

We want to start our own family and we thought, you know, we're looking at the statistical risks of starting your own business versus being a part of a franchise.

Yeah. And you know, it's like 80 fail in the first, first year or first couple of years or something like that. So.

Yeah, I can understand why starting your own business is hard for the faint heart. Yeah, it's, you know, get prepared for late night, late nights. Get prepared for the stress.

Yeah.

You know, you've got to make sure. You've got to still make time for yourself somehow.

Yeah.

You have to do that otherwise you will go crazy.

Yeah. So, yeah, just and steep learning curve in that first 12 months especially, you know, now, you guys are kind of old hands at it. But especially in those first three to six months, it's like you're just running a rat race and I think just scary, isn't it?

Yeah.

Coming back together and focusing on what's important and finding those moments to have some downtime. Because then when you do step out to serve that customer, you are on the phone with people, they can hear that and you'll be voice as well. If, if you're stressing or you're constantly on a high, they can feel that like customers. Customers can. So having going in with that really, like, calm mindset each day, I think has really contributed to. To our success and especially the way that Dan can serve customers without feeling really like, overwhelmed. I think that's contributed to.

Yeah, your confidence definitely, definitely grows over time. Yeah. And then it just. Everybody, everything just becomes natural.

Yeah.

And it's just. Yeah. So, I mean, the job itself, you know, you've done, you've done your training, you know what to do. It's. It's the confidence behind it. And yeah, we definitely, definitely found that and it's, it's made a huge difference. And that's, that's where being part of the franchise is definitely been an asset for us as well. Yeah, we do have the support like from a divisional. Sean and yourself.

Yeah.

And the, and the support center, like, I mean, it's just, you know, really they're the glue that holds everything together. So yeah, you gotta rely on them for everything and they're there for you. Yep.

I think like, I was thinking about it on the drive on the way in and it's, it's quite interesting because it's kind of like I feel like business is a team sport and everyone just sort of has to play. Everyone plays their roles and you know, and everyone gets in there and it's that one plus one equals three sort of scenario and we all work well together. Then it gets. Gets a really good result out the back end. And I think that would be, I know, like, you know, from having an independent business myself in, in the test and tag side of things, it's really hard. It's really hard because, you know, I didn't like, for years I went on not knowing some simple stuff and I was like, as if I didn't know that. Like. But it was like five, six years into the game, but there was no one there to leverage off to ask those sorts of questions. So I think as you say, sort of having Sean and Renee, there's as like almost like a built in sort of coach there and support and the, the further down the pathway. So they can kind of see. Yeah, they can see the trailer where you guys are on. You might not be able to see it, but they can see it and, but sort of, you know, and then you get to the other side of that. It's like, okay, you can breathe a little deeper now. And it's, it's. Yeah, it's a good thing to have, you know, and just the technical side or business side. There's the two elements.

But yeah, and then it's just like, am I doing well? And. Or, or am I not? It's like, what kind of do better? And it's just like you're actually doing good. Yeah. Okay, cool. No, it's, yeah, it's like, I'm still not sure. So it's just like, look here. These are your results. Yeah.

A lot of businesses run it off of. A lot of businesses will run off of. Let me look at the bank account and that'll determine whether I'm doing well or not. And especially like for brand new businesses and stuff, you know, you've got outgoings and you've got all this other stuff. So I think like that's, I guess one of the benefits that we have with scorecards that's been introduced and you know, you can break down all of the different elements of your business and it just becomes a math equation basically. And then it's like, okay, cool. We've got this funnel that we've got to fill and we just put them at the top of the funnel and then we've just got to make sure our conversion rate's right and we've got making enough per job and then all of a sudden this end result looks fantastic and it's just, you know, but, but just running that purely off the bank account, it's, it's, it just drives you crazy.

Yeah, it can, it can. Because the, the thing is, it's just like you may not see the bank account growing because you keep reinvesting.

Yeah, that's the other thing.

It's. I, I want to do more. So.

Yeah.

So we, we've done more training this year.

Do you want to talk about what train why you had down here in Adelaide and talk about that a little bit?

Yeah, well, we got into like. So we've taken the next step. So rather than just doing your general purse, we're going into termites as well.

