Mat Watt is a seasoned franchisee, although he is a newbie with Appliance Tagging Services. 

“I had previously been a franchisee in a printing business so I understood a bit about franchising and what I did and didn’t like,” he says.

The Victorian franchisee, based in Preston, had begun his career as a printing apprentice before looking to set up his own business.

That’s when the reality of owning and operating a business alone hit home. 

“I had lots of employees and multiple leases for factories, it was all quite pressured,” he said.

So he made a complete career change, looking to return to work as an employee. 

“I worked for seven years as a prison officer for Corrections Victoria,” he reveals. “I really enjoyed the first six years, then in Covid it was really hard.”

Mat started to look for something else to do – for himself. But this time he was adamant he wanted a model that worked for him.

“I wanted a business that was just me, my car and equipment. Somewhere I could be flexible with time, and take off a day or a weekend when I want.”

After researching numerous franchise mobile services, Mat found Appliance Tagging Services (ATS), and recognised it offered just what he needed.

A switched on company

“My first impressions were that ATS is organised. I was looking at several test and tag businesses and ATS stood out because they consistently got back with answers.

“Ainslie and Sarah run a switched-on company, they are ahead of the game. There’s nothing in test and tag, that someone there can’t answer. I haven’t had an issue that couldn’t be sorted,” Mat says.

He liked the business model based on repeat business and low overheads. The outputs are time, hire of equipment, and fuel. 

The ATS model also offers a high level of franchisee back-office support, taking on much of the time-consuming administrative tasks – including invoice chasing.

“That was one of the attractions, “ he says. 

Mat looked at similar businesses with cheaper fees, but knew he would be putting hours into bookwork and chasing invoices. 

“Chasing money isn’t fun, but I don’t have to do that with ATS. I do bookkeeping once a week, and I’m done in less than half an hour,” Mat says.

“That’s part of the system, the invoicing and bills are sent to me once a month, I just have to check them. ATS makes it really easy.

“I pay a bit more for an ATS franchise but I can see the value.”

Learning and earning

Mat bought an existing franchise which he found considerably less stressful than starting from scratch, as he did previously. 

“I’ve earned an income from day one. And if I don’t have work from my customers, the sales team provides business leads from national accounts.”

Mat has only been with ATS four months so he’s still learning as he grows the business.

His focus is on providing superior customer service to ensure the customers he inherited stick with him. 

“I am good at customer service and every customer is different,” he says.

Some are scheduled for annual visits, some construction clients require quarterly visits. 

Mat can see the potential to grow the business with his existing customers just by upselling extra services which ATS offers, such as fire safety maintenance. 

Although he had plenty of business and franchise experience, Mat lacked the technical knowledge and qualifications he needed to operate the business.

“I did the courses for test and tag, and the fire service, before two weeks training at ATS head office. This included a couple of days on site with another franchisee.

“Then I felt confident in the business,” he says.

Franchisees’ interests core to ATS

It’s early days, but so far Mat is more than happy with his franchise purchase. 

“I will see where it takes me. The way it’s going I’m earning good money, and I’m not working excessive hours.”

On average Mat works 40 hours a week, sometimes finishing jobs early, sometimes putting in extra hours.

“This is my first job that’s Monday to Friday; in printing it felt like it never stopped. In my previous job I worked two weekends out of three. 

“Now I plan to take a day off once a month because my wife has a day off and we can enjoy each other’s company.”

After years of hard slog without regular weekends and evenings free, Mat is now able to reap the benefits of a business model that frees up franchisees’ time – and still achieve his financial goals.

‘The way ATS is set up, they have franchisees’ best interests at heart,” he says.