1. Rodney Gadsden
2. Paul Furniss
3. David Czynski
4. Nick Drake
5. Steve Horton
6. Grant Holt
7. Allan Hardy

1. Rodney Gadsen -

At the ripe young age of 38 I decided I needed a change in my career and a challenge in my life. I had just decided to walk away from a 20 year career in the security industry with the last 4 years spent in the Corporate Security arena. The job was financially rewarding but the travel away from home and the long hours were taken a toll on family life.

So what was I to do? Having completed a trade qualification in Paling and Picket Fence Installation in 1994 at Chadstone Tafe College Melbourne Victoria there was really only one answer, and that was to return to the trade that I had been qualified in. But how was I going to do it? I could start myself and compete with at least another 60 odd fencers in my area, or I could look at a Franchise business.

I did just that; my wife left me a newspaper cutting advertising Jim's Fencing. I contacted Warren Smith from Jim's. Warren ran through the process with me and then he left it up to me to decide my future. This impressed me, as I was never pressured once into purchasing a franchise. I discussed the whole process with my family and decided to take the plunge in March 2002. In approx 3 to 4 month’s I was asked to take up a role as a regional trainer, which I accepted and enjoy very much.

It’s now early 2003 and I have been asked to consider taking on a regional Franchisee in South Sydney. This will be a big move for my family and I as we have been living in Victoria all our life’s but on the other hand a great opportunity for us as well.

In a short space of time Jims have given me more opportunities than I thought possible when I began on this journey and looking forward to many more and to growing Jims Fencing across NSW.

To date: July 1st 2004, Rodney has now 14 Franchisees and has taken on the Eastern Sydney Region as well.

Rodney was also the Jim's Fencing National Trainer and Co-ordinator until 2007.

2. Paul Furniss -

I decided to become a Jim's Fencing Franchisee in 2004. My wife and I had a 1-year-old son and had I lost my job twice in 4 years. I was a fitter and turner and in my day-to-day job I could feel the work becoming less and less busy. I could tell another job loss was on the way. This would be the third time since buying our house 4 years earlier. It seemed that every time we got ahead we had to spend our savings on the mortgage whilst I looked for a new job. It was SO frustrating.

I told my wife Rachel that I'd had enough and wanted to start my own business where I could be in charge of my own finances and would be rewarded for the effort I put in rather than the hours. She agreed which was great because I knew I would need her support.

I felt that I would enjoy fencing as I had always liked being outdoors and making something with my hands. We started looking into licencing and training and found that the options were limited. I would have to work as a fencing labourer for two years and Rachel would have to go back to work – the idea didn’t appeal to either of us.

We came across Jim’s Fencing and found that it was a whole business package – on-the-job training was provided, and support was always available.  The best thing for us was that I would have my own business that had already established a recognisable name and a good reputation and I could start working straight away as my own boss.

We went ahead and became Jim's Fencing Franchisees.

In the two years since then we have concentrated on growing our business which has proved profitable in more ways than just financial. I have been able to attend every family event, take holidays when I wanted them and spend more time with my young family.

We have enjoyed our Jim's experience so much that we have recently bought the Jim's Fencing NSW Central Coast Region – an opportunity we would not have had on our own.
 
It’s 2006 and we are now looking forward to growing our Region and training our Franchisees to become successful business-people also. The future looks good.

After working in hardware and plumbing supplies for 13 years, I was tired of the building industry ups and downs. So I looked for a new challenge. I had been thinking of starting my own business for some time, but never quite had the finances or the guts in some cases.

In 1998 we moved from Melbourne to Brisbane and as I discovered, the wages in Brisbane didn’t quite ad up to what I had been used to in Melbourne. Now this idea of starting my own business was not so out there any more, I new I could make it work. So off we went in our own mowing and gardening business. It was going quite well for a couple of years, but we had difficulty when it came to expansion. We did sell off a couple of mowing runs, however it was not what I had set out to do, so then came our move back to Melbourne in 2001. We had no intention of mowing again when we got back, but some how fell straight back into it.

