What does it take to run a franchise division in the Jim’s Group? We posed this question to Jim’s chief operating officer, Rocky Aloi.

Rocky joined the mega group five years ago, and since then has helped the business grow to more than 5250 franchisees across 48 divisions.

The latest exciting development is the Jim’s Beauty brand which garnered significant social media, national broadcast and online coverage.

There is no stopping this juggernaut of opportunity: there are six more divisions scheduled to launch, Rocky reveals.

“Jim’s has achieved continual growth since 2019,” he says. “We have changed our business structure with the divisions to ensure they succeed.”

In flipping the model, the focus for Jim’s has been on viability of concept, and the knowledge and commitment of the business owner.

How small businesses join Jim’s

So how does a small business join the group and leverage all that comes with Jim’s network?

It starts with a pitch, says Rocky.

“We don’t search for the businesses, they approach us and we evaluate whether they are good.

“If we like the idea, the owner goes through our training program, and if all goes well, we sign them up as a divisional franchisor.”

There is no cost to the sign-up, other than an initial upfront payment of six months worth of franchise fees.

“That works out to about $5,000 a month minus a compliance discount. The franchisee fee is ongoing.

“We expect the franchisor to use the money to establish the brand, for recruitment and operations manuals, style guides and websites,” says Rocky.

“We give them a target of 30 franchises in three years; we give them the divisional rights at no cost, and they can sell these on.”

Industry knowledge important for divisional franchisors

Rocky points to one of the fastest growing divisions, laundry, which has signed more than 100 franchisees in 24 months.

Another recently booming division is computers – there are now more than 40 franchisees. 

“The national office always holds the right to vet franchisees,” Rocky explains. 

While the concept might be welcomed, Jim’s ensures divisional franchisors need to follow a stringent process of specific training and evaluation. 

“What we look for in a franchisor is industry knowledge, then personality. A lot of people buy in to a business because of the people involved, so the franchisor must fit with the culture, and have the focus to launch a brand.

Rocky points out the goal is to build large, effective divisions, which requires a franchisor with the right personality and commitment to develop and scale their business.

The message to potential Jim’s divisional franchisors is that they need to be working on, and not in, their business. 

“We don’t want them to be working franchisees,” says Rocky. “With the sheer volume of leads our brand produces, that’s simply not practical.”

Management system and training academy

Jim’s management system and the Jimbo app for managing proactive calls and note-taking assist franchisors run their business. 

This is an opportunity to step up to the next level, backed by strong foundational training from Jim’s.

“Training includes marketing and SEO strategy, and how to allocate and reallocate leads. It covers IT and systems, health and safety, business, bookkeeping, Jim’s customer service ethos…all the elements we pride ourselves on.

“We do our training in two stages so franchisors are not overwhelmed,” says Rocky. 

Set-up takes several weeks of training. There is a follow-on advance training course six months into the business. 

Franchisors finish training with mental health first aid certification, equipping them to help their franchisees, if needed.

The focus on excellent training is now poised to reach new heights with an exciting new development. The proposed Jim’s Training Academy will become a Registered Training Organisation.

“It is still in its infancy,” says Rocky. “We are taking this path because there is a massive gap between Jim’s Group Training and the vocational qualifications franchisees can achieve through an RTO.

“The Jim’s Training Academy would provide qualifications from horticulture to animal care and test and tag. 

The development of the RTO will elevate franchisee certification, so in time all franchisees will have the opportunity to get nationally recognised qualifications.

There is also a plan to open this training organisation to the general public. It’s a three-year project, with plenty of audits and compliance attached, says Rocky.

“We expect to be fully functioning as an RTO in 2024,” he says, a sure sign that training across the board is fundamental to Jim’s success.