Many franchise systems are successful because they fill a specific niche. Particularly these days when people seem to have less and less time to do basic maintenance jobs. One of these jobs, a particular chore dreaded by most people, is oven cleaning.
It is messy, it is time consuming and the chemicals purchased at the supermarket smell horrific. And the worst part is, even when you are finished your oven doesn’t look spotless – it just looks ‘better’ then before you started.
Luckily, Ovenu has stepped in and filled this niche. The company was founded in 1994 in the UK by Rik Hellewell, who took advantage of the gap in the market for professional oven cleaning. The franchise was then brought to Australia in 2004 by Janet and Bernard Bannon.
“We brought Ovenu to Australia in 2004. We had seen the service in Jersey in the Channel Islands, where we lived for a year, before returning to Australia. Rik insisted that we operate the business for a year before we could begin to recruit franchisees,” said Bernard.
Ovenu has been expanding ever since. The service is hugely popular. According to Bernard, “Once a client has had their oven professionally cleaned, it is very unlikely that they will ever attempt the job themselves again.”