Hello – MD Gary Shearer says hi and paints the broad picture.

Hi. Because a lot of our enquiry comes through websites like the Franchise Council of Australia's - where the basics of the SafetyQuip system are already outlined - it's probable that you already have an idea of what we are about and don't wish to go through the same info all over again. If so, onward!

But if you're coming in fresh, review a copy of the FCA listing by clicking here. This will take you to a good overview of SafetyQuip and the safety business. Close the FCA window to come back to this point and we'll get on with it.

It is also probable that you already have researched a number of franchise systems so I'm not going to start by saying things like 'be in a business for yourself but not by yourself'. I would rather focus at the outset on what makes SafetyQuip unique - if not exclusively point-by-point, then certainly as a package.

I would say that the SafetyQuip system is right for:

• People looking for a ground floor opportunity. A youngish system with a big future based on market dynamics and having the systems to capitalise on them.
• People looking for a business they can build over a period of time so that they reap capital rewards, i.e. not just 'buying a job'. You will learn more about