A new agency franchise business says it has signed up 20 franchisees since its launch in June and expects another ten sign-ups by Christmas.
Next year, it plans to sign up at least four new franchisees every month.
The business, called EweMove and based in Halifax, offers franchisees a guaranteed income of £3,000 per month.
Prospective franchisees are told that all they will need to operate their businesses is themselves, a mobile phone and a car.
Run by David Laycock and Glenn Ackroyd, the business displays ARLA, TPO and SAFEagent logos.
It charges £12,900 per franchise, including three weeks of training. Once in business, franchisees pay nothing for the first six months.
Ackroyd said: “It costs us money to get franchisees on board, but we’re investing in our business. We’re going for rapid expansion and territory coverage.”
Ackroyd is a former property lawyer who went on to run A Quick Sale and National Property Group – which has rebranded to become EweMove – while Laycock worked for Barclays Bank developing IT systems.
Ackroyd said that behind EweMove is an IT system called Ewe-reka that took three years to build and automates processes, so that prospective buyers and tenants can, for example, book their own viewing appointments online, by the side of the property that interests them. The viewings are then automatically booked into the franchisee’s own diary.
When a tenant books, they are emailed and sent a text “from the franchisee” by the system. They are sent a reminder the day before and if they do not reply, the viewings do not go ahead – to avoid, says Ackroyd, wasted time because people do not show up.
All the back office work, including tenancy checks and sales progression, is done centrally, Ackroyd says, so that the franchisee can work without the need for an office or staff. He also says that one feature of the business model that appeals to tenants is that they are not charged for admin or credit checks.
After their initially free first six months, franchisees pay £500 a month for the second six months, followed by £500 for the third set of six months, and once they have been a franchisee for 18 months, they pay £1,000 per month. On top of the fixed monthly fees, there are also transactional fees to be paid, which Ackroyd says cover sales progression and marketing costs.
Ackroyd says: “As we are paying portal fees, and subscriptions to ARLA and TPO, and as we provide their staffing, this is far cheaper than setting up and paying for everything themselves.”
He also says that the £3,000 monthly income guarantee is realistic, because a franchisee would need to do only a small amount of business per month, especially at the start.
“For example, if a franchisee did a sale and earned a commission of £2,400, their cost to us would be £400. Their profit on one sale would be £2,000.
“A franchisee doing two or three sales or lets a month would smash £3,000 – hence the growth and hence the guarantee.
“We know that on this model we can clear £1,000 profit per franchisee. If we get 300 franchisees, that’s a good business for us.”
And the name EweMove? “We were inspired by Ben & Jerry’s and by Innovent Smoothie. We wanted something fun that stood out from the crowd and all the boring ‘Me Too’ businesses out there,” said Ackroyd.
Well, it’s certainly different. The jokes about consumers not being “fleeced” and the cartoon character inevitably called Baa-bara might wear a bit thin, and it’s hard to think that sellers or landlords with high-value properties would want to instruct an agent called EweMove.
The question is, though, will it work? We’re sure you will have your views on this.
https://www.ewemove.com/franchise-opportunities/
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Comments
Came here after looking up ewemove having seen them on Franchise site, at first sceptical but some responses here just seem like people have a vendetta against it.
Nick - personally i can't see you view, seems clear to me they were NPG before changing the name to ewemove.com, didn't seem a hidden fact to me as someone investigating an opportunity. Martin and Co run online agents as well as there traditional frontage so i suspect there is market.
Gavin West - as someone who bought their first house two years ago i can say the name wouldn't bother me, i used an agent in the end who showed the greatest interest in my search, was polite and who i felt comfortable with, they were great and that's what mattered to me, the others who i jsut felt wanted a sale and weren't that interested i dropped. For me it's all about service, you only have to look at Amazon, yeah they aren't selling houses but given the uproar over their payment of tax people still use them because their customer service is renowned as being excellent.
What an absolute shocking name. I get it, you want to stand out, but what person in there right mind wants there property to be managed by a company called ewemove?
On the basis of a google search, i would skip straight past that name without a second thought. Not very professional.
