Ep79 Harry Parker-Arday, Lounge Repair Guys, North Gold Coast - franchise owner journey

While working in retail, out of the blue, Harry got asked if he’d like to trial a job repairing lounges on the road. He loved it and after 2+years as an employee, he got the opportunity to buy the business he worked in.   The Lounge Repair Guys get the opportunity to work miracles and some much-loved items in your home that many thought they’d have to throw out!   Sometimes with up to 10 or so jobs in a day, with the pre-requisite basically being that you just need to be good with your hands, Harry had 2 good years to see the business from the inside.   When the owner wanted to sell, and finance was tight, a vendor finance arrangement got Harry secured in his own business. Running a small team on the Northern Gold Coast, and looking to add to that team, Harry has made a great transition from employee to business owner with some lessons and insights along the way!     0:00 Intro 0:23 Territory area covered on Northern Gold Coast 0:38 What Lounge Repair Guys does in the business 1:34 Describing the types of work that gets done and those that can’t be fixed 2:55 The skills needed, being good with your hands 3:35 How Harry started in his career 5:25 Trialling in the job of fixing lounges 6:24 Other jobs at the time considered by Harry 7:13 First thing he fixed 9:00 Warranty work for retailers 10:31 Started as an employee for 18 months then transitioned into franchise owner 11:42 What could happen if Harry didn’t buy the franchise off the owner 12:15 How he approached finance and how to purchase the business 13:46 Effectively ended up doing an 18 month paid trial in the business 14:07 Describe a typical day 15:53 Managing his time through the day 16:50 Having a dedicated person doing bookings and admin with multiple technicians on the road 17:26 The key takeaways going from employee to business owner 19:46 The challenge of leading teams if you haven’t prior 20:27 Most enjoyable part of the business 21:58 What the future looks like after 2+ years in the business 22:58 What expanding the business looks like practically 23:47 Wrap up     Podcast Produced by: www.magneticbusinessmedia.com.au Franchise Stories and Knowledge Base (our other website): www.franchisebuyer.com.au   Listen or Watch on; Spotify:  https://tinyurl.com/2mtkth2t Apple Podcasts:  Amazon Music: YouTube:  https://youtu.be/hyl6GYlFKD4