Man about the house

Hire a Hubby’s handyman service has built an international business out of doing the jobs you hate. By Andrea Toal.
 
ACCORDING TO Brendan Green, the CEO of Hire a Hubby, there’s never been a better time to become a professional handyman. Even the threat of rising interest rates doesn’t worry him. “Ironically, a tightening of the property market actually drives more business our way,” he explains. “It usually serves to boost the rental market and real estate agents and property managers are a key source of work for our guys.”

Brendan Green, the CEO of international
handyman franchise Hire a Hubby, says the
business is going from strength to strength
despite the effects of rising interest rates
on the property market.The recession-resistant nature of its business has helped Hire a Hubby grow to include 275 franchisees here in Australia. The company also launched into the UK in July of this year, despite the uncertainty of the housing market over there in the wake of the credit crunch.

“The conditions in the UK at the moment are actually very enticing,” says Green. “Rental property managers might have as many as 500 properties on their books and what they’re looking for is a reliable service provider. We offer an easy and reliable service which fits with their needs, so those types of economic conditions don’t concern us.”

“The push towards further education has moved people away from the trades,” says Green. “Younger guys just don’t know how to do maintenance type jobs around the home any more.”

The worldwide skills shortage in key trades is another factor that works to Hire a Hubby’s advantage. Add to that the growing number of cash-rich, time-poor professionals, the trend towards solo living and the need to renovate ageing housing and it’s not hard to see why Green remains optimistic about the potential for future growth.

In addition to the domestic market, Hire a Hubby also services a growing number of corporates, including National Australia Bank, Supercheap Auto and the Colorado Group. “Occupational health and safety regulations make it hard for employers to do any physical repair work themselves,” explains Green.

“If they haven’t trained their staff appropriately, they can’t ask an employee to do even the most basic maintenance work without risking a heavy fine.” One of the company’s big attractions to large corporations is its ability to offer a nationwide service and the added security of knowing that all of its handymen have been thoroughly police checked and are fully insured.

Hire a Hubby was conceived as a sole trader operation before the decision to franchise the Melbourne-based business was made in 1996. Green was initially brought on board to oversee the implementation of a master franchising model. “We took the first master on in New South Wales and ended up buying him out very shortly after,” explains Green. “We’ve continued to run the business since then. We run all three masters on the east coast, though we do have a couple of independent masters in South Australia and Western Australia.”

The majority of franchisees are still single operators, but more and more are looking to grow their businesses. Green estimates that Hire a Hubby’s 275 Australian franchisees operate around 290 vans. “It’s a man in a van concept to start with,” explains Green. “But at the top end we’ve got guys who are running multiple vans with four or five employees. We’ve just come out off our national conference and one of the concepts that was widely discussed was how to manage that growth.”

Franchises are graded according to an area’s earning potential. The company invested in a series of demographic profiles that enabled it to divide each state into bronze, silver and gold franchises. A bronze franchise costs $29,990, while a gold franchise costs $49,990. All franchises are essentially turnkey, with the company providing laptops, printers, mobile EFTPOS machines, uniforms, insurance, the appropriate training and sign writing for the franchisee’s vehicle.