Mark Maumill and Jason Love from Banjo’s Bakehouse were presented with the Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year Award at the 2009 MYOB Excellence in Franchising Awards.

This award recognises excellence in business management and franchise citizenship for franchisees with a majority shareholding in multiple franchise units.

Judges’ comment: In 2008 this dynamic pair won Franchise of the Year award; now they have nine Banjo’s franchises, develop employees and finance them into their own store, which then has a business plan with goals and key performance indicators.

Maumill counts the partnership with Love as a key factor in the business’s success. The pair has spent time reviewing personal goals, and been assisted in this by the franchisor.

The award is an excellent recognition of achievement, and the level we’ve got to. We recently presented at a one day conference and this emphasised the difference between us and other franchisees: we are tackling franchising as a way to grow, we don’t want to develop our own structure or product, we want to capitalise on the brand, the franchisor’s experience.

With the first award in 2008 the pair did little to promote themselves at bakery level but have used it to boost their public speaking profiles. And it always seems to find its way onto loan applications, admits Maumill.

His advice for potential franchisees? Multi-unit franchising is a must if you want more than a job; unless it is an exceptional business, you are in a well-paid job. We wanted to break free and it was essential to become multi-franchisees. It’s very hard to get out of day to day business, multi-unit franchising allows us to do that.

Take time and advice to get the structure of the business right on the legal front too, he suggests. I really believe how you set up the structure as a company, trust etc is essential for growth – it makes business sense to choose the best possible structure.

Stick to what you know and capitalise on the knowledge, he also advises. It’s easy for us now to acquire bakeries and franchising was always the way for us to do this.

This year they are looking to consolidate more, incorporate a couple of bakeries early in the year and remove themselves further from the day to day structure. To achieve this they are reveiewing how they do business and how to get more profitability out of their franchises.