How do you expect to gain new business and be taken seriously? Seriously?
Whats up, have we hit the nail on the head? You reply to all other posts, but yet you ignore mine?
If you are going to use the press and then defend yourself on it, prepare for people to pick holes in your plans. Don't just ignore it when it gets tough, bury your head in the sand so to speak. Is that what you'll do when this business gets tough? Not inspiring much confidence?
Don't come back with, I have checked on here, you'll be refreshing this page 5 times a day.
Sorry - but I'm back in.
Mr Ayckroyd. Your response to me glossed over one minor crack, rather than attending to the real structural defect.
Perhaps you could give this one more thorough attention:
"We’re so confident that EweMove.com represents the best solution for selling your home in 77 days or less, that we’re prepared to paste a cast iron guarantee on it."
Please explain your "cast iron guarantee".
In fact i have just googled half those names and guess what, they are all national property groupies.
linkdin can be cruel. Just google the names followed by national property group!
Its just a big scam to try and get people to build up a portfolio for them and when they cant suceed, take off them what they have.
A quick sale? I daren't even google this one. This smacks to me of buying a pensioners houses for peanuts. Taking advantage of people in trouble. I would not trust these cowboys.
@David Laycock
"Sales is no different to lettings. For lettings, check out the stories from the franchisees on our website. You'll see people on their who have been with us 3 months with 25 properties, 6 months with over 100, 18 months with over 190. We don't cherry pick who franchise prospects should speak to - We give people free rein. We've nothing to hide. "
If you only established in June/July how can they have been with you 18 months and have over 190 properties?
I have been on your website and your old website national property group, which the article points out. It appears your testimonials on npg website are now your franchisees?! Bit convenient. Or are these the people who have been with you 18 months and have 190 properties! How many of your 14 franchisees are actually people you have recruited? Are they all staff members and customers from your last business venture? Your address is still the same?
Just seems like you have tried to re-brand this npg as a franchise and as you had some properties, used them to sell this new business? used your staff and landlords to pretend they have bought in to it to try and deceive potential new franchisees to sign up!
All smells a bit fishy to me? Comments welcomed!
Sorry I think this is more of a publicity stunt to try and make people think they are much bigger than what they are.
Fair enough, I realise that you guys are new to sales which makes me even more curious as to why you used a sales commission as an earning example.
Hi Billy
Really sorry if I caused any offence by getting your name wrong. I need to get my eyes re-tested, as I can see now that your name is indeed showing as Billy Bol.
But re your question, I don't think I misunderstood. Everything about what we offer is on our website. If you are really interested then as already offered we'd be very happy to send you more information if you get in touch directly.
Alternatively you (or anyone else interested in knowing more) are welcome to come and visit us at our offices in Halifax, or indeed can speak to any of our existing franchisees about what we / they do and how they feel about our offering and set up.
David
Hi David
Its Billy B, not Billy Bob.
Sorry you misunderstood my original question.
I shall ask it again.
So what is your usp ?
1. to sellers.
2. To franchisees
Please do not come back with anything other than "unique".
Hi Billy Bob,
I don't want to be accused of 'protesting too much' again, so will leave you to take a look on our website.
(-:
http://www.ewemove.com/
But if you'd like us to send you a franchise pack or copy of our customer brochure then please feel free to drop either Glenn or me an email or enquire via the forms on our website.
David
@ Glen / David
So what is your usp ?
1. to sellers.
2. To franchisees
Please do not come back with anything other than "unique".
@Wardy -
How we are going to get instructions :-) I'm sure every agent volunteers this information to competitors.
Now I'm not going to reveal that the on here I'm afraid. But it's safe to say it isn't rocket science to do the traditional marketing, but we do a whole raft of non-traditional marketing.
All franchise prospects get to see 'under the bonnet' what we do. They get to speak to our franchisees to confirm what they do.
There seems to be a big a focus on sales, naturally because this is an Estate Agency site. But, we have only just launched into sales. I would ask you to review the sales site in 2 months.
