Working hard to Exceed expectations

David and Karen Dovey pictured with Jessica Linnell, the only New Zealand winner of the Next-Gen Young Entrepreneurs in Franchising Contest. Photo / Supplied

Exceed, which has built up a national franchise operation repairing aluminium joinery windows and doors, is poised to expand into Australia from its base in Mount Maunganui.

The business was started 25 years ago by David and Karen Dovey, originally from Wellington, who relocated to Tauranga in 1998 a year after setting up their franchise model, and now have 20 franchise owners across New Zealand.

"We proved our business model first, then we formalised it," said Mr Dovey, the company's general manager.

"You have to create a system so you can train people who are not necessarily from the industry to operate the business. It took us about two years to document the business and create the manuals."

The original idea for the business came about when Mr Dovey worked in his brother's aluminium joinery company and realised there was a niche in the repairing side of the business.

Simon Lord, editor and publisher of Franchise New Zealand, said the Doveys had been early in spotting a specific need in the aluminium joinery window and glass roller door industry. "The manufacturers weren't interested in providing the after-sales service five or 10 years down the track, which is essential to keep aluminum joinery weather tight and working properly."

"What Exceed did was a good example of a New Zealand company using franchising to address a need.

"David and Karen took franchising their business very seriously and set out to learn about the peril and pitfalls of franchising and how to do it properly," Mr Lord said.

The Exceed business model is similar to other franchise models, with a royalty income stream based on each franchisee's business revenue, and buy-in cost of about $50-60,000, plus the cost of acquiring a suitable van. Mr Dovey said the mobile workshops typically could fix 90 per cent of problems from their own stock of spare parts.

The only areas that don't have an Exceed franchise are Hawke's Bay and Otago, though the company has agents there.

"Our main area of expansion now is Australia."

Exceed has entered into a joint venture agreement with Australian company Alchin and Long, which owns two well-known window brands, Doric and Cowdroy.

The Australian joint venture, called Lock and Roll, will launch next month. The company has two mobile workshops ready to go and will add two more vans in April. David and Karen will initially spend half of each month in Sydney getting the business established.

"The business will look and feel the same as our operations here and use the same systems," said Mr Dovey. "Once we complete the trial and get the data in, we will probably appoint a franchise or sales manager in Sydney, but I will remain the general manager of both businesses."

Jessica wins NZ-wide selection to join world conference

Jessica Linnell, first contact at Exceed, is the only New Zealand winner of the Next-Gen Young Entrepreneurs in Franchising Contest, which will see her attend the three-day International Franchise Association conference in Las Vegas in April.

"We're very proud of Jess," said Exceed general manager David Dovey.

The competition was designed to find, recognise and celebrate a new generation of leaders in the franchise industry.

Organisers asked young entrepreneurs to submit a brief application into one of two categories: an idea for a new franchise concept or an innovation for an existing franchise brand.

The organisers chose 50 winners under 35 from 38 different countries, with just one each from New Zealand and Australia.

"As Exceed was already a well-established franchise, my entry into the competition was focused on innovation," said Ms Linnell.

She said that, when she joined Exceed, she realised some of its marketing techniques where becoming outdated and redundant, and its online presence was limited.

"My idea took a new look at some of the marketing techniques that had once been thriving platforms for Exceed, and redirected efforts to fresh and current platforms, such as social media and personalised business apps," she said.

"Within the 12 months that we have been developing Exceed's social media presence, we have experienced a 629 per cent increase in online brand engagement."

Along with an executive summary of her 2014 online marketing plan, Ms Linnell submitted the new Exceed app and a 30-second promo video showcasing the app's features.

The IFA conference would focus on the hottest trends and best practices in social entrepreneurship, micro franchising, crowd funding and international expansion.

Competition winners would be introduced to many of the biggest companies and most successful entrepreneurs in the world, organisers said.

Company details

Exceed has about a dozen full and part-time staff based in Tauranga, including a full-time national franchise manager, and contract marketing manager and accountant.

The firm recently brought its 24-hour call centre in-house, which employs five
part-timers in Tauranga.

The service was previously outsourced to a Wellington call centre.