The business is being marketed by Link Business Broking Ltd. The owner's discretionary income is about $230,000 and the business is for sale at $540,000.
All technical building skills are in place, with two teams of builders, a project manager and contract manager, who make up this successful Refresh business. Their speciality is being able to do the larger renovation jobs.
The territory is more or less the old Auckland City region, a hotbed of renovation activity. Refresh carries out a range of renovations - kitchens and bathrooms through to significant re-builds. From the first call to signing off the job, a Refresh project manager will be part of the process of delivering whatever the customer wants.
Refresh Renovations is a specialist building renovations franchise, growing throughout New Zealand. It is a highly professionally brand, with a point of difference.
The customer need not do much at all apart from having an idea of budget and requirements.
A Refresh Renovation specialist will talk to them, get a good idea of what they want, and set about putting it into reality.
From the initial meeting, to the quote for the job, getting consents if necessary, and arranging the team to do the work. Refresh handles it all.
They are experts at what they do, because this is all they do.
From making a kitchen, bathroom or laundry a better space, to adding on a room, a whole floor, or a deck, Refresh has the capacity to do it all for their clients.
Refresh was started several years ago by the directors of Traffic, a business consulting company that specialises in the building industry.
Refresh Renovation skills require the ability to lead and manage a team.
After years of research the directors gained insight into problems faced by homeowners and they developed an effective model to deliver renovation outcomes.
Research shows the renovation industry is in a similar position to what the burger restaurant industry was during about the 1950s.
It is made up of highly fragmented one-man-bands each offering slightly different services with very limited opportunities to scale. Yet the NZ renovation market is $6.2 billion per year so it represents bigger market than the fast food sector. And there is vast opportunity for a fresh approach, according to overseas research.
"Within such a large and fragmented market, there is opportunity for companies that are organised, differentiated and focused on brand-building, to capture market share and build large scale businesses," the research concluded.
The biggest headache for customers is managing the host of designers and tradesmen. However, Refresh provides a seamless one-stop-shop "design and build" process. It makes decision-making simpler and clearer, taking away much of the risk of budget blow outs. Building Research Association NZ estimates an efficient design and build process (of this type) may remove up to 30 per cent of renovation cost.
Owning a Refresh franchise is about running a "building company". Skills required are communications and the ability to lead and manage a team - you need not be a builder.
All calls are taken at head office's call centre, initial details taken, then jobs are assigned to next franchise owner on the list. Franchise owners need not do a lot of marketing to get clients because head office does it for them.
Of course, a good owner will be getting referrals from satisfied customers too.
Refresh has strong relationships with many suppliers, capitalising upon the negotiating power of the whole group.
