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MISSION STATEMENT                

"Graham's Garden Care is a professional franchise system dedicated to the growth of the system and the individuals within the system by providing the highest quality professional home services.”

INTRODUCTION

The following pages generally outlay the Graham's Home and Cleaning Care system which is designed to give a secure entry into the professional home and cleaning care industry, as well as garden maintenance.

Graham's Garden Care commenced operation in the Bayside suburb of Brisbane in 1992. After 18 years of successful growth, Graham's is now a high profile name in the lawn mowing, gardening and property maintenance industry. From modest beginnings, Graham's now has over 100 franchise operators in all Brisbane Suburbs, Brisbane Bayside, Ipswich, Pine Rivers, Logan, Caboolture, Moreton, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Victoria (Geelong).

With outstanding growth, Graham's has chosen to grow beyond our professional garden care service to include Home & Cleaning Care. To date, Graham's has provided professional property maintenance to over 200,000 domestic and commercial properties mainly with professional garden care.

BACKGROUND

Graham’s Home & Cleaning Care is a division of Graham’s Garden Care. Graham's Garden Care was formed in Brisbane Bayside in 1992, and in 1994 Ron and Kerrie Sleet purchased a Graham’s franchise at Hamilton on Brisbane's Northside. After establishing a successful operation, the Regional Brisbane North/Sunshine Coast Office was established in April 1995, with Ron and Kerrie Sleet as Owner/Operators. In March, 1997, with the purchase of Graham’s Brisbane South, Ron and Kerrie became Graham's Garden Care Principle Franchisors, and in 1999 became the owners of Graham's Garden Care Australia.

After successfully owning, building and running Graham’s for the past 18 years Ron and Kerry decided to retire and sell the business. They handed over the reins in January 2012 to Ian Port and his partner, Rachael who currently owns Top Gun Landscaping.

Ian is a hands-on operator of a successful landscaping, fencing and project services business that has been operating for the last 9 years. Ian grew this company from humble beginnings when he purchased a small gardening run that was originally only 2-3 days per week. His determination and drive within the industry has seen this small one man operation turn into a successful business with a staff of up to 30 at times. Ian has a Certificate III in Horticulture, has a Structural Landscaping trade and is registered with the BSA. Top Gun specialises in large projects such as government contracts and water pipelines. His most recent is the Logan Link Project.

His partner, Rachael has a strong background in Real Estate. For 10 years Rachael worked in Property Management, Sales and Marketing and Business Development. Leaving Real Estate in 2005 she became the Qld Business Development Manager for a Real Estate software company. She takes pride in her success of this position and was regularly the number 1 salesperson throughout Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, Rachael left this company to have a family. Since this date she has been managing the Top Gun Landscaping administration team.

The Brisbane Head Office which is now located in Tanah Merah has quadrupled its data base of clients in the last 18 years. Ian and Rachael look forward to building great relationships with their Franchisees. They will constantly be seeking ways to improve the operation and returns to investors in a Graham's Garden Care Franchise.

Graham’s Home & Cleaning Care commenced operation in Logan Central, Brisbane in 2007 and is currently the fastest growing division of Graham’s.

The Brisbane Head Office has quadrupled its data base of clients in the last 18 years. Ron prides himself on his relationships with his Franchisees. He is constantly seeking ways to improve the operation and returns to investors in a Graham's Franchise.

THE SYSTEM

The system is designed for each Franchisee to request work (clients) from his/her territory, or for the area which is 15 km from the edge of that territory. Client leads are distributed on a “first right of refusal” basis according to territory, plus any extra enquiries from non territory areas.

Leads may be for normal domestic jobs, Body Corporate (units, etc) jobs or for commercial premises. A Franchisee can request extra leads per day, however, the quality of service must not be compromised and any further requests for leads are subject to the demand.

The client calls the Graham's telephone number at Graham's central office. The client speaks with a Graham's employee who will gather all relevant details and assist where relevant. The client's details, including name, address phone numbers, job codes and client's special requests, are entered into a computerized system and “SMS'd” to the Franchisee to react.

