Computer service and repair company, Australia Wide IT is making the switch to the franchising business model.

The company, which has been in business for about five years, focuses on providing IT support for small and medium sized businesses.

The best way to describe it, said Adam Goudge, founder of Australia Wide IT, is if you work in a big organisation you typically have an internal IT department. Well, we are the IT department for people who don’t have one.

This includes everything from simple desktop support to complex network design and installation.

For the first phase of the franchise launch, 17 territories across metropolitan Melbourne have been identified, with the company actively seeking franchisees.

According to Goudge, Australia Wide IT is looking for owner-operators who have experience in the IT industry.

The company name is Australia Wide and I want to build it to Australia wide, he said. I can’t see that happening as a company-owned model. But with franchising, we’ve got people with a real interest in the business, making all the hard decisions as they need to be made.

Phase two of the launch will see expansion into Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the third quarter of 2010.