boiler installation

[Eternal Heating]

I recently attended a franchise awareness day at Homeserve for boiler installs. Anybody aware of this? Any views?


Im considering if it’s a good thing or not

 

[Dan Robinson]

Doubt it.

 

[Eternal Heating]

Why's that Dan? Have you been to one of the open days. They are claiming they can get me 10 leads a day

 

[bernardgreen]

Was it the Homeserve organisation that got a massive multi million pound fine in 2012 for dubious selling methods and poor service to existing customers. ?

 

[Eternal Heating]

Thats the one, but ive researched them, and they seem ok. they have lots of customers, and look like thhey know what they are on about. i just want more installs and more money by growing my business

 

[Agile]

This is presumably a franchise where YOU pay THEM ? How much?

Then they give you cut price installations for them so they make all the profit?

So what is the attraction for you?

 

[Eternal Heating]

Yes, that’s right. Its £10k for 5 years and then I get another 5 years free. So in total its 10 years

They market their brand, and the customers that go to them that are in my area, are sent to me.

My business is virtually ex-directory. I work with insurance businesses, and some council work. BUT it is becoming tougher to operate, and bigger businesses are able to do better pricing.

I’ve looked at advertising, and going on the Internet. Both are very expensive, and against people like British Gas, I don’t stand a chance.

So the attraction for me is that a big business like Homeserve, will unquestionably get more customers because they are a big brand and better trusted.

If for £10,000, I could work with the big company, then that doesn’t feel like a bad price. Once I fitted 10 to 15 boilers, I’ve got back my investment, and then I have the next nine years to make more money.

The only thing that scares me is that franchising hasn’t got a good reputation

 

[flameport]

Some thoughts:
£10k for 5/10 years is far too cheap to be a proper franchise. Highly likely that is just some initial signup fee, franchises usually have monthly payments based on a percentage of revenue and other factors.

10 leads a day may sound impressive, but how many of those will turn into actual worthwhile work, and are you competing with anyone else?
What kind of 'leads' are they? Could well be just random enquiries from people with boiler issues, so the number converted to actual boiler installations could be very low. As in 1%, or one a fortnight. Or worse.

Perhaps they expect you to employ the British Gas model, where every visit for minor insignificant work is really an opportunity to sell new boilers to people whether they need one or not?

More customers does not equate to more money. It's the type of customer that matters.

 

[bernardgreen]

http://www.hpmmag.com/news/homeserve-offers-150000-jobs-to-franchise-partners

HomeServe Alliance aims to partner with approximately 60 franchisees who will cover 160 territories across the UK.

The maths don't look good.

150000 jobs shared among 60 franchisees is 2500 per franchisee, if that is in one year then it is an average of 7 jobs per day ( on a 7 day week ). Not enough time in a day to do 7 jobs to a good standard.

Read the snall print very carefully and be sure of what you are committing to before signing anything.

 

[AGAS]

promises promises promises ????? if working on your own good luck , don't believe half of what they say that is why they were there " to sell it to you " will have to take a lot of ROUGH with the smooth . do your research research research . 10k is a joke

 

[Eternal Heating]

Thanks everyone. Did some reading up last night

£10k is reasonable I agree. There is also 12% of all turnover to add to this, and then there dosnt appear to be more moaney to pay, although I have not seen the contract.

The 150k jobs are repair jobs, and for the 10k you don’t get these.

The 10k, gets you installation leads, and before I open, I would need to go on training. There would only be me in my area, so I would not be comopeting with more franchises.

Converting the leads is my job

They said that there are 1million boilers installed each year and BG do 100k of these so there are 900k boilers left to go at.


Spoke to a couple of franchises they already have, and they say its steady. 1 of them said in feb he did 29 installs from activity generated by homeservce


Perhaps ill look at this again

 

[bernardgreen]

There would only be me in my area, so I would not be comopeting with more franchises.

but you will be competing with individual plumbers and installers who have built up a good reputation over the years. Check how many people in your area have a servce contract / insurance with Homeserve. That is the maximum number of leads you can get from Homeserve. Also check if you are allowed under the terms of the frnachse to take on jobs that are not leads from HomeServe

1 of them said in feb he did 29 installs from activity generated by homeservce

That is one install every day, seven days a week. If he was working on his own they they would have to be little more than bash a boiler on the wall jobs. Either he is lying or the work he does is poor quality. If you worked like that how would it affect your reputation.

 

[Dave Simms]

Doubt it.

Proper helpful....

 

[DaveHerns]

I bet there's no money back guarantee if it doesn't come up to what they promise. The only ones getting rich out of your investment will be Homeserve

 

[Dan Robinson]

Doubt it.

Proper helpful....

One tries one's best.