Okay, so can you explain to me how it sort of works? The like basically originally like to get a pest control license, you generally. It's just a general pest that's. Which does everything but. Termites. Termites. That's right. Right.

Yeah. So you. So your timber pests. So like.

So that's the only ones you basically can't do.

Yeah, yeah. So once you get your general pests. Look, I mean every state's going to have different conditions.

Yeah, of course.

But, but generally in a nutshell. Yeah. Is your general Pests.

Yeah.

And then you got your.

Yeah. So what's. What sort of pests do you do? Can you do as general pests? What's all the different sort of services that you're off under that?

So we, we do just about everything. So we'll do all your crawling insects, you know, so your spiders, earwigs, millipedes, ants, cockroaches. Then also you've got, like, you say your vermin. So you like your rodents. Rodents, possums, all those ones that all just keep you up at night. Yeah, they're those guys.

Yeah.

Then, you know, so you've got your bird prevention, those, those type of things as well. And then, and then where we are.

Now, where you've just finished or finishing up your training, spend some time with Sean. And now you're going to have the next element of the business, which is. Which is the termites, which is a whole nother beast in itself, isn't it?

Yes.

Yeah.

No, that's, that's a much bigger sort of step. Like, you know, I mean, it's, it's. This is the one where people's homes are not covered. There's no insurance for termites. Yeah, we are the insurance for termites. It's, it's like, you know, if you own your own home, it's get, get termite control, get your inspections done, get your termite barriers, baiting stations, everything like that. It's so much more worth spending that little bit at the start.

Yeah.

And maintaining it versus all of a sudden you've got, got, you've got your walls coming down and no one's there to pay for it except for you.

Out of your bank account.

So it's like, have that protection in place. Like.

That's interesting. I'm sure a lot of people don't know that about the insurance side of things that it's doesn't cover.

No. And it's just. But it's the same with like a general person who affects. It's like prevention is always going to be cheaper.

Yeah.

Than like, you know, resolving an issue.

Yeah. Because by that time half your house is eaten away.

Half your house is eaten away. Or so, you know, like even. Yeah. So that's, that's with the termites and then even just generals. It's just like, you know, your cockroaches and stuff like that, if you leave them too long.

Yeah.

All of a sudden it's just, you open up a cupboard and then they are.

Yeah.

Same with the termites. It's just like you, you Go to open up a door and all of a sudden the door's just falling apart on you and it's just like, oh well if I, if I kept getting my inspections done.

Yeah.

Regularly that would have been picked up before, but into the house.

What's the, the for general pests? What's the like spot? Because I know for us we had a big spider problem and I did the DIY thing, spent a bunch of money at Bunnings and still ran into the same problem, probably the same as a lot of people and then ended up getting the. I didn't want to bother the guys but got, got our guys out to do it and I hadn't like, it was incredible, like legitimately incredible. Like we didn't see anything for like a year. What's the frequency that you'd recommend on getting like a general sort of treatment done? Is, is that an annual thing or.

Look, it's, I think as our climate has changed with like, like, honestly with global warming and everything like that, the Australian conditions has changed. Weather is becoming more sporadic. So it used to be 12 months.

Yeah.

But we recommend every 12.

Yeah.

If you don't want to see pests every, every six months.

Yeah.

But if some people still do it annually.

Yep.

And it's pretty much. It's just going to come down to preference. Yeah, yeah. But we'll, we, we will still regularly touch base with the customer.

Yeah.

So they don't have to remember to do it. We'll touch base.

Yeah.

We'll be like, hey look, you know, how is everything going? Do you want to look at a mid year treatment or do you want to wait, wait until you start seeing them or we'll just follow up again at the end of the year.

Yeah.

And so we give them that option.

Yeah.

So we're not going to force it on them, but it's that we're there for them.

It's just that point of contact, isn't it? It's just that touch point that just go, just reminds them, hey, we're still here if you need us. And like, as we said before, you're providing a service that people want. Like I know with my stuff as well. Like, you know, I get that, that text message or phone call on an annual and it's like, do you want to do it again? Yeah, absolutely, I do. Like, you know, we've had a winter now, stuff's been washed off and all the rest of it, let's refresh it for another year. So. Yeah, yeah. And that makes complete sense.

And Then it's just like sometimes you can have those harsh weather conditions like our Christmas up at home, you know, with the, with the horrific storms.

