Your Business: Buying a business with Jason Rutherford

Subway is a global system, so there's no risk of failure, says Smales Farm Subway owner / operator Jason Rutherford.

Jason Rutherford is the owner/operator of Subway in the Smales Farm business precinct on Auckland’s North Shore. He and his wife bought the business in April this year.

Why were you in the market for a business?

I had spent a good 20 years working in advertising and I just needed a change. I was also after a change in lifestyle. I've got three young kids and we'd recently bought some land and I wanted to have a bit more time and flexibility to be a father.

My wife and I had been looking for something different to get involved with and we spent a good four years looking and waiting for the right business to come along. We were looking at all sorts of businesses - things like Four Squares, McDonald's and Subways.

So you were after a franchise business in particular?

Yes. My uncle is David McCulloch, who has been very influential in franchising in New Zealand, so I was lucky to have a very good guide! I'd grown up with 'uncle David', and seen him developing businesses, so I understood there's a lot of hard work involved, but also that the benefits can be there with franchising in terms of lifestyle.

Why did you settle on this particular business?

Smales Farm is still only 40 per cent complete, so it's a growth area, and Subway is also a growth business. Subway is also a global system, so there's no risk of failure. You can fail, but if you do that's only because you personally have failed, not the system.

What was the process of buying the business like?

It was hard work. There's a lot of paperwork that you need to do with your accountant and your lawyer, and it was high pressure, because we were throwing a lot of money at a business. But our business broker was great, and the Subway guys were fantastic; they removed a lot of the stress and gave us a lot of reassurance throughout the process.

What other things did you do that you think helped with the process?

We'd done a lot of homework, because this wasn't something we just woke up one morning and decided to do. I've got a friend who owns a few McDonald's so we used him as a source of advice. I was also lucky enough to have the guidance of Mary Lambie, who had bought a Subway, and another Subway owner we knew. So we sat down and talked with them, and we spent some time working in the stores before we were approached to become a franchisee. I think it really helped that I was prepared to put in the time and effort to see how it worked. We used every connection and resource we had at our disposal to try and make this an easy journey.

And how's the business been going so far?

I've lost some weight from working on my feet! But it's been going really well. For us the key has been location, location, location - we've got a lot of great businesses around here and they like to see the owner in the store. And most days I drop off and pick up my kids from school, so it is having that payback from the lifestyle perspective.

Coming up in Your Business: How do you figure out what to pay yourself as the owner of a business? What are some of the different formula or guidelines people use and why? If you've got a story to share, drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com

For more on NZ business ambitions go to www.businessambition.co.nz