Franchising of estate agencies has proved to be the key to real growth in this sector, says Bill Rawson, Chairman of Rawson Properties.
'Over the last two years property estate agency franchises,' he said, 'have been the number two performer in SA franchising, with 77% more office openings than the average' According to this research done by Franchize Directions, property franchising now accounts for 31% of the franchising sectors revenue. Franchising, said Rawson, has recently grown at just over 20% per annum and has created some 400 000 new job opportunities.
'Franchising is particularly well suited to property marketing because the independence and freedom which a franchise offers appeals to the business person with an entrepreneurial, go-getting spirit '“ and that is exactly the type we are looking for'
This type of entrepreneur, says Rawson, wants to be part of a national brand with all the benefits of tried and tested systems, but with the freedom to use their own initiatives in their businesses.
Rawson says that the success of estate agency franchise operations has been visible across the South African property industry, with Realnet and Jawitz being frontrunners, both having had excellent growth over the past two years.
'Many of these companies take the traditional system and tailor-make it to suit their needs. They may buy existing businesses or market themselves as national referral networks, as opposed to setting up fully fledged estate agency operations'
Rawsons own franchise sales have quite possibly set a new record for the SA property sector: having in 2004 set themselves a target of 400 franchises countrywide by July 2010, Rawsons now have 130 franchises.
Growth in the Cape, where they now have 73 franchises, and in Gauteng and surrounding areas where they have 60 has this year been going ahead at a rate of four franchises signed up per month.
The latest signings in the Western Cape have been for Witsand, Tokai, Constantia Upper, Agulhas and Vredekloof. In Gauteng the latest franchises to come on board have been at Kyalami, Linden and Oakdene.
Certain Western Cape franchisees, said Rawson, had split and sold off sections of their franchise areas '“ as, for example, the Brackenfell franchise did to create the Vredekloof office. This enables the franchises to offer a better service to clients through a high degree of concentration and specialisation which appeals to both buyers and sellers of property in these areas.
Rawson Properties, he added, accept only one in every ten or twelve franchise applications.
'We look for management experience and high ethical standards. Once a franchisee is appointed, he is given a comprehensive training and support system which enables him to operate successfully. The system simplifies his accounting and clerical work and allows us to track his progress and correct him where he goes wrong'
So confident is the Rawson Group of their systems that they offer a buy-back guarantee of the franchise in two years at the original cost, provided the franchisee has complied with recommended operating systems and purchased the franchise directly from them.
