Franchising in Australia is in a strong position; higher disposable incomes, parents returning to the workforce and an ageing population are touted to be the driving factors in the industry’s strength – with major growth felt in the food retail, personal services and home maintenance sectors*.
Over the last five years, the Australian Franchising sector has recorded average annual growth of 2.7% and an estimated combined revenue of $172bn. With 1,180 franchise groups, employing over 570,000 people across the nation, it’s clear that continued success is being felt across the board – and the key to success in business is efficiency.
Efficiency in business comes by ensuring all cogs in the business machine are fully functional and optimised. Franchise groups are tasked with monitoring all aspects of their operating system and maintaining the efficiency of that system across all outlets. One of the most important aspects for groups to monitor is insurance – as any successful franchise group will tell you, it’s important that all franchisees have a level of cover that complies with their industry and their franchisor.
Just Cuts, Nandos, The Cheesecake Shop, Car Care and Hire a Hubby – some of Australia’s most accomplished franchise groups – all insure through National Franchise Insurance Brokers, and use NFIB to standardise the cover of their franchisees. As franchisors, they can keep track of their franchisees’ certificates of currency, insurance renewal dates and levels of cover taken out. This way, the franchise groups can ensure all their franchisees are properly covered – and compliant with their insurance guidelines.
Mike Stringer – franchisor of Car Care – when asked what the main benefits of NFIB’s system are, said,
‘We switched to NFIB a couple of years ago mainly for the 24/7 access to documentation and the transparency with the reporting of claims. From our Franchisees’ perspective the biggest benefit has been having a single point of contact and the way the claims are managed. This also helps us stay at arm’s length from these individual issues whilst maintaining control.’
NFIB’s managed program is the culmination of ideas designed to make it easier for franchise groups to optimise their insurance matters. The National Training and Development Manager at Hire a Hubby, John Harley, spoke to us about what he finds most important about his company’s NFIB affiliation,
‘We see our relationship with NFIB as a partnership. The benefit we derive is one of single point of contact for all the insurance needs of our franchise network. Being a national brand we need our insurance coverage to reflect the local needs of our franchisees. NFIB provide the products, the advice, the access and all the necessary communication needed so we can concentrate on the things we do best.’
The managed program allows franchisors to monitor their franchisees’ insurance covers, and offers a simple solution to what can be a particularly complex and stressful operation for franchisees. Here it is explained in 3 steps:
- The franchisor negotiates customised cover for their franchised business, based on the business’ risk profile and need for financial protection.
- The franchisor then recommends the NFIB program to their franchisees as a preferred provider of insurance cover.
- Franchisees are provided the option of joining the franchise managed program by completing a pre-populated online form which provides the premium and payment methods.
Running a franchise can be time consuming and, at times, stressful. The more a franchise group does to ease the process of uniformity across its network defines just how difficult or straightforward a franchisee’s job is. A managed insurance program means a franchisee can spend more time and energy on running their business and less time fretting over insurance, a matter which doesn’t have to be regarded as complex and difficult.
For more information on NFIB’s system – and how to negotiate a tailored insurance ¬program. Go to www.mynfib.com.au or freecall 1800 776 747.
*The Franchising Sector Australia: http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=1902