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Brand recognition may get a new business owner through the door, but what seals the deal?
According to the new report, Your Future Network, produced by REB in partnership with Raine & Horne and powered by Agile Market Intelligence, the reasons that compel a new business owner to pursue opening either a franchise office or an independent venture speak to both the personalities and strengths of the business owners themselves.
While steady business builders often opt to go at it alone, sales-focused visionaries are more likely to magnetise to a franchise model, the report revealed.
But that’s not all that motivates them to link up with a brand.
Speaking on a recent episode of Secrets of the Top 100 Agents, Mindy Powell-Hodges, head of network at Raine & Horne, delved into what she sees as the motivating factors for owners who open under the network’s umbrella.
Ms Powell-Hodges noted that in the report, brand recognition is the most common reason for franchise owners to choose their current network, with almost three in four of franchise agency owners selecting it as a primary reason.
“I think the brand recognition just opens the doors for you,” she commented.
“[If] I walk into your home and I’m a brand that you already know, the confidence that it gives you as an agent … all I need to do is tell you what I’m going to do for you. Not who I am and how I’m going to operate,” she added, stressing that the culture a brand is associated with also plays a part.
For Raine & Horne, they find appeal with people who gravitate towards the idea of working with a family-owned business.
“We have an ethos of family. We’re a family-owned business. While we’re huge, we still roll back into those values and that moral compass.”
All these things open the door to conversations with business owners. But there’s something else that pushes that conversation forward.
As Ms Powell-Hodges explained:
“I think what gets people through the door, if you’re a standalone agent and you’re thinking about making that next step, culture is probably one of the things. But when they really get down to the nuts and bolts, it’s ‘I don’t know how to run a business. I don’t know about payroll. I don’t know about all the bits and pieces that you need to create.’”
In other words, it’s the less definable training and support to set up and run a business that seals the deal for franchisees – particularly first-time owners.
“If you go into a network, it opens the box. There’s mentoring to learn how to do your payroll, your HR, your training, all of the bits and pieces that you need to run. I think that’s the difference that network brings to the table.”
Uncovering benefits for all the different ways of working in the real estate industry, the report contained surprising figures for large networks and small entities alike.
Ms Powell-Hodges explained that the network was keen to partner on the report to “understand the thought behind the industry and what the needs were, and to make sure that we’re tracking and offering what agents were looking for”.
Discovering through the report that 87 per cent of branded franchise owners believe that their model will best suit their agency’s needs in the long term, Ms Powell-Hodges commented: “I think that says something for what we’re doing”.
You can access the full Your Future Network report here.
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