Yeah.

There's probably a. Yeah, yeah. And then we actually probably had our wettest summer.

Yeah.

We've had in, in a long time. So. And they, they are contributing factors to, to pests. So that hot, humid conditions with the wet weather, that was really conducive conditions for this.

Yeah.

So there was a lot more activity. Activity.

Yeah.

And even though people's homes were protected, they'll. They'll finding their way through.

Yeah.

Because there was nowhere else to go.

Like disturbed them all up. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, trees coming down, like, I mean all that subfloor, subsoil and everything, like that's just churned up. So a lot more activities come out.

Yeah.

All those ant nests and everything have been disturbed. So they need to go find a new home.

Yeah.

And the first dry home they find is yours. So. Yeah, they're coming inside.

Yeah. Yeah. So back to the termites. What was the main motivation for yourselves to then do that further education and take on the termites? Because it's a bigger job value, right?

Bigger job value. Yeah. So, yeah, like, I mean, it's, you know, it's. You're gonna have your return of investment in that. Yep. But it's. We just wanted to be that complete service.

Yeah, sure. Cause I'm sure you would have had clients of as you're naturally talking to them, doing the general pests and all the rest of it, sort of saying, hey, can you do the termite sort of things? And if you can't, I guess you're giving, you leave money on the table.

Nine times out of ten, you, you do get that question of.

Really? Really? Yeah.

Like Dan said, being able to offer that complete package and. Yeah, yeah. It's just another tool.

Yeah.

Another tool on your belt.

Yeah.

And to be able to help people on the Gold coast as well.

Definitely.

That's, that's what we're there for.

You're serving the community. Yeah. And going from like, you know, a couple of hundred dollars job value to now we're talking a couple of thousand dollars job value. It's, it's, it's, it makes sense from return investment wise, as you sort of say.

Yeah, exactly. So it's, yeah, there's definitely, there's definitely perks to it. Like, I mean, like, I mean, look, I love learning, you know, strangely enough, but it's like, I love that for some aggressive step. Yeah, it's. I Don't like to stand still. Yeah, it's like I like to keep doing more and more. So I mean, we've got, you know, some really sort of long term goals with the local guys. Yeah. And sort of, you know, developing ourselves. You know, we're not in this to be millionaires, but.

Yep.

You know, we're not in it to be broke.

No.

Yeah, we are definitely gonna keep pushing to a point. Like, I mean, it's like, you know, I've got my goals. You know, I was like, I want my home, I want my caravan, I want my really nice ute Y. It's, you know, it's. And. And my boat. Yeah, it's.

It's.

You know, I'm. I'm a simple guy, but. But I'm. I'm still driven and so.

And then freedom, a little bit of freedom as well, or choice, I think is one of the big, big things that sort of I, I find for myself. But you know, and I miss about being, you know, I'm chained to a desk now, but for many years I was on the road and you know, you know, you get a lot, lot of freedom in that regard. You know, where I think, you know, if you're working in an office and stuff like that, you don't necessarily get that sort of thing. So. Yeah, you have to go out and work hard and you know, it might mean weekends or, you know, I mean, you guys decide whether you want to do that. I know for Sean, for example, just wouldn't do weekends at all just because that was his time for. But. But in the early years he was so.

Yeah, well, so while you're establishing yourself. Yeah, we will push as hard as we can.

Yeah, well, you've got goals, as you said.

Yeah, we've got goals. I mean, we're trying to start a family as well. So, you know, we. We've got to make sure that, you know, we're got the financial capacity to do that as well. So, you know, work hard now. Yeah, and it's like, it's. Yeah, once. Once we, once we work as hard as we can now, it's just like, you know, we'll. We'll reap the rewards for the. That later down the track so we can enjoy those weekends off. I can come home and pick up my future kids from school and you know, be there for all those important things.

Y.

And that was probably one of the core values with the local guys as well, which is we really stood out compared to some of the, the larger, the larger guys where it's just those core values just didn't really.

Yep.

You didn't see them. They didn't exist.

Yeah.

It's just like where. Whereas here, like, that was. That was what stood out to me. Yeah. I mean, we've got the CEO and our divisional are related. Like, I mean, it's like. How often do you see that?

Yeah.