Sales is no different to lettings. For lettings, check out the stories from the franchisees on our website. You'll see people on their who have been with us 3 months with 25 properties, 6 months with over 100, 18 months with over 190. We don't cherry pick who franchise prospects should speak to - We give people free rein. We've nothing to hide.
As I've mentioned before, I'm happy to show people our systems via webinar. Anyone is free to email me;
glenn@ewemove.com
Many thanks.
Hi Pee Bee -
As mentioned in earlier posts, we originally run A Quick Sale (Estate Agents) and laterly moved into lettings. David Laycock and myself moved away and sold our interest in the Estate Agency in 2011 to concentrate on building up the lettings business. A Quick Sale is no longer owned or run by us.
We have now only just stated sales again with our new brand.
As I've mentioned - this is all detailed in our franchise prospectus brochure. Please email me for a copy; glenn@ewemove.com
I did read that entire post with the hope of learning how your franchisee's are going to get the instructions but it seems to have been dodged.
EweMove have quoted figures achievable on a typical sale yet I can only find ONE sales listing for the entire firm.
Is is safe to say that even just one sale per month from all of the franchisee's already signed up is a little far fetched?
Me thinks he does proest too much!
Hi All,
Love the discussion and debate on here, and thought it was worth me throwing in my two-penneth, rather than leaving it all to Glenn.
Franchisees pay just under £13k to join us. That just about covers our recruitment costs, the starter pack we provide them with and the cost of their 3 weeks training and support.
Our on-going franchise fees are structured in a way which keeps fixed costs to a minimum in the crucial early months - thereby enabling them to invest in and grow their business, and keeps their variable, marginal costs of business low throughout their franchise term.
Unlike many other franchises, we have no 'percentage of turnover' franchise fees which we feel discourage growth, and can lead to franchisee resentment and attrition of successful franchisees. Instead we operate on a monthly licence fee which is NIL in the first 6 months, then rises at 6 monthly intervals to £250, then £500 and finally to £1000 per month from month 19.
What this means in practice is that we are subsidising new franchisees in their early months, as each franchisee incurs on-going monthly costs for us such as software licences, advertising and portal costs, on-going training, mentoring and performance management. Of course by the time they reach month 19 and are paying £1000 per month, this figure includes a chunk of profit for us as a franchisor, but I don't think we need to apologise for this, as by that stage the franchisee should be well on the road to success and generating very healthy profits themselves.
Our guarantee relates to profit from month 19 onwards. The terms of our guarantee on this are very clear (and have been approved by the British Franchise Association, who have reviewed all our financial models, projections and paperwork). For the avoidance of doubt we are not saying that we will supplement their income if they do not reach the £3k level. The guarantee is about reducing the franchisees risk in terms of the fees they pay to us.
Of course we do not want to ever have to pay anything under this guarantee, but not because we will try to wriggle out of it, with sneaky T&Cs in place to protect us (although of course we do have conditions to protect us against being ripped off). What we do instead is mitigate the risk in other ways, by creating the conditions for and setting our franchisee up to be successful. Specifically:
1) We have a robust and lengthy franchisee selection process in place which reduces the risk of us taking the 'wrong' people on board in the first place without the experience, skills & abilities or financial reserves (to provide the not-so-small marketing investment and working capital required in the early months). This has already resulted in us refusing to accept money from willing buyers. Failing / unsuccessful franchisees are the very last thing we want, however deep their pockets might be.
2) Each franchisee has their own business plan which is based on local research and market conditions, agreed with us and sets out how they will achieve their own targets and the targets we need them to achieve in terms of our guarantee. Whilst having a plan does not automatically mean they will achieve it, the forecasts are based upon our previous experience of what is required in terms of marketing spend to achieve specific levels of new business and growth - on the basis of SINLOA (By the way, until yesterday I had no idea what SINLOA meant, although once I learned – ironically from a potential franchisee I was interviewing - I realised that it's a principle I use all the time and that we hold dear to our hearts in terms of pretty much everything we do in business! I'd recommend you Google ‘SINLOA’ if it’s the first time you've come across this acronym too).