The Franchisee should present him/herself to the client, discuss the client's needs, perform the service and present invoice for payment. Each Franchisee should have the clear intention of converting each enquiry to a regular customer. Each client registered in the Graham's system will be recorded as “owned” by the nominated Franchisee. This means that whenever that client calls Graham's, their request will be forwarded to the same Franchisee in the first instance to maintain a strong service relationship with each client.

The Graham's system is very personable with Graham's employees who know the Franchisee personally. Someone is always available to assist Franchisees with advice or support. They can phone the office Monday to Friday 8am–5.30pm, Saturday 8am – 12 noon. After hours, Franchisees can phone Ron or their Regional Manager on their mobile number. If the Franchisee does not request leads on a daily basis, or they are not working on a particular day, or they are unable to assist a client at a requested time, he/she will forgo their territorial rights if there are customers within their territory seeking the services of Graham's.

HOW IT WORKS

After an initial interview, the applicant spends a TRIAL day with an experienced Franchisee to see what the work is like and to ask relevant questions. The Franchisee also reports to the office on the suitability of the applicant to join the group.

From there, if the applicant wishes to become a Franchisee, contracts and disclosure documents are signed and the new Franchisee has a solid week of training with one or more of the nominated franchisee trainers.

JOB/CLIENT CREATION

The Franchisee and Graham's are equally responsible for job creation. A planned marketing campaign is designed to create work in and around your area from day one. Graham's works on creating leads on behalf of the Franchisee for the term of agreement, however the Franchisee is expected to actively promote his/her business and accordingly will be provided with at no additional cost, self-promotional materials, e.g., leaflets, fridge magnets, real estate kits, etc., to use for their own purposes.

Under the Graham's system, you as Franchisee effectively “own” the client provided, even if that client is in a neighbouring area outside of your territory. Accordingly the wise Franchisee will put every effort into service and building relationships with clients.

Jobs are requested and allocated (subject to demand) to the Franchisee each day and they can be a mixture of regular and one off jobs. The Franchisee does have responsibility in servicing all clients to the best of his/her ability as well as rebooking the client for the next service. Quality service and work will lead to more jobs. Also, the high profile Graham's signage will attract clients to you.

The good name of Graham’s Home & Cleaning Care will attract a broad cross section of cleaning, domestic & commercial.

WHAT IF I HAVE TOO MUCH WORK?

The system is designed so that all Franchisees should get to a point where they cannot fit in any more work, provided the quality of service is maintained and repeat custom built. When you reach this stage for your franchise, then you have three choices:

   1. Stay as you are where a client is replaced if you lose one;
   2. Employ staff and or purchase/lease better equipment and continue to grow; or
   3. When you get to approximately 100 regular clients you can split your franchise and sell it at a price that
       you decide, subject to the provisions of the Franchise Agreement.

INCOME/GUARANTEE

An initial income of at least $3,200.00 per each four week period is guaranteed for the first 12 weeks of operation provided the Franchisee does all work offered. Three thousand two hundred dollars income over a four week period is equal to receiving approximately sixty regular clients. The Franchisee should have built his/her regular client base to 50+ after approximately 4 months. Of course, regular clients will also be supplemented by one-off type jobs.

When a Franchisee has enough regular clients, his or her income should be approximately $1,200 plus per week on average.

PERSONAL/REFERENCE CLIENTS

All Franchisees should get additional regular clients that have come from referrals from existing clients, and additional properties for same client. These clients are called personal clients and are under the Graham's weekly Franchise flat fee system. You are not paying extra for these clients. Graham's do not charge client lead fees or percentage of turnover, only the flat weekly fee.

After 6 months on average, Franchisees should have somewhere between 20 and 40 regular personal clients. This is an important point as the wise Franchisee will work hard at this end of his business and is not penalized under the Graham's system for his efforts.

This is an important point to remember when considering which franchise system to join.

A FRANCHISE OR WHICH FRANCHISE GROUP?

An initiative to grow with Graham's Home & Cleaning Care will only create greater awareness for our brand, however, it is important that you look at the various franchise groups and independent businesses, so that you can decide which is best for you. Obviously, we feel that our system is the best available but this is for you to decide.