And it's just so. And then, you know, everyone's built in with the family, like, and it's just like, you know, other franchise plants are family as well. Yeah, yeah. It's that. That made a very impacting decision. Like, was it very impacting decision factor for us.

I think genuinely that's like one of the things that I absolutely love the most about this business is, is that.

Exact point there, like, so never lose it because it's.

Yeah.

It's one of the biggest core. But the core reasons for us being with it.

Yeah.

You guys and stuff like that. And. Yeah, we appreciate it. It's not just a sign on the wall. Like, it actually is true.

It's not just a corporation and. Yeah, yeah. And I think that that human and family element to it and, you know, that's why we would say everyone in the local guys, all our franchise partners are part of our family and our staff here are part of our family. And I think it's, you know, whether you speak to the staff or franchise partners, it's. It's not a corporate vibe and. And we love that. So. No, I, I love that. The fact that that triggers something for yourselves as well, because that's what we pride ourselves on. And it's. Yeah, it's great. It's great.

Even just that community aspect as well. Like what the work you guys do with what vision.

Yeah.

You know, donating to that is. That's something that was really important to us that, you know, there was a business that was giving back.

Yeah.

So, you know, those. Those kind of things. And it's something that we're really passionate about.

Right.

You know, from a. From a gold. You know, working the Gold coast and Upper Coomera perspective is being able to give back and, you know, support our local community as well. So just another really great value as to why we chose the local guys.

You know, what I love about it as well is it's actually like kind of improved. Pretty cool test to the. The sort of, like people that we want to join the local guys. Because I've had like conversations with people in the past and they just go, I don't want to have to donate to that that's not a problem. We're probably not the right pit fit for you. And genuinely, we tend to get a lot better quality franchise partners because they're the sort of the people that want to join in and go, yeah, of course I want to do it, be a part of that. Oh yeah, they tend to be a lot better franchise. But I don't know, some sort of thing on there, I guess, if you're. Yeah, I don't know. And look, if people don't want to give to stuff and they shouldn't have to be saying, well, I don't have to, I shouldn't have to. But it's just what we stand for and it's great to be, you know, involved with other people that have the same values, I guess. Yeah, yeah. All right, so I want to talk about marketing a little bit. Amy, now I'm talking to you about, when I'm talking about marketing is that. That'd be the fair. Fair guess.

Okay, look.

Okay. Beautiful, beautiful. All right, so I know that I follow your guys social media and I always really enjoy it. It's one of the, I think the, my favorite ones out there. I follow basically all of the guys social media pages and I'm not constantly liking it. So do you want to talk to us a little bit about what sort of marketing stuff that you guys. I've done and enjoy doing and seems to work well, gets good return on investment and stuff like that. Yeah. Can you talk about that a little bit?

I guess from a social media perspective, that is our sort of bread and butter of being able to reach our community and having friends and family. Sharing that at first has really, really helped and I think it's just being relatable to people. So with a lot of the content that we do get, you know, from. From head office, which has been amazing. It's a really great starting point and it just gets better and better week on week. So thanks, Sam.

Yeah, I know you just had a session with Sam before as well and good on you for, you know, using the opportunity while you're down here to hit that up again.

It's just, you know, being consistent across the board. Like if we using the same content, it just really helps drive home that same message. And yeah, being relatable to people from a social media perspective, when you're flicking through and you've been looking at pest control, if we're consistently popping up and it's something that you find funny or relatable or, you know, it kind of speaks to you and you're like, oh, I want to go with those guys. And even, you know, like some of our stuff might be a little bit silly, but you relate to it.

Yeah, it's fun and I think that's what people are on social media for. They don't want anything too serious or whatever.

Yeah.

But then on the flip side of that, educating customers as well, you know, tips and tricks on how to, how to protect your home, how to work alongside your local pest technician, which is hopefully going to be us. So. Yeah, just, just really making sure that it speaks to the customer. Making sure that, you know, we're, yeah, I guess aligned to you guys.

So we're building the brand as well as ourselves.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, you know, yeah, it's, you know, because it's just, you know, rising Tide floats all. But yeah, so absolutely, like definitely got to work together with everyone.

Yeah.

