Page 18 - OPE MARCH 2019

INSIGHT
Lawn & Garden Contractors
A small part of the overall business but growing, Green Acres GO is designed to cater for the sort of last minute, ad hoc customer demand that your average Green Acres franchisee can’t suddenly plug into his or her hopefully full schedule.
All the research indicated that the sort of people who would fit into the Green Acres GO framework weren’t looking to buy a business or commit long term.
“It’s somebody who wants some extra cash,” says Jason Hill.
“There might be a student or stay at home mum or dad. They want to be able to flick their app on for however many hours a day or week suits them and have some extra cash.”
Green Acres GO operators don’t wear uniforms but they’re vetted, go through a health & safety regime and, the better their reviews, the more work they get through the app.
In terms of franchisees, however, although there’s plenty of work coming in, as last year it’s obvious that there aren’t enough hands to do that work.
“We’re getting a lot of enquiry for lawn and garden jobs but we’re light on lawn and garden operators,” says Jason Hill.
On top of which he admits frankly: “It’s really tough at the moment. Tough in
franchising in general.
“And it’s not just the new franchises. We
have existing guys that are trying to sell their franchise; [they’re] really, really good businesses but they’re tough to get away,” he says.
Is there something in the pipeline to resolve this?
“Yes we need to do something because things aren’t working,” says Jason.
“But what does that mean, what is that silver bullet? We’re not too sure.”
How about reducing the cost of entry to a franchisee?
“We’ve tried all sorts of different things over the last few years and to be honest price we have found isn’t actually an issue.
“We ran a campaign two years ago we basically buy by franchise for five thousand bucks and it wasn’t really successful.
“Yes it’s on the radar but it’s not a major contributor to whether they buy or don’t buy.
“So you know we still we’re still searching for that silver bullet. So we’ll say well, we don’t have a magic formula at the moment.”
Now check out our regular Top Gear new products section on pages 22 & 23 of this issue for new contractor mowers from Honda and Masport! ■
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Encouraging
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Introducing the Robolinho
Meet the solo by AL-KO Robolinho 700E, a fully autonomous robotic mower that takes care of user’s lawns automatically and quietly.
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Contact your local Masport Territory Manager, call 0800 MASPORT or email solobyalko@masport.co.nz for more information.
IT’S CLEAR THAT lawn mowing
contractors are facing something of a squeeze and feedback from Rod Brain of West Auckland Mower & Chainsaw Repairs, who’s been repairing mowers since he was 15, does nothing to change my mind about this.
“People are dropping out of the system – I think people are wising up to having to pay all these fees. So our biggest feedback with contractors is cost,” says Rod.
One way Rod tries to help mitigate these costs is to encourage his contractor customers to view their equipment as an asset rather than just a tool and not only keep maintenance up to date themselves but also consider replacing their mowers on an annual basis.
How many actually listen to his advice? “Probably say at least 70%,” says Rod, who adds: “We are probably one of the very few mower shops that will actually spend a good half an hour with the customer after the sale’s gone through on how to do maintenance and how to get the best out of their mower to keep their running costs down.
“We don’t go chasing sales but we
do advise contractors to replace gear that’s at the end of its life. We encourage customers to replace their equipment once a year and the guys that do that, they’re the ones that have a successful business.”
Plus, getting his contractor customers up to speed with some basic knowledge and encouraging them to do some of their own preventative maintenance also means West Auckland Mower & Chainsaw Repairs doesn’t have to constantly drop what it’s doing to get a contractor back on the job.
Above: West Auckland Mower & Chainsaw Repairs’ Rod and Amanda Brain with mechanic, Caleb Blank.
“We encourage [contractors] to do the bulk of maintenance themselves and just come in when they’ve got a problem. Then we can also see if they’re not doing what they need to be doing.
“As soon as [contractors] take our advice they come back, they say things are picking up. They start making money and, once they start making money, we make a bit of money...” Result.
Rod says the shop also does free clutch adjustments, which frees up
the workshop from urgent gearbox replacements and also again saves the contractors money “because gearboxes aren’t cheap”.
“It also means we can spend more time doing domestic lawnmowers and making more money in my pocket – it’s a win-win if you know what I mean.”
Other indicators of the issue of contractors’ costs include a big increase in the Brains’ sales of battery products
to commercial operators, says Rod, and lower running costs are just part of what’s driving this trend.
“The hedge cutting guys with battery gear are starting earlier in the morning to get out of the afternoon heat,” he says.
“Those who have made the commitment are starting to see the benefits – they’re making a bit more money, thanks to less fuel costs and less servicing costs.”
For the same reason, the store and its customers are also fans of Honda mower engines, not only because they’re reliable but also “because they’re nice and quiet”.
www.westaucklandmowerand- chainsawrepairsltd.co.nz
018 NZOUTDOORPOWEREQUIPMENT MARCH2019
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