Joe Hesmondhalgh is the first to admit that cleaning and restoring tiles and grout is not the most exciting business in these days of social media, ultrafast broadband and online software solutions.
But that doesn't bother the Tauranga businessman. He spotted a gap in the market and developed a franchising system that has gained national recognition.
Mr Hesmondhalgh's GroutPro business, based in Crawford Rd, Te Puna, is one of 13 finalists in the latest Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards, and the overall winner represents New Zealand at the world contest in Monte Carlo next June.
During the past two days, he was grilled in Auckland by the five judges - four of them previous Entrepreneur of the Year winners - who will decide the category winners.
English-born Mr Hesmondhalgh's grout restoration business was up against electromagnetic, IT and software, social media marketing, animal health research and gourmet yoghurt companies.
In two-and-a-half years, GroutPro - business partner Robert Howard of Palmerston North is the second director - has quickly established 37 franchisees in New Zealand and 14 in Australia.
Two master franchisees cover South and Western Australia, and Queensland and Northern Territory, and GroutPro is introducing the franchising system into Britain.
Turnover for the group, including GroutPro as the franchisor and the 51 franchisees, has reached $6 million. It would be one of the fastest growing franchises in the country.
"We discovered three major tile and grout-cleaning franchise organisations in United States but no one was doing it in New Zealand and very little in Australia," said Mr Hesmondhalgh, who moved to Tauranga in 2001.
"Tiles have become a popular flooring option in newer houses but, once they were installed by the tilers, there was no follow-up; nobody was really looking after them," he said.
"The grout, in between the tiles, is made of porous cement material and gets easily stained. It doesn't matter how much scrubbing or mopping you do, the stain in the grout won't go away because the dirty water soaks into it.
"Until we came along, the only solution was to take the dirty grout out. This is a messy and time consuming job with the potential of damaging tiles. There had to be a better way."
Mr Hesmondhalgh brought in sealing products from the US, tested them and got Resene to make a formula, available in 20 colours.
But early last year, he contacted a chemist in Ohio who had developed a groundbreaking colourseal and GroutPro secured exclusive rights to the product for New Zealand, Australia and Britain.
The product comes in 89 colours (they can be mixed); it is resistant to ultraviolet light, frost and oil, it is waterproof, and it has an aluminium oxide finish.
"Forget about the pointless scrubbing ... when we apply the colourseal we guarantee there will be no stains for another 10 years," said Mr Hesmondhalgh.
Right now, GroutPro provides its franchisees with nine different cleaning products - they include an anti-slip treatment for tiles, another for restoring shower glass and a silicon from Germany to produce a shiny and smooth finish for the grout. Two of the products are made in Tauranga.
Mr Hesmondhalgh has been approached by the retailing sector but he is determined not to supply the stores. "We don't want to dilute our brand and the professionalism of our franchisees."
All franchisees - only one had tiling experience - attend an intensive one-week training course in Palmerston North before moving out into the field.
Over the next two to three years, GroutPro wants to complete its coverage in New Zealand with 55-60 franchisees, grow the number in Australia to 200, with four master franchisees - the two new ones covering New South Wales/ACT, and Victoria/Tasmania.
Reaching that target would quadruple GroutPro's business and turnover. Mr Hesmondhalgh has already mapped out Australia and sees the possibility of 483 franchise areas over there.
GroutPro has started a trial operation in London to test the market - "the houses and tiled areas are smaller and we need to document the whole process" - and Mr Hesmondhalgh is planning to start selling franchises in Britain in October.
Other potential markets are South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Ireland and Sweden - "but we'll take baby steps and grow slowly", he said.
Mr Hesmondhalgh has been a serial entrepreneur. Brought up in picturesque Lakes District, he left school, did a printing apprenticeship and then ran his own print broking and courier businesses. He sold them and went to Florida to become a scuba diving instructor, taking groups to Mexico and the Caribbean.
He then moved with his New Zealand-born wife, Andrea, to Tauranga and repeated the formula. He worked for a small printing company, followed by a season instructing at the Tauranga Underwater Centre and another operating his own snorkel and scuba-diving trips out of Mount Maunganui.
"The temperatures weren't conducive to the tourists," he said and went into real estate. He became the top selling agent in the Greerton branch of Eves Realty, bought the first Go Gecko franchise and sold that 18 months later, and had a short spell with Re/max Property. "I spent another year looking for the next big thing, and I found the grout restoration on the internet. This is it. It's been quite a ride. There is a definite niche for what we do," he said.
"I guess that's why Ernst & Young picked up on us (in Entrepreneur of the Year awards). We are doing something a little bit different and we have created an industry that didn't really exist here."
Top performers
The finalists in the 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards are:
* Andrew Lewis and Amber Coulter (Auckland), the Research Agency for brand building.
* Angus Allan (Auckland), The Collective making top-line gourmet yoghurt.
* Anthony Leighs, of Leighs Construction in Christchurch.
* Bill Buckley (Auckland), Buckley Systems making electromagnets for world's ion implant industry.
* Dr Doug Cleverly (Maukau), Argenta the world's first contract animal health research firm.
* Dr Sean Simpson, (Auckland), LanzaTech producing biofuels and eco-friendly chemicals.
* Joe Hesmondhalgh (Tauranga), GroutPro franchised tile and grout cleaning and restoration business.
* Kathyrn Wilson (Auckland), branded footwear supplied to 55 retailers in NZ and 20 in Australia.
* Palmerston North-born Linda Jenkinson (California), LesConcierges with 200 staff in 89 cities.
* Neil McGowan and Marcus Radich (Auckland), Digital Arena for IT and software solutions to grow businesses.
* Selwyn Pellett (Auckland), Imarda producing high tech tracker system to manager company fleets.
* Simon Gault (Auckland), Sous Chef and The Nourish Group, restaurant owner including Euro and managing Hilton Hotel restaurants in Auckland and Taupo.
* Manawatu-born Victoria Ranson (California), Wildfire with staff of 155 conducting social media marketing campaigns for clients such as Pepsi, Audi, American Express and Air New Zealand.
A further round of judging will find category winners in products, services, technology and emerging industries, Young Entreprenuer of the Year and Master Entrepreneur of the Year.
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