And you know, if we do well and then, you know, we collaborate with, well, Amy collaborates with CM a lot. Building, building all of that, you know, it definitely creates that sort of unified sort of system there.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, there's obviously a lot more that we want to do on social media.

Yeah.

You know, and then we've got our, you know, also the local marketing just getting on, on the foot and try.

Yeah.

And then.

And what does that look like letter.

Drops at the moment? So I've been doing a lot of.

Those and just getting your steps in.

Honestly. But you, you have those really great conversations with customers at their litter boxes.

Yeah.

You'd be surprised how many people actually are just standing outside their house when you're going to do these things. Like the last one I did, I think I had like five or six conversations. Conversations with customers and they were, you just, hey, from the local guys. Yeah, we're in, in your area. You know, local to you guys. Blah, blah.

Yeah.

And just have a really great chat with them and then talking about the fact that, yeah, we've got termites coming up and just building that like one on one connection with them, which I guess is what I'm used to doing from retail, just, you know, sparking conversation with a random person. But yeah, it's just a really good way to get into the community and you know, shopping at our, at our local centers and we're standing in line and people are asking us for cards because we're, you know, in our uniforms and just having some really great conversations with people. Like, I think that's been working, working well for us.

Yeah. Wow.

And then on the flip side of that after Dan, you know, has done an incredible job following up and checking in with people and then getting those reviews as well.

Yeah.

Because having absolutely having that for us or for any business is what's going to help that momentum as well. And that really honest feedback regardless of what it is, we encourage that. And yeah, I think that's just. Most people have sort of gone, hey, like we've checked out your reviews. They look amazing. We'd love to book with you guys. So that's a testament to that service. And just from, you know, start to finish from the call center right the way through to Dan completing the job and then that follow up, if you do all those steps right, you've got a customer for life. Really.

Yeah. Because I know your guys reviews are incredible. It's. I see every review and I look at them every single one and it's constantly another one for Upper Kuruma, another one for Upper Kumar. So that's, that's incredible from, from your guys perspective. And you're right. Yeah.

It's like it was validating when you're.

Doing, you are serving the community. Yeah.

And like, I mean we are like, you know, I mean as owner operators, we need to do a good job.

Yep.

We're not like part of a, a big corporation where it's just like, oh well, as long as I get through my route. Yeah, I get paid. Yeah. It's just like no, it's just if we do a good job, they'll come back.

Yeah.

If we just get through our route and we haven't done a good job.

Yeah.

We don't get that route again. Yeah. So it's like do it, do it right.

Do it.

Well, because that's our livelihood.

I think my uncle worked for one of the larger pest control companies, companies here in Adelaide and he was an employee and it was just very much, you know, he was an employee. So it was, you know, X amount per hour and, and that was it. So you know, they were trying to squeeze in as many jobs as possible to him in a day to try and get as much value out of him on a particular day. And you know, although they're his customers, they're not really his customers. Customers where it's a completely different model for, for yourselves. You know, obviously 100% of the money goes to yourselves. That genuinely your customers, that's an asset that you're building and you could sell one day and you know, grow into this big thing and sell an asset and that bumps up your super or does whatever or, or it just keeps expanding your business and more referrals and the business gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And I think that it's. Yeah. From a customer service perspective it's, I mean it's been proven like franchising versus employee run businesses are like this, the worlds apart as far as service and contentment of the client. So just. Yeah. Then that speaks wholly and solely exactly about what you're sort of saying. So. Yeah. Really, really. Cool. Okay, cool. No worries at all. So tell me a little bit about commercial versus residential. Have you what is a typical client look like on both side of things? So I guess like if you're looking at residential, it's just homeowners renters.

Yeah, homeowners renters. Yeah. So generally just your typical, you know, family home and everything like that. Yep. Like, and, and then commercial.

What sort of clients, what sort of sites are you ticking typically? Mostly doing.

So we do a few restaurants, cafes and takeaway stores, you know, especially because they've got to get their council approvals.

Mostly food related.

Mostly. Yeah, sure, yeah.

Which makes sense. Right, Because I'm an ex pest boost juice franchise partner and I know for us pest control was critical because you get that one, one incident with one person with the phone or one with whatever and you've lost your business. So it is crucially important to have a great relationship with the pest controller.