We feel that Graham's Home & Cleaning Care is best suited to those people who wish to have a business that can grow as big as they want. We suggest that you look into the purchase price, noting what is excluded, ongoing fees and costs, ongoing support, penalties if any, sale of franchise procedure, opportunity to expand, communication systems (client to office/office to franchisee) and the nature of the relationship between the Franchisee and Franchisor. It is vital that have you a clear understanding of all of the above and professional advice should be taken where necessary.

The support provided by the Franchisor is very important. Advice on all relevant areas is readily available.

As an independent contractor, it is difficult to compete against the spending power of the franchise group when it comes to advertising/marketing, brand identification and support.

SICKNESS, ACCIDENTS AND HOLIDAYS

One of the biggest worries for an independent contractor is what happens if he/she gets sick or wants to have a holiday. By being part of a franchise group, this is not a problem as Franchisees are able to cover for one another; this is particularly important when servicing corporate accounts.

FRANCHISE FEES

The initial payment for the Franchise is $16,990 (including GST), and this includes a basic equipment pack (see following page). Franchisees pay fees of $123 (including GST) per week. This fee covers all administration and advertising done by the Franchisor, and remains the same whether your income is $2000 p/w or $800 p/w. Franchise fees are subject to review each January. Special price $14,990 valid to end of May, 2011.

MEETINGS

We make every effort to hold Franchisee meetings as regularly as possible for ongoing training, product awareness, business evaluation, etc., and for Franchisees to swap clients so that their travelling is reduced. This applies to Metropolitan Franchisees. Special arrangements are made for Regional Franchisees.
    
POTENTIAL INCOME

Based on fifty weeks working and two weeks holiday per year, a turnover of $75,000 is achievable for a one person operation.

*this is not a guaranteed figure.

 STANDARD EQUIPMENT

    * Industrial backpack vacuum cleaner & attachments
    * Wringer mop bucket & normal mop bucket & mops
    * Soft broom and Hard broom
    * Various cleaning cloths & brushes
    * Various cleaning agents
    * Spray bottles for chemicals
    * Wet floor/safety/danger sign
    * Containers to hold all chemicals & equipment etc.
    * Uniforms Supplied
    * Business cards and invoice pads
    * Promotional leaflets
    * Public Liability insurance

ROOM TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

We have Franchisees who are currently earning more than $3,000.00 per week by employing staff. Although you have the independence of running your own business, you have a safety net within Graham’s system.

There are no restrictions to growing your business, providing specialized services etc, employing staff; in fact, Graham’s encourages it.

FINANCE

Graham’s Home & Garden Care has contacts who can arrange Bank Finance to approved Buyers.

Also, consider lease or rental arrangements for your equipment. If you have any questions regarding Finance, or Leasing of equipment please contact the Graham's Office.

OTHER MATTERS TO CONSIDER

There are other matters which Franchisees need to consider before purchasing a franchise, including but not limited to:

   1. Economic conditions;
   2. The economy (i.e. matters such as interest rates, petrol prices etc);
   3. Relevant regulations; 
   4. Licensing requirements.
   5. Graham's require all Franchisees to provide a police check report.

It is important that Franchisees consider the above matters as they are beyond the control of Graham's. Whilst Graham's is available and happy to liaise on such matters, it is the Franchisee's responsibility to make appropriate enquiries and satisfy themself of any risks or other matters before they enter into and purchase a franchise.

FRANCHISING CODE OF CONDUCT

Top Gun Landscaping Pty. Ltd. T/A Graham's Garden Care (the Franchisor), is legally bound to comply with the Franchising Code of Conduct 1st July, 1998.

INDEPENDENT ADVICE

Before proceeding with the purchase of a franchise, we recommend that you obtain independent Legal Accounting (including Taxation) and other relevant advices.

NEXT STEP

To arrange a trial day or for any additional information please phone the following:

National Franchisor:
Ian Port & Rachael Spence
   
07 3868 3800

Thank you for taking the time to read about Graham's. To enquire and learn more about Graham's and our services please call 1300 134 035 and one of our friendly staff will be happy to assist you. Simply call or click the enquiry page now.

Check the Businesses for Sale section for SPECIALS.