Franchisee Stories – Colin & Deb

Lawn & Garden Care and Interior Cleaning – Springfield & Springfield Lakes, QLD

What have I done?!?…

Not exactly the words you want to hear from your husband after the first day in his new business!

Colin & Deb moved to Australia from New Zealand in 2012.  Being a hard-working couple, Colin was soon working two jobs and Deb was working as a nurse in an Intensive Care Unit.  With two children in high school as well, life was busy! 

Busy, but unfulfilling.

Colin was tired of working for others, dealing with top heavy management & Deb’s career was brought to an end unexpectedly due to health reasons.  They agreed that they needed a long-term fix that provided a good income, independence (both financially & personally), flexibility and stability.  In their own words; “We want to be in charge of our own destiny!”.

The Watson’s had friends who had a lawn mowing franchise with James Home Services, so they gave them a call and asked lots of questions.  They did their research into James and a number of other business opportunities.  After talking with a range of James business owners, they felt that a Lawn and Garden Care franchise with James was the change they needed.

In a few short weeks Colin was beginning training with his practical trainer, doing jobs and “learning the ropes”.  It was while completing his first lawn job that a voice in Colin’s head screamed “what have you done!  I can’t do this on my own!”  Deb felt a bit the same as she discovered she had a fear of all these “Australian Creepy Crawlies”, infesting clients gardens.

Wind the clock forward, a couple of years and now Colin and Deb employ teams of staff and have one of the biggest lawn mowing franchises, with James Home Services, in the country.  They changed their strategy significantly, and became business managers, rather than the operators. Their focus, was on growing their customer database and they hired a team of staff around them, to manage the day to day physical work. They have recently expanded into a James Home Services cleaning franchise as well, and already have a team running at full capacity servicing clients from their lawn mowing business.

We asked Colin & Deb recently, what they enjoy most about their business… “Helping people!  Seeing how happy they are when we’ve tidied up their property.  Knowing that you have made their day, or their week easier and happier!  We do a lot of work for NDIS and aged care clients, who can not physically do the job themselves.  Just to know that it improves, even slightly, their quality of life is very fulfilling for us.”

“We never in our wildest dreams expected for our little business to grow as big as it has. We did it by having confidence and faith in ourselves, following the James 8-Step system, rolling up our sleeves, each and every day, and delivering that Gold Medal Service that we promise!”

Colin and Deb – thank you for your big hearts! You help so many people in your neighbourhood and are always first to support your fellow franchisees in our network!  We appreciate you!