Yeah, yeah, no, well that's, that's, that's definitely right. And it's just like have a good relationship with them and it's just so, yeah, we, we do, we work a lot with them and you know, we try and give as much advice as we can. Yep. So it's not all about, you know, pest control these days isn't all about just spraying and praying. Yeah, yeah. It's like, you know, I mean we had a meme there. It's just like one does not simply spray for pests. Because it's not true.

Yeah.

You can't. Yeah. There is a whole management system that you need to do.

Yeah.

If your area is not clean, you're creating a food source. So explaining that, educating the customer in a commercial workspace as well. Yeah. You know, and then it's. You provide it to their team and then their team understands. It's just like, okay, there is an importance to this. It's not just, you know, the boss isn't just being hard on us.

Yeah.

It's. There is a reason why we need to do this.

Yeah.

Because it's just if we don't do this, if pests are in here and we're not making sure it's done right. You get shut down. Yeah, it's just like, you know, so.

I guess that would make you a lot stickier as, as a client. It would make you very sticky as a part of their team because you're essentially almost a part of that food business's team. You know, like if you're providing education and you're providing, providing obviously the sprays and all the bait stations and all the rest of it as well, that you're a trusted partner in, in the team of being successful food operators. Where if you were just someone that just comes out and just goes, ah, chuck out a bunch of stuff which I've had happen in the past and had to have Sean come in and actually do a proper program on there, it that would create a very sticky customer who want. Who's going to look after you long time because they. That there's that trust element now, right?

Yeah, yeah, 100%. And it's like, I mean we actually noticed it was. We'd go into some businesses when they, when they first inquired and it's just like, have you had, have you had a pest control before? And it's just like, oh yeah, yeah. Where's the service register? Like did you have one to make sure that you kept up to date with everything? And they're just like, what are you talking about? It's just like, okay, well, I mean we, we provide that. So it's like we've got, you know, a service report so you know, how regularly we came. But then also there's a sighting report so if you guys see activity, you let us know as well.

Yeah.

So that way we know that we can. Where we need to target things to make sure we best service you. So it becomes a team, team effort.

Yeah.

Like it's to, you know, if there is something there, we can fix it because you've told us so we're working together as a team. So it's vital in that regard. Like, I mean same. We still do the same with, with residents. They keep us up to date so we always, you know, maintaining communication with them. So that way we make sure we're on top of it. But as it's. It's essential in those workspaces. So, you know, we want to make sure we give them every, every available opportunity to make sure that they're able to keep their restaurant open or the takeaway store open or you know, not have to deal with those type of things. So.

Yeah. And how things Looking on the, on the money side of things. I'm not going to ask what sort of money you're doing specifically, but like say from a return on investment perspective or a satisfaction perspective, has it sort of, has it met expectations or exceeded expectations?

Yeah, no, it's, it's good. Like we're happy with it.

Yeah.

It's like.

Because it's supporting both. Sorry, sorry, what Was that?

First 12 months? Always.

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's always going to be hard that first 12 months. Yes.

We talk about that J curve on the, on the way in, don't we? Yeah. And it's not until you experience it. It's. Yeah.

Be prepared for it.

Yeah.

You know, and I mean, and that's probably. If you're going to get into it, whether it's small business or franchise or any type of new venture that you're going to start, be prepared for that J curve.

Yeah.

And you've. And, and I understand why a lot of, a lot of people fail in that first two years.

Yeah, you've got to push through it. Yeah.

You've got to have, you've got to have the skin.

Yeah.

To get through it.

So for those people that don't know what the J curve is, what is the J curve?

So it's. So when you get into the business, you know, you are going to dip. So like at the start of the business, it's going to sort of go like this. And initially at the start, you know, I mean, you're going to be building your customer base so your work's not going be to be there straight away. Yeah, you've got a lot of investment, you got a lot of overheads.

Yeah.

Especially when you start, you've got insurances.

You'Ve got franchise that cost a lot of money and.

Yeah.

Vehicle maybe. Yeah.

So you got your setup. So it's just like you have this large investment at the start, so it does dip you down and yeah. You want to try and sort of eventually work your way up and as, as, as. The more you work, the more you grow, you're going to start coming out in this end and then eventually that like it might take you to two years.

Yep.

Before you get there. But once you get to that spot and you go there again.

Yep. Yeah.

You know.

