The Rawson Property Group is still on target to achieve a 40% annual growth and to have 300 franchises up and running by the end of 2015. This year they have signed 39 new contracts for sales and rentals franchises catering for both residential and commercial property (and one more auction franchise), bringing the total in their group to over 210. A further four franchises could be signed up before the end of this year.
Discussing this recently, Louis Taljaard, National Franchise Sales Manager for the Rawson Property Group, said that although the criteria for becoming a franchisee are admittedly quite stiff, they are not too onerous: approximately one out of every ten applicants for franchises is accepted and when, as sometimes happens, he and his colleagues approach existing agencies offering them a move to the Rawson Property Group, the success rate is about one in three.
“The last few years,” he said, “have shown that there is a growing awareness that a career in property offers the individual independence and a real chance to shape his own future and earn a satisfactory income.”
In Gauteng, in particular, said Taljaard, but throughout South Africa, there is considerable interest from entrepreneurs/investors who may not have property experience themselves, but who then, having purchased a franchise, appoint qualified people to run it for them. This, too, he said, is evidence of the growing interest throughout the country in property as a career.
Twelve of the new franchisees this year have been conversions of the type referred to, i.e. already existing estate agencies or agents who have decided to transfer their allegiance to the Rawson Property Group as they believe they can do better under the Rawson banner.
Potential franchisees who understand real estate marketing, said Taljaard, tend to judge a franchisor on five main counts: their branding and image countrywide, the technology they supply, the support they give to the franchisee, the training they provide him and his staff and finally their understanding of what it means to be an entrepreneur.
The Rawson Property Group, said Taljaard, is in a very strong position to meet the needs of a new franchisee because every one of the senior management has been an estate agent and run a branch or a franchise at some stage in their past.
Taljaard said that training is crucial to any franchisee and his staff and the Rawson Property Group places great importance on this. What is more, he said, training has to be, and always is, on-going for all franchisees, not just those who have recently joined the group
“The result,” said Taljaard, “can be seen in the franchisees’ performances: 70% of the Rawson Property Group franchises this year have increased their turnover significantly.”
Among the top new performers this year, said Taljaard, have been Waterkloof in Pretoria (franchisee Lee van der Walt), Newlands, KwaZulu-Natal (where the franchisee is Susan Reddy), Port Elizabeth Platinum (where the franchisee is Susan Chapman) and Wellington (where the franchisee is Tertius Joubert).
Looking ahead, said Taljaard, Gauteng is likely to remain the area of greatest growth for the foreseeable future: this year 13 of the new franchisees came from here. It was followed by Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape and across the borders a new franchise has been established at Walvis Bay in Namibia.
We are still on target to achieve a 40% annual growth and to have 300 franchises up and running by the end of 2015...http://t.co/85V8wwle76
— RawsonPropertyGroup (@RawsonGroup) December 9, 2013Taljaard repeated a message that he has put out previously to the effect that it is always the Rawson Property Group management’s goal to find prospective franchisees from among their own agents. These, he said, have proved to be some of the best franchisees that the group has helped to become established.
