Mark Fidler, owner of the Hunter Hip Pocket Workwear & Safety franchise in Newcastle, New South Wales, talks about his franchising experience.

I’ve spent nearly all of my working life in my own or family businesses. For about 20 years I had a number of franchises supplying industrial cleaning chemicals in the UK and then here in Australia. This type of work is business-to-business and the great thing about that is regular, repeat customers, plus you have the opportunity to provide a really great service to your customers over time. I enjoyed the work and earned excellent money. But in the end I felt unchallenged and made the permanent move to Australia, so I looked for a new business opportunity.

In conjunction with some family members, I bought an existing business manufacturing and selling blinds and plantation shutters. I liked dealing with the general public but the downside was spending a fortune on advertising. After a marriage break-up I moved on from that business and looked around for a new opportunity. From the blind business I had learnt that you don’t always know what you’re buying when you purchase an existing set-up from someone else. I had been a franchisee before and fancied franchising again in a primarily business-to-business enterprise.

The Hip Pocket Workwear & Safety system appealed for a number of reasons. It was something relatively recession-proof, because buying uniforms is not a discretionary spend. Many people thought I was barking mad to start up in the middle of the GFC, but people still have to buy work clothes. And it paid off. When I opened last year I had a really satisfying start. I had been out on the road for about four months beforehand, selling out of the boot of my car. I learned the trade this way and built up a customer base. I was lucky too — I opened in June and had businesses spending before the end of the financial year.

All companies have a different way of purchasing; some will buy as and when they need staff uniforms while others have an annual or biannual issue, so they buy once or twice a year. I supply a very diverse range of industries, although there is probably a leaning towards engineering, with Newcastle being a mining area.

Retail clients account for about 25 per cent of the business and it was a challenge to find the right premises. A lot of the hard work and searching is done by the franchisor, who is rightly fussy about where you go. The location is important and I’m glad they were so particular, even though it took six months to find a decent site.

There is plenty of competition in the Newcastle area but because of the size of the market I saw plenty of potential. The bigger the business gets, the more I realise just how large the market is.

Hip Pocket is not a parent company that does all the advertising for you and you just wait for customers to come to the door. As a franchisee, I’m responsible for generating the supply of customers, and I like that if things are quiet I can go out and do something about it. It’s not hard though; to make it work you just have to go out and make it happen. It’s important to be proactive. To help this along, I now have four staff working with me.

Franchising provides a security net and buying power, and I couldn’t have done this on my own. What I love about Hip Pocket is that it’s not a Big Brother franchise; they get you set up and then give you help as you need it. I genuinely feel it is my own business and I am my own boss.

To be honest, I can see myself doing this job until I retire.