When Craig Myers visited a franchising expo, he had no idea that it would have such an impact on his life.

The Sydneysider had spent years in New Zealand working as an air mechanic for the national airline and was ready to come back to Australia and start a family.

Inspired by his expo conversation with mobile scratch and bumper repair business Touch Up Guys, Craig visited the head office on the Gold Coast, an experience that cemented his commitment to the brand.

“Touch Up Guys is a market leader with a great reputation. It was so established and I found it reassuring that the founder was still involved, it showed a lot of confidence in the business,” Craig says.

He liked the work, the brand, the tech support and the minimal overheads.

“You only need to keep a small amount of stock on hand, and order stock from head office,” he explains.

So when an opportunity came up in Brisbane, it seemed the perfect option. Twenty four years later and Craig can look back on a successful franchisee business.

Touch Up Guys’ peer network is strong

His longevity with the brand is not unusual in Touch Up Guys.

“Even in my early days, at conference, when franchisees were asked to stand, so many guys were still standing up after many years in the business were called out,” he says.

Conferences are one way Touch Up Guys franchisees connect with their peers across Australia.

“It’s just me in the business; most of us are single operators in a van,” Craig says. “We talk about what’s coming up in the industry, how technology is changing, and we learn about systems and processes that can help customers and our flow of work, how we can improve marketing and communications,” he says.

That peer network is one of the advantages of a larger group, with every franchisee just a phone call away.

“We can draw on the knowledge of the guys who have been there for decades,” he says.

Plenty of paint-fixing opportunities

Craig has seen the customer base broaden over the years, with vehicle services still prominent, but increasing diversification into other paintwork fixes.

“A customer could be someone who dings their car in the shopping centre, or is selling their vehicle and wants to dress it up. Today I had someone with three boys who had made a soda bomb and the contents exploded over their aluminimum front door – that’s acidic enough to etch into the paintwork.

“I could be fixing window frames, letterboxes, playgrounds. Anything with paint,” he says. “The work has been constant; I can remember head office talking about the technology in cars changing, and how driverless cars might slow things down. If anything we’re just as busy – those cars still have incidents.”

However, as technology advances, the challenges of fixing problems change and it’s crucial for the business to stay ahead.

Research and development is key

The right systems and tools can deliver a competitive edge; in a competitive market, franchisees can benefit from the research and development done by the franchisor.

Craig appreciates the franchisor staying ahead of the curve, whether that’s research into new colours or testing new technology and tools.

Invaluable franchisee feedback will help fine tune the latest system trialled and introduced to the network.

“There’s a massive amount of work gone into our new system and the beautiful thing is it’s all in-house,” Craig says.

“The systems have changed and we need to keep up, particularly with AI; we need to know how will that make it easier for the customer and us? Head office and tech-support are working on this – I’d be falling way behind doing this by myself. And I’m not savvy enough to build a website, or do the socials,” he admits.

“What hasn’t changed is that word of mouth and referral work is really big for us.”

Brand awareness across Australia

It helps to be with a brand that has such recall. “I like to think we’re a household name through the promotions on radio and TV. This has made us front of mind, especially with our name – it’s easy to remember.”

The franchisee experience all started with a comprehensive three-week training program, with two weeks on the road with local franchisees.

That set Craig up for the technical tasks, customer relationship building, and business management crucial to his franchise.

“It was good to see what it was really like in the field before you start,” he says. “And over the years I’ve been able to draw on head office for business-building advice.”

As he looks back over more than two decades, he observes a consistent workload – even in tough economic times.

“Customers can’t afford to buy a new car, so they want to make their older car look good,” he says.

Over the years Craig has built up a business to a size where he could sell off part of his territory and still achieve a great income with the remaining customer base.

“At Touch Up Guys you can work as hard as you want,” he says.

While some of his fellow franchisees enjoy extensive travel, for Craig he’s happy with the financial security he has achieved.

“Joining Touch up Guys has been a really good move,” he says.