Yeah.

So.

And you guys got through that quite quickly, which was good. I mean, considering as well you're in a seasonal sort of business.

Yeah, yeah, we, we, we got through. Got through.

Especially there's two of you working in the business full time. So it doesn't just have to support one person now we're going deeper into this J curve because we've got two people that have to eat and you know what I mean? And we don't have a, a second income coming from somewhere else that can maybe supplement it.

No, that's, that's right. And it's just like, you know, I mean through, through winter time, you know, we do quieten down and everything like that. And it's just like, you know, we're experiencing that and realizing it's like it's a little bit of a challenge at start. Yeah. So we know that next year we're going to be much more prepared for that.

Yeah.

Yeah. You know, and then that we might go have a summer holiday somewhere like, you know, that'll be the goal. Yeah. So, you know, you've got to set yourself those goals, have those small achievements that, you know, so that's, that's probably our goal there to be able to have a nice little summer holiday next time it comes around.

I think the key for, for winter and getting through it next time start earlier. So really start investing in your commercial clients, your follow ups, everything like that before you hit this period.

Yeah.

So that you've got those all lined up ready to go. Yeah, we sort of partially did that. So that's been a learning experience for us.

Sure.

But if you put in those hard yards, you know, the few months before winter and have that all set up ready to go. Yeah. We would probably have a bit of a cruisier.

Yeah, not cruisier, but you're prepared for it, you're set up for it. You know, the winter's coming and you're. Winter's coming. Yeah, exactly. I was just thinking about that. Exactly.

Yeah. No, we had a of lot, lot of development this year and you know, going through that winter, that, that Christmas period where, you know, we had the, the tree fall in the house and having the ute stuck.

That's right.

You know, we couldn't get out, couldn't work. So plenty of other things you could do. You feel, you feel those type of things and it's so, it's like. Yeah. So we, we definitely got, you know, had a lot of hurdles to jump over, but you know, we did.

Yep.

And you know, we, we, we're doing well.

Yeah.

For it and beautiful. You know, even through our training it took us. It takes some time. Like, I mean it's you, you, it's not for everyone.

Yeah.

You know, and trying to do that whilst working and Everything like that. You find a way, you make it happen.

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah.

That's how to say, just make it happen.

Yeah.

You know, and we did. And you know, we'll keep. We'll keep making it happen.

Yeah. What does a typical day look like now for yourself?

Well, you know, it's up early, you know, I mean, not winter slacked off a little bit, but, you know, I mean, it's like you usually we're up about 4, 4:30 in the morning.

Oh, geez.

So it's, you know, so we, we both try to get out to the gym when we can.

Yep.

You know, if. So it's. It's not every day. Sometimes you do slip up.

Yeah.

You know, we'll keep trying, but yeah, we're out there and then Amy's running, running sort of like straight in, getting. Make sure the marketing and everything. Like that's on top of that. All of that.

Yeah.

And then, you know, I'm. I'm loading up the truck. Yep. Making sure everything's all. All good, ready to go, and then I'm out on the road. I'll do, you know, it's maybe four, four or five jobs a day. Yep.

You know, that seems like the sweet spot for you.

Yeah, it seems like the sweet spot. Like, I mean, it's, you know, eventually we'll grow our local customer base a lot more. Yep. And then your travel time will start to reduce and then that way. Start. Yeah, start, you know, to narrow. Narrow your sort of.

You can squeeze in that extra job, extra two jobs, whatever. Yeah, absolutely.

But. Oh, we'll still look after your current customers. Yeah. Now too, because it's, you know, everyone. They help us build. Yeah. Let's grow. So.

Yeah.

And we will look after everyone. Yeah, it's.

That's just, it's just about planning the days as well.

Yeah. That's the thing. Right.

With your travel time and, and where you're going, just planning your routes and, you know, when you can fit people in.

So eventually, or as you had the thought about, staff member or anything like that.

That is the goal.

That is the goal.

Yeah. If.

Because that seems like the next obvious, you know, maybe we get our feet wet a little bit more with the, the termites. But then after that, that seems like the next sort of obvious thing. It's about finding the right person, obviously.

But we have spoken about that too. Like, you know, we want to actually give, you know, when we do it, we actually want to give a young person a good go.

Yep.

