Be your own Boss

By James Anthony

Been in the workforce for a while? Sick of your current job? Tired of working for people who don't appreciate your talents? Or are you just in need of a career seachange?

Well, ever considered taking on a franchise? - like any one of two dozen or more services offered by Jim Penman of Jim's Mowing fame.

The franchises include antennas, bookkeeping, dogwashing, fencing, pool care, paving, balloons, carpet cleaning, computer services, tree services, heating and cooling, painting, roofing and many more.

And one of the really beautiful things about these businesses is that you don't need to know anything about your chosen new profession - it will all be taught to you.

The man who started it all, Jim Penman, says his team is always looking for good new franchisees.

"They are not easy to find," he says. The people Jim is particularly keen on are usually in their 30s and 40s on an average or above-average income. "White-collar professional types who have held responsible positions."

Jim says the key things franchisees need are business and people skills. And they must be able to organise themselves. "Our lawn-mowing contractors are very rarely gardeners … they are more likely to be a bank manager.

"It is easier to teach a person to prune a rose or wash a dog than teach them how to talk to people and organise themselves."

Jim's training courses vary in length according to the skill set needed in the area they will be working in. There is a three-day business course where you learn the principles and basics of Jim's system and then get technical training for your franchise. This could be from two days to, in the case of Jim's Trees, two weeks.

There was a fair bit of pride in his voice when Jim told us that in New South Wales there were only two ways to officially learn how to put up fences. TAFE Colleges, or Jim's Fencing.

The cost of getting into a franchise with Jim varies upon your area, state and the size of the established client base. For mowing it could be between $12,000 and $20,000 with up to $6000 extra for equipment.

So how long does it take to start getting busy?

"A couple of hours," says Jim. "Most people buy an established business, or a split - where someone has too many customers. It is easy to have people filled with work."

So if you have an interest in Alarms, Antennas, Bookkeeping, Building Maintenance, Car Cleaning, Carpet Cleaning, Cleaning, Computer Services, Concreting, Dog Wash, Electrical, Fencing, Floors, Garden Edging, Heating & Cooling, Irrigation, Mobile BBQs, Painting, Paving, Pergolas, Pool Care, Pressure Cleaning, Roofing, Security Doors, Test and Tag (electrical equipment), Trees and *gasp* Window Cleaning, then maybe a franchise is what you need.

You are working for yourself and the freedom that it brings ensures you won't need to kill yourself to make money for someone else.

Links:
Jims.net