3) Once a franchisee is up and running, they are able to track their performance against their plan. And at regular reviews with us, we will work with each franchisee to help them tweak their plan and adjust marketing levers and / or get extra training and support to ensure that long before the 18 month deadline, appropriate actions are taken to bring a franchisee back on track. After all, if the franchisee does not successfully reach month 19 with a profitable business achieving our monthly income guarantee, then not only would we have to pay out under the guarantee, we would never reach the stage where we make any profit from that franchisee, and have damage and fallout for our brand.
As an aside, what is interesting from my perspective is how little interest serious potential franchisees show in the profit guarantee. In fact the most frequent comment we receive from potential franchisees about our projections is how conservative they are (they assume no income at all from either lettings or sales during the franchisees first 6 months of trading, for example), and how they expect to absolutely smash them.
There has also been some mention of the other service charges that a franchisee would pay, so I'd like top just clarify that as well, as I think it's important that the full picture is understood.
Each property advertised (either for sale or to let) costs our franchisees £250. That includes all advertising costs, call handling, viewing booking, application / offer taking and in the case of letting also includes the central tenant vetting costs which include all the usual credit checks and referencing etc. Any additional 3rd party costs such as rent guarantee insurance for lettings or sales progression (we use UK Sales Progressors) are also paid by the franchisee at cost. These are all variable marginal costs that are only paid by our franchisees upon sale completion or tenant move in. Given this, a franchisee is able to take on new business without requiring significant amounts of working capital, with their costs and timing of 'cash out', closely matched to their income and 'cash in'. So any margin over the £250 and third party service costs goes 100% straight to the franchisees' bottom line.
On the letting side of things, once a property is tenanted, all the rent collection, accounting, landlord payments, landlord reports, initial arrears tracking / chasing, repairs call handling etc. is done by our central service centre. So from a franchisees perspective, in the normal course of events a franchisee has nothing else to do until the tenant gives notice (which hopefully won't be for a long time - our current average tenancy length is in excess of four years).
This all costs the franchisee just £20 per month. And again, any margin over and above this figure in terms of what the franchisee charges the landlord for management goes 100% straight to the franchisees' bottom line.
Glenn's already covered the question re clear and transparent pricing. What I'd like to add on this is that the industry norms seem to be fees based upon percentages and anomalies like tenant fees including VAT and landlord / seller fees excluding VAT. Historically we followed the crowd and did the same, but we realised how confusing and to be frank, misleading this is - as very few residential landlords or sellers will ever be able to claim back their VAT.
With few exceptions, consumers expect the price they see to be the price they pay - and don’t want to have to work out for themselves what X% + VAT is in real £ cash terms.
As agents we should be making this perfectly clear and transparent to them, so that when they receive their completion or landlord statement, there are no nasty surprises or buyer’s remorse. And that is what we are aiming to achieve in terms of how our local franchisees communicate their pricing with clients and set out their pricing on local marketing materials and contracts etc.
No nasty surprises or buyer’s remorse as the fees deducted are exactly what the consumer expected in real £ cash terms.
I hope this clarifies the position from a financial perspective. Just to re-iterate, this is not a get rich quick scheme.
Whilst we have a deliberately fun and distinctive brand, underlying it is a deadly serious business and a professional, well thought out business plan.
We're proud of what we've achieved so far, and have high ambitions and expectations for what we want to achieve going forward.
But the great thing about competition is that it will be our Franchisees and ultimately our / their customers (Landlords, Property Owners, Investors, Tenants and Buyers) who will decide if we have got our model, propositions and positioning right - which is the way it should be!
David
Oh, dear...
Sorry to do this, Mr Ackroyd - but I've got to jump on the bandwagon set in motion by 'KB'.
In your response to him/her below, you state
"We set up in 2005 as a Letting Agent only... We've only just (literally) entered into Sales"
HOWEVER, your website contains the following:
"You too can enjoy a fast sale and realise your dream of moving into your new home and start living the future you desire... Since 2005, we’ve been helping people like you move home. Our record for success is incredible. It’s no wonder we’re the fastest growing estate agency in the UK!"
and
"Since 2005, we’ve helped thousands of people to MOVE HOME. We’ve enabled people to get on with their lives and into their NEW HOMES. We’ve made an extraordinary impact."