So someone who's out you know, wanting to just getting out into the workforce. Yeah. Wants to work hard. Mult not just their pest license, but their car license and everything like that as well. It's just like, well, look, we'll give you plenty of hours on the road to get your learners, you know, we'll give you, you know, we'll work with you to get you, get you on a good traineeship, to try and get your pest license and then build up that way and then, you know, turn you into someone that's, you know, capable of doing this on your own. And it's just like, well, here, here's the keys.

Yeah. And what an opportunity for them.

You know, know, away you go. So it's, you know, we want to build up that loyalty. You know, we want to, you know, we want, we want a loyal team, so we want to be able to show that we can give to them as much as they want to give to us. Definitely build them up that way. That's. That's definitely something that we've thought about doing. And then.

And there's so many people, young, young people on the Gold coast that would just love that kind of opportunity. We've had mentors and our, you know, working life as well, that have shown you, I guess, the right way to do things and that customer service and starting them from scratch and showing them, hey, you know, this is, this is how we, this is how we operate in our brand is really key.

Yeah, no, absolutely. I think you get a young 20, 21 year old, whatever the number is, and, you know, it's a huge opportunity for them because they learn about business, they learn about customer service, they learn all the time technical skills and stuff like that. So hugely, you know, a great, great learning opportunity for. For someone like that that might be newly out of school and, you know, what's their other thing? It might be working McDonald's or whatever. To have an opportunity like this would be massive. So I think. I love where you guys. Heads up. All right, well, I think we're. We're nearly fine. I could seriously sit here talking all day. I'm like, really enjoying it. Final question. What's. What's your favorite thing? Oh, sorry, no. I might ask one other question. If you want to give advice to. We're just talking about someone potentially younger or whatever, giving advice to someone who's newer and just looking at coming in and these guys are down the pathway now. What would be some of the advice that you'd potentially give to someone, one of the new guys that would come on and something. Wisdom you could possibly pass on to them. What would be that sort of advice?

Set your goals. Yep, definitely that's, that's probably one of the good things. Yeah, definitely set your goals. Have, have a preparation plan. Give yourself a good plan.

Yeah.

And you know, just. Yeah, the goals. Have a good plan. Just talk to as many people as you can.

Yep.

Talk. Talk to the other friends, franchisees.

Yeah. Get their network. Yeah.

Get their input.

Yeah.

See because everyone, everyone's path's going to be different.

Yeah.

It's like, you know, make sure you get everyone's input and you know, it's just like, you know, have you got that footing to, to launch? Yeah, it's. And be ready because it's, it's not going to be easy if you think this is it. Like, you know, get, get rich quick screen get rich quick schemes do not exist.

You gotta work hard. Yeah.

You know, so yeah, it's. Get plenty of sleep before you start.

Yeah.

But it will get there.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, as you said, get past that joke.

Yeah.

You know, be prepared, you know, as really you can do it and just make it happen.

Yeah.

Like, you know, you've got to be in the mindset.

Yeah. I think it's like 90 mindset, isn't it? It really is. Yeah. Yeah. The technical stuff and all the rest of it important, but it's 90% mindset. What about your family?

Yeah. I think like use, use the team like you. When you're part of a franchise, you are one team even though it's your own separate business. Leverage on, use the tools, leverage on your team. It's not a competition, just support one another because there is so much you can get out of that. And I think just if it is your first time owning a business, really like holding that true to, hey, this is my business. We're going to make it happen. What do we want to be known for? You know, what's our brand as well.

You know, what is your personal brand.

And you want to be known for and just. Yeah, sticking to that and staying true to who you are and who you want to be. And I think that mindset really just continues on with that.

Yep, yep. I know we were talking just before we came on and we were talking about out different books and audiobooks and stuff like that and we listen to quite a lot of the. The same sort of ones.

So.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think that everything we sort of do in business is. Is 90 mindset and if you can, if you can get that dialed in. All the rest seems to. To really take care of itself. All right, guys. Well, yeah, again, thank you so much for, for spending or agreeing to spend some time with us. And yeah, I hope the rest of the time down here in Adelaide is great. I know the McLaren Vale was hit up and one or two bevies was, was taken, so. Yeah, yeah, no, so thanks. Thanks once again, guys. Much appreciate it.