Whilst looking into new business opportunities, we found that a franchise seemed like a smart business move, which is what lead us to Jims. We were researching the different divisions, when we came across a reasonably young division called fencing. We started as Jim’s Fencing Hawthorn East in March 2002, with a plan to have a second trailer and an employee after one year, if everything went ok. Wow did we underestimate that! We started one employee in July 2002 and a second one in August 2002 so there we were with double our planned expansion in less than half the time.

December 2002 Warren Smith approached us to become regional franchisees. This was also one of our original goals, although it has occurred two years ahead of schedule. My wife Kerri our three boys and I are looking forward to starting Jims Fencing Western Australia in March 2003.

Only one year from starting, What’s next?

To date: July 2004, David has taken on the whole of WA in Fencing and has also taken on other Divisons - Building Maintenance and Pergolas. David now has 9 Fencing Franchisees and 4 Building Maintenance Franchisees.

David's phone number is 0402 232 113

4. Nick Drake

After working in Supermarkets for all my working life, (15 yrs) at the age of 33 I decided I needed a change. I had no idea what I wanted to do but my wife & I had always wanted to run our own business. We had looked into Jims Mowing a few years prior but we had just started a family & it was not the right time for us. Late 2002 Christmas was looming & I was not happy, so I rang Warren & organised a day out to check out life as a fencer. The next week I resigned from my job, rang Warren & was training to build fences by late January 2003. One of the best things about Jim' s is that the training doesn' t stop once you know how to build a fence, the ongoing support & training we have received from both Warren & Vea(divisional franchisors) & Matt & Nadia (operations managers) has been nothing less than exceptional. From getting work, to writing up quotes, to painting your trailer, anything you need help with, they are all there to help you.

We have now been in the business 10 months & we're loving it, it's not without its hard times but overall my life is on the up. A few months back I was approached to become a trainer, which I now am & I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing.

We are hoping to become franchisors one day in the near future, & until then will continue building our business.

The sky is the limit!!

Effective as of the 1st of February 2005, Nick is Jim's Fencing Regional Operations Manager for North East Melbourne Region. Nick has 11 Franchisees.

1st February 2006 - Nick and Sharon took the next step up and became Regional Franchisors of Jim's Fencing (North East Melbourne) Region.

1st July 2006 - Nick and Sharon have taken over the management of Eastern Melbourne Region - thus running half of Melbourne.

After working in the Government and Private sectors for over 20 years and advising them how to successfully run their business, I decided that I should do the same for myself.

Initially with a Business partner, I researched and looked into purchasing a small business, in particular a Franchise. We believed that an established Franchise system was more secure and offered the systems, brand name and a stable platform to develop a small business. After researching the various Franchises’ available we found that Jims offered real value for money in the system and support that they had developed. Initially I was interested in purchasing a Fencing Franchise but was unable to do so, due them not being available in Queensland at that time. Not to be deterred I purchased a Jims Cleaning Franchise, which I ran very successfully but with an underlying desire to get into fencing as our earlier research had identified a real need for reliable trades people in that area. I developed the cleaning business and within six months I was employing up to 6 part time staff.

Around Sep/Oct 2003, fencing franchises became available in Queensland, at the same time one of my part time staff made an offer to buy my Cleaning Franchise, which allowed me to pursue my original desire to get into fencing. The Fencing Franchisor’s role had been taken, however I purchased the first Queensland Fencing Franchise as a Franchisee. After training in Sydney and on the job with the Brisbane Franchisor I started out on my own in Feb 2004 and already have one employee working for me. The training and support that I received from my Regional Franchisor and Jims has been exemplary. Coupled with my previous experience in Business, the help and assistance from Jim’s and a bit of hard work my fencing business should get stronger and stronger, I already have various builders, pool companies and real estates seeking my services. As of May 2004 I was appointed as the Northern Brisbane Regional Trainer for Fencing, a role that I am looking forward too. Eventually I would like to become a Franchisor or Divisional Manager (lookout Warren) but that will depend on my desire to succeed, but with the Jims System behind me anything is possible.

