“I love what we are creating, that we leave behind a space for families to create memories for many years,” says Narellan Pools franchisee Mark Kaushal.

Installing pools in Sydney’s Hills District is all about families, he says. “I have kids coming up to me and asking if they can have a pool for their birthday!” 

When Mark and his wife Anna came across Narellan Pools they loved the idea of having a family business.

“There are three things that I wanted from a business: profitability, family values, and the capacity to add value to the community – to do something worthwhile,” says Mark.

Narellan Pools franchisee finds values a perfect match

“We are doing something that has a purpose, not just making money. We talk about this with our 16-year-old son Sean sometimes. He can see what we are creating, he can see our work ethic.

“It is very rewarding – and hard work – but I’ve worked hard all my life. I am very driven; I had six progressive roles in 10 years when I was at Caltex. I am a bit of a workaholic!”

Mark was previously head of pricing at Caltex, so was skilled in project management, operations, leadership, and strategy. He also has great people skills.

“This is a complex business, construction is not easy, and you have to build your own team,” he explains.

While this appealed to him, his wife Anna was a little more cautious about his lack of technical knowledge.

Even though he had been from an early age interested in landscaping and had helped out his dad on hobby house-builds from the age of 12, Mark had no construction qualifications until becoming a licensed pool builder.

“I said ‘no-one is born knowing how to install a pool. If anyone else can learn, so can I!’” he says.

Mark was initially interested in buying a franchise-owned territory and revealed to the franchisor he was keen on operating in his own neighbourhood.

“I live in the Hills District and love it and said, ‘this is the area for me’. I asked if it was available.”

As it happened, the franchisor owned the territory and had longer-term plans to sell – which it fast-tracked – and Mark and Anna purchased the business.

Hard work drives sales up 200 per cent

Last year Mark’s business installed 100 pools; he handed over 36 pools in a concentrated completion period three weeks prior to Christmas.

“In five years, we’ve growth 200 per cent,” he reveals.

It is the magic combination of focusing on referrals and heavily marketing the business that has lifted the sales, he says.

“Referrals account for one third of our installations and we have an ongoing focus on our online presence.”

Now, with a team of nine, and seven sub-contractor teams, the couple is looking to grow the business by acquiring further territories.

High performance leads to multiple awards

And not surprisingly, this stellar performance has brought numerous awards over the past few years.

The franchise won six distinct categories in the Narellan Pools awards program including a silver award for pool of the year. A pool association awarded the business for its excellence in pool building.

But there are two awards of which Mark is particularly proud. The Master Builders Excellence in Pool Building, fibreglass category, is one, which rewards for the build concept and quality, delivering client solutions, and compliance.

“This is quite prestigious,” says Mark. “I also won the People’s Choice award at Narellan, which is based on franchisee votes.

“I am one of the younger franchisees in the business, but I’ve gained respect from other franchisees, some of whom are more experienced than me but ring up for advice.”

Narellan Pools is a values-based franchisee community

Mark reveals other franchises have adopted some of his initiatives, including a referral program, generating client reviews, and business processes.

“I introduced a welcome pack for clients, outlining their journey with us step-by-step, with timelines.

“We all talk to each other, ask about how we are handling different situations or regulations.”

Even before the couple signed up to the franchise, they had experienced the collaborative culture at Narellan Pools.

“We paid to go to Fiji to the national conference to see the company culture and we found what we were looking for. There were franchisees who had been in business for 10, 20, up to 25 years. They were such a great bunch of people, very knowledgeable. The franchisees were so welcoming,” Mark says.

“If I had to pick the number one strength of the business, it would be relationships formed with other franchisees. I love how willing we are to help each other, to solve each other’s problems.

“That was why we bought the business, and to this day, that’s what we love most – apart from building the pools!”