Erm... NO YOU HAVENT - by your own admission. You have been RENTING properties, NOT SELLING THEM - so to claim to SELLERS the above, as you do, is a complete FALLACY.
Is it not?
The article above states "the business displays ARLA, TPO and SAFEagent logos"
Oh, yes - the three of which relate only to LETTINGS, LETTINGS, and, well, LETTINGS, actually. WHERE is ANY information as to ANY regulatory control in the field that you now claim is "Our Passion (selling homes)" and that you state
"You’ll have peace of mind knowing that we’re approved members and comply with the codes of practice of; Safe Agents, The Property Ombudsman and The Association of Residential Letting Agents."
NO MENTION that these obligations to comply DO NOT EXTEND TO RESIDENTIAL SALES.
And I haven't even started digging yet - just scratching the surface.
You make it so easy for us...
Guaranteed sales, fee's, amazing models and floorplans are one thing but as a potential franchisee the most important question I would want an answer to is where are the instructions coming from, in fact more importantly how do I get a foot in the door in the first place?
What seems to be on offer here is the idea that you can make a reasonable amount of money by just selling the odd 1/2 a month. While that maybe great for agents that want to work in between taking the kids to school It doesn't really inspire someone who wants to take an area by storm.
Just my opinion but the £12,900 and £1000 a month after the first 18 months seems like a hell of a lot of money for a franchise with nothing more than a play on words in terms of branding especially as I had a letter the other day from one of the largest franchises (the yellow one) wanting to put there name above my door for gratis.
Still Mr Ackroyd is clearly no mug if him and his teem have already raised this sort of money, so good luck. I'm just jealous I never thought of it.
I hate to spoil everyones fun, but I have a very simialr model in place and working now, in fact its so close to mine that I wonder if my office was bugged at the time of spelling out how I was going to franchise. So to cap this one off- I started this model in 2005/6 and recruited in the folowing years. Let me re-iterate, I am a bespoke specialist agent, not high street, and the model works; HOWEVER, I am re-tuning the model and the model does not work as well as you might think for country houses (generally) and will never replace the high street agency work that most do. It may take some of the houses that would be available to the high street agents and it will all depend on the market as has already been said and experienced first hand.
Why is all about making money first? Build relationships with tenants and landlords first, then financial rewards will arrive soon after !
The reason so many estate agents- Lettings agents are failing is due to the lack of those exact values.
Build Trust and they will buy / rent from you.
@Glen Ackroyd - Thanks Glen for the kind words of support. Our website was built by a good friend of mine (@dsnydesign) who also runs a newsagents in Ripon, he is a future "web star" in the making! We simply offer what the client wants with extended opening hours, cheaper fees, great "lifestyle marketing" and an all round better service... #Simples
@ KB, sorry if there is any confusion.
Thanks for taking the time to post - You've put out some excellent questions - I've tried to answer the best I can.
The article on here can only give out certain information in the limited text.
We set up in 2005 as a Letting Agent only. We only franchised this year - so whilst we have been going 8 years, we're a new franchise.
We've only just (literally) entered into Sales.
The Ewereka system we've delivered in conjunction with 3rd parties has been priced at cost not value. Our MD is the ex webmaster at Barclays. In 22 years he's overseen and developed systems costing tens of millions. We initially built this system to run and manage our own property portfolios. My legal landlord and tenant brain and his IT/systems/Finance brain.
I'd be delighted to show you it in action. We manage properties for banks/receivers etc as well - And everybody we've spoken too has expressed a view that there is nothing out there that is anywhere close. Give me a call, and I'll even set up a webinar to show you it in action to save your travel.
Re; the 77 Day Sale Guarantee, we want a marketing hook - you may not like it, but we're spending money and doing things that lots of agents charge for - eg marketing, brochures, EPC's premium listings etc. You may not think it's good, but in sales, what works, works.