Steve Horton expanded his role and became Regional Franchisor for the Gold Coast.

To date: 7th September 2005, Steve has now 4 Franchisees in his Gold Coast region.

To date: 1st December 2005, Steve expanded his region by purchasing the Brisbane region and is operating with Grayham Ford. Steve and Grayham continue fantastic growth in Queensland.
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6. Grant Holt

I started with Jims Fencing in May 2003. After the initial training I started out building fences on my own. The work was hard but very rewarding. I enjoyed going to work each day as I could see that each day I was progressing through a job and at the end could see what I had achieved. When I was working for wages and as an employee I would have start when they decided and finish when they decided. The wage was determined by them. I basically had no control over what I was doing, and it seemed to be all about making a set budget each day, week, month, and year. All for the bosses benefit.

I have always enjoyed the outdoors and working with my hands so the Jims Fencing Ad certainly stood out to me. I rang Warren Smith and enquired about the Franchise. Warren told me about Jim’s Fencing and the benefits that he has experienced since being with Jim’s. I thought this seemed like the perfect path for me, I have never been afraid of hard work and I knew that this could really make a difference for me and my family. With all this in mind I decided to give fencing a go.

When I first mentioned to my wife Melissa about buying a Jims franchise she thought I was out of my mind. We had just bought a new property that had to be paid for and Melissa was at home looking after our 2 children, this did not seem to her like the time to be taking risks. Melissa said that I certainly had the skills and discipline to run my own business but the idea still made her nervous the fear of the unknown. The fact that they interviewed us to see if we were suitable impressed her greatly as it made Melissa feel as though they were not letting us get into anything we couldn’t handle.

It all seems along time ago now since we first looked into Jim’s and not only are we now enjoying the financial benefits, we are also enjoying being able to spend more time as a family. Now Melissa actually gets to see her husband at a reasonable hour, not to mention the change in my mood when I get home. Melissa says “you can really tell that he finds his work satisfying”. Most of all I am able to be more involved in our children’s lives, which is something we all benefit from.

It has been a year and we have never looked back. I have become a licensed fencer and the fencing trainer in the Northern Regions in Sydney. We are starting to look into the regions in the fencing division. Where is this going to take me?..............

Grant expanded his role from Franchisee to Franchisor early in 2005. Grant has also been the Jim's Fencing face of "Renovation Rescue" over the past few years.

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7. Allan Hardy

After 20 years of working at Melbourne Airport I had finally had enough. I was sick of shift work and the constantly changing work hours. I was constantly missing out on outings on weekends and it was hard to plan things with my family. The inconsistency of the hours also left me feeling like I had a constant hangover, without even drinking.

 In 2004 I started looking for a way out. I knew someone who had joined Jims Cleaning and was extremely happy. I decided to go and do the Jims training at Moorolbark. There I met someone from Jims Antennas and felt better suited to this sort of work. After looking into it, I decided to buy a Jims Antenna Franchise.

My time with Antennas was really enjoyable. It was great to be my own boss and make my own hours. I had also learned a lot of new skills like how to run a business. The support I received from the Jims team was great.

It was after going to a conference in Queensland and meeting Franchisors from around Australia, that I started thinking about buying a division. I looked up what divisions were available.  I noticed a Jims Fencing had a division in my area. Fencing was something I had an interest in and thought it was a great job to be trained to do. Not climbing high roofs anymore was something I was not going to miss. So after many discussions with fencing, Family and the Bank Managers in October of 2005 I bought Jims Fencing Melbourne West division.

I have found it interesting and rewarding learning fencing. Its been great to get into the practical side of things and to be trained in new and  different types of  Fencing.

Running the Business side of things at first was a bit overwhelming , but after getting into the swing of things has now eased into a nice manageable routine.

It has been a year since buying the division and feel it is moving ahead nicely. I look forward to seeing the business grow from strength to strength.

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