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Franchising brings unique opportunities and challenges. Luke Coates, who operates Ringwood and Echuca Aussie branches, has spent the last decade building his brand.
Coates worked for ANZ before beginning his career with Aussie in 2015. He purchased a franchise in Ringwood, in East Melbourne, off of a franchisee duo looking to retire.
One of the owners decided to stay on as a broker through the transition as he wasn’t quite ready to retire. This allowed Coates to lean on his expertise and develop his skills as a franchisee.
Now, following a decade of running the Ringwood branch, Coates has purchased another store in Echuca, a border town in Northern Victoria.
Running a brokerage in a completely different environment while juggling his metro franchise is Coates’ current hurdle.
Establishing himself in the regional border town through chasing leads and making his presence known in the local area is key.
“I think there’s a right and wrong way to do that. You can’t go too hard too early. It’s got to be a balanced approach to it. But I’m still busy with existing customers out of the Ringwood store as well. So, I’m still busy,” said Coates.
Part of that exposure is getting involved in the community. Coates is looking into sponsoring his son’s footy club to get the word out.
Especially in regional areas, community presence is crucial. Coates said it’s “magnified” compared to operating in a metro area.
“Community engagement is important in Metro Melbourne, but it stands out a lot more in a regional centre. So, we’ve really got to leverage that for it to work,” he said.
Another unique challenge is operating in a border town. This position means clients from both NSW and Victoria are seeking his services.
For a broker, this means keeping across both states’ laws is important. Similarly, transitioning from a metro area, borrower activity is vastly different.
“We’ve got to be across legislation on both sides of the border. And just different property types, lots of rural type properties that you’ve got to get your head around from a policy standpoint, from a lending perspective as well. So, it’s certainly different. It brings about a little bit more variety in what we do as well, which is good,” Coates said.
Where to begin?
Those wanting to begin their franchising journey should leverage relationships and be proactive in the search.
For Coates, discussing opportunities with colleagues is what helped him make the eventual purchase.
A major adjustment is going from being a broker to being a business owner. Rather than just writing loans, a franchisee like Coates wears many hats.
“At the start, I was the receptionist, the mortgage broker, the cleaner, head of HR. You do wear many different hats, but as the business grows, you start to put people into those roles to assist,” he said.
Having the support of the franchise is a major differentiator between operating under this model and being a traditional business owner.
“It feels like I’m part of the team still. Even though I’m running my own business, I still have multiple people I can pick the phone up to help,” Coates said.
For those wanting the independence of business ownership without the isolation, franchising can be an attractive option.
Coates can still connect with colleagues at Aussie for support while operating his two branches. While there are challenges to overcome, there are rewards to reap.
