Home Maintenance Franchise Recruitment Success

Blazes’ home maintenance franchise has recruited 10 new franchisees.

Billed as a low-cost franchise alternative to its existing retail franchise, the new opportunity has proved a success since its launch at the Manchester Franchise Exhibition just over a year ago.

Managing director Michael Eyre says: “The Blazes home-based franchise is proving a much more successful model than we originally anticipated. The returns for our franchisees have exceeded expectations, with sales and target earnings 50% higher than our initial projections – including December and January when installations are generally lower than at other times of the year.

 “Our franchise partners have proven their mettle, by effectively following Blazes' system they are enjoying full-time pay for part-time work. This has helped push our recruitment levels up, as the interest of potential franchisees quickly increases when they see how successful our current franchisees are.

“The subsequent growth of our network has also outstripped expectations and we now operate monthly training programmes for new franchise partners.”

Selling central heating systems and working from a home office, most Blazes franchisees already run their franchise on a part-time basis alongside a job or existing business to bring in an additional revenue stream.

As a home-based business with low overheads, new franchisees only invest £5,000 of their own money.

Michael says, “With a Blazes franchise there are fewer financial hurdles to overcome. Any applicant who meets with the approval of Blazes’ management team can start trading the week after coming on board

“Even when they’re organising customer visits around work or family commitments, they can comfortably make a full-time income. And apart from good communications skills, they don’t need any experience. The opportunity is open to anybody with good sales capabilities and the small amount of investment required.”

With four more franchisees about to join the network, the company has had to recruit additional staff at head office to provide franchisees with more support. The recent surge in enquiries has been partly down to the government-backed boiler scrappage scheme, launched in January 2010, which enables customers to claim a £400 voucher against a replacement boiler.

Michael comments: “The scheme has had such an impact on the level of enquiries our franchisees are getting that we’ve had to build on our infrastructure, and have now taken on a new technical manager. He will be on hand to help franchisees develop their product knowledge, such as understanding specific heating regulations, and dealing with installers.”

Blazes have a good reputation as a leader in the franchising industry selling fires and fireplaces through retail outlets. This high level of industry experience has been one of the main factors helping new franchisees become quickly established in their territories.

Blazes’ most recent recruit, Steve Mahner from Swansea confirms: “Blazes is a professional organisation, and the people behind it know what they are doing. When it came to choosing a franchise, brand awareness and a longstanding relationship with good suppliers were important decision-making factors for me.

“First of all I looked at the way Blazes promotes itself, and I was very impressed with the marketing. Then I was struck by the excellent quality of the products, and the fact that Blazes offers extended warranties and good finance packages to its customers – both things that make my job and my life much easier.”

Steve adds, “I’m looking forward to exceeding all of my expectations, as many of the other home-based franchisees already have.”