Our franchisees are all local people - The point we make is like local independents, we have local market knowledge, compared to the offerings of say; online portal agencies who don't do viewings.
183 Million Buyers searches are the searches that take place on the portals we use - this is used by another of websites in their marketing - I know you may find this shocking... But it's not per property :-)
In 2005 as well as lettings we had a property acquisition business - A Quick Sale - With this we've bought and sold over 5,000 homes. We actually cover off our history in our franchise pack (part 1 of 7) - drop me and email; glenn@ewemove.com and I'll fire one off to you (and anyone who wants one).
With regards to Local franchisee and central office, it works like this;
We automate as much as we can, that makes sense to automate to improve efficiency and quality (Ewereka). This, alongside the Franchise Support team deals with booking viewings, collection rents, chasing rents, paying landlords, case progression, etc etc.
The franchisee deals with property appraisals, viewings, uploading marketing/floorplans etc, checkin, inspections.
So in the context of a typical branch - What you'd do in the office, we do in a central office, with all the efficiencies and economies of scale that brings.
What you do in the field, we do in the field.
Our franchisees don't need to worry about getting their diary booked, as it's done for them. The chasing rents and the bookkeeping is done for them. The system even does their accounts, right through to preparing VAT returns. For £250, our accountant can pull off year and returns and for £50 file your VAT returns.
This may all seem too good to be true. Rather than saying it can't be true, let me show you :-)
Re transparency on fees - That only applies on a local level. I appreciate that sounds like a cop out - but the commission in London will very from northern towns. So our franchisees have to set local pricing tariff's which can't be a one size fits all, for the whole of the UK. Re transparency, we are talking about not charging renewal fees, or Tenancy application fees, or deposit lodgement fees etc. All the sneaky charges that landlords and tenants hate.
I've mentioned before on how the guarantee works. But put simply - on a sale - the ONLY cost to a franchisee, for using our service, case progression, marketing, tenant viewing, floor plans, etc etc is £400. So on 2 sales a month they are likely to beat £3k profit.
This kicks in at month 18 - and if you check out the terms (listed on our franchise section of the website), it is subject to them complying with a marketing plan and spend. If a franchisee sits on their behind - they can't claim. We have a BDM reviewing progress monthly with a clear plan for bringing in the business.
Now, if anybody is the type of person who is remotely worried about doing 2 sales a month, you will not even get past our selection process. We're only after 'can do' people with a proven track record for success. Our selection process is rigourous.
With regards to our site, all are content is based on fact - As I've said, give me a bell, I'll show you...
I look forward to speaking to you soon.
Email me at glenn@ewemove.com
Glenn
I am now seriously confused, not onkly by the article and comments on here but the stark contracst to some of the statements made on your website.
Your latest comment states 'We have only just launched the estate agency. It was planned for next year, but brought forward for the NEC franchise show. It is so new, that we have not even got the sales agreements printed'
BUT your webiste states: 'Formed over 8 years ago and with franchisees all over the UK, an acclaimed website, unparalleled cloud based IT systems, managing properties spanning 4 countries, we go from strength to strength'
Which is it? Are you new or a highly established agent of 8 years?
I would love to know who valued Ewereka at £1.32m- I take it that you guys came up withg this valuation? There are established IT companies that acheive serious revenbue from clienst that would come anywhere near that price.
WOW! A 77 day sale guarantee that offers no sale no fee that's revolutionary....oh no wait, no sale no fee is the industry strandard and lots of agents now have no tie in period at all and only a few for more than 1 month.
Where do you find your 'local agents that know the markey better than anybody'- that recruitment source must be worth even more than your IT system.
Of the 183m buyer seraches- how many are for your listings? You are welcome to give an answer as the new start up or the established 8 year old business.
You also state 'Since 2005, we’ve helped thousands of people to MOVE HOME' - sorry confused again are you new or established?
I am also getting more confused on the structure. You talk about franchisees beiung free to just show properties and tie up deals. Yet you also talk about visiting applicant tenant properties to ensure they are suitable as part of the referencing process, you talk of 'local' property managers yet you also talk of centralising everyhting from one location as your business model.
Innovation in our industry is vital and, if done right, can be successful as online agents such as emoov and upad have proven. However, sadly, having gone through your website I actually find it incredibly misleading as to who you are and how you operate.
I also hate the fact the your fees are repeatedly stated as 'transparent' yet they are nowhere to be found on your site (sales or lettings). That doesnt appear to be very transparent to me.
I wish the franchisees luck but am somewhat staggered that you have therefore generated £258,000 of income in franhcise pourchasess (20 x £12,900) for an established 8 yaer old business that has started trading yet. I also dont understand how you can give a £36k per annum gauarntee on a purchase price of £12,900.
The more I go through your site the more concerned I am and the more misleading I find its content. Given the reprimands numerous agencies have had from ASA of unfounded claims I think they will have a field day with the content of your site. I hope you are legitimate but I sincerelky fear for the financial security of your franchisees.
Anyone else share my concerns?
@ HT - We have only just launched the estate agency. It was planned for next year, but brought forward for the NEC franchise show. It is so new, that we have not even got the sales agreements printed and we've got 7 clients waiting to sign.
@ Ben Sidwell - I agree 100% with what you say. We're not an 'online only agents'. All of our franchisees are local and do viewings etc.
@glen - the offer is based on our experience. Our franchisees are bringing on business. And I don't concur that both markets can be flat. That defies the laws of the housing market. Lettings has boomed for the last 6 years but the pendulum has now started to swing to sales. To us - it doesn't matter, because we're in both camps. The important thing is delivering great service and good value for money.
Ultimately, there are 1000's of sales and lettings businesses in in the industry and plenty of room for everyone, particularly with our expanding population. If you offer a good service, you'll be fine.
@Franchisee - About half closed after the credit crunch blood bath, but new entrants are now springing up. I'm not sure on the numbers, but they are a long way short of the peak, as are transaction numbers for completions.
Re the numbers - I've just finished a presentation with a sales agent who wants to join. Under his current model, he needs 10 says to break even. I've just shown him how he'll break even (actually earn money) on 1. As I've said before, ignore all my sales BS - Our prospects MUST speak to our franchisees and ask them questions and not us before they can apply.
@Confused - Don't know, we've not paid a penny for this. We also had no control of editorial rights over content.
@Matt Wells - Congratulations Matt - If you have drive, ambition and the balls to get out their and do it, with a great product you'll succeed. You've gone the extra mile to capture market share and no doubt upset the apple cart in the local market. That can only be good for house buyers in your area. Nice website BTW. Very simple and easy navigation. Good luck for the future.
In business, no matter what line of business you are in, you have to be aware of new brands lurking in the shadows just waiting to catch you napping after a successful week, month or year. I cold started Harwell Estates on the 1st of May 2013 with £1500, a whole load of ambition and 11 years industry experience. We do not operate from a High Street office but instead offer a personal and professional service 7 days a week between 8am and 8pm. We are going to head to head with a number of very well established brands and I am pleased to say that we are giving them a good run for their money. We offer blended fees (£299 upfront or 0.75% upon exchange) which provides us with working capital while at the same time building back end revenue for the months ahead. What I am trying to say (apart from giving my great brand a plug) is that you have to work hard, know what you are doing and believe wholeheartedly in your brand or concept. I say good luck luck to EweMove and only time will tell for all of use but the strong usually succeed.
Create, apply and succeed!
www.harwellestates.co.uk
Interesting, just had an email from EAT asking if I would like to join another franchise opportunity. But this one is better than the other one! How much do you have to pay for an advertising email and then how much for editorial?
@Ben Sidwell & Glenn Ackroyd - It's easy to dismiss when they only have one house on the market for sale!!!! So 20 franchisees have managed to get one house on the market since June... emm I suspect the £3k a month guarantee might come with a few unobtainable terms and conditions!!!
Has anybody checked the figures of how many estate agents there currently are? My understanding is that there as many now as there were at the height of the market in 07/08. If anybody thinks that a new brand is going to find it easy to grow in a very crowded market, needs to ensure that they have a large pile of cash sat behind them to keep them going in the early months. I forsee next year being all about instructions, and with the best will in the world, a new franchisee, with no physical presence and restricted marketing budget is going to suffer. I hope all these new franchisee's know how much it costs, as even if they have been working in the industry, they may not appreciate what the monthly outgoings are.
what is 20 x £3000? you have committed to 20 people that you are going to pay each of them £3k/ month even if 20 people sell nothing month after month after month because the market has fallen on its backside.
If I were signing up with you I would want to know where my £3000 was coming from in month 2,3, 4, 5 if things went a bit quiet for whatever reason not just a very likely rise in interest rates.
You mention doing sales as well as lettings but when the 5hit hits the fan both sales and lettings transactions are going to flatten right off. That could be in month 18 about the time of the election in May 15.
Make Hay Mr Ackroyd, winter 2015 could be a bleat one.
I think it is very clear the future of estate agency is far more about personal service, efficient communication and being available when clients need you and less to do with having a big expensive office that seriously no one ever goes into anymore. I think the agents that prosper will achieve a combination of both however there is clearly a market for the personal agent model and I wouldnt be surprised if within the next 5-10 years there are as many personal agents operating as high street agents so don't dismiss it so easily..
Alanmail.com & Scott
The model is not based on making fortune from franchising - David Laycock and I started out life as franchisees ourself, so we know how one sided the relationship is. You can buy franchises in our sector and blow £150k on year one start up costs.
We make zilch until month 18 - and only make money if the franchisee is successful - so our interests with the franchisee are aligned.
Now I appreciate that this sounds like sales BS - but one of the things we insist on for any potential franchisee is that rather than speaking to us, they speak to at least 3 franchisees of your choosing to hear from the horses mouth.
Beyond that - the franchisees themselves are the people who make the decision on who joins. We've turned away 2 people in the last month based on this process. Because of our guarantee, we don't want anybody with a cheque book and a pulse.
We've also be in the game since 2005, so we'd like to think that we're not Johnny come lately..
However Scott, you do make a good point out infrastructure costs. Of the franchisees that have joined - a around 20% were former estate/letting agents, previously operating in branches.
We also do see a benefit of the branch in terms of marketing/brand presence, but only when it can be sustained and afforded by the franchisee. We've got 2 physical branches opening in the next couple of months in Gainsborough and Sutton Coldfield
When Interest Rates rise -
In reply - We don't guarantee £60k per month. It's £3k, and that's by month 18. That figure can be broken by only doing 2 sales in a month. For us, it's very easy to pledge. Any other estate or letting agent only doing 2 sales a month would be out of business.
Even in the depth of the housing market, agents were doing far better than that. And remember we offer lettings AND sales. As you'll know, when one market is doing poorly, the other is flying. That's why we went for the dual proposition.
Ewe sheep, save your money guys.
The Bank of England have stated that interest rates will be put up when un-employment drops to 7% from 7.7%. Given that many owners have over extended mortgages that they can only just afford at current interest rates it is likely that the micro flurry of activity being experienced at the moment might not last too long. I am wondering where the guaranteed £60,000/month will come from if the market drops back to record low levels of transactions.
Have any of the 20 franchisees who have signed up so far thought to ask that question if so what is the answer?
If it sounds too good to be true it probably is? Great idea but I suspect this could get very mucky very quickly when one considers there are only really 9 selling months in an agent's year. I appreciate the business plan assumes evreyone should sell at least 2 properties a month, but experience says a rise in interest rates or the threat of a rise can reduce sales to nothing and have applicants pulling out of agreed deals in an instant.
Another month and another business that thinks they can reinvent the industry and make a fortune from a franchising. Yawn Zzzzzzzzz
Aye right springs to mind. Another re-invention of the mobile agent, have phone and car, will travel. No office or shop to meet clients, I wonder if I gave up my offices, computers, desks, client data base and established presence, saved myself a fortune in overhead to do it this way, would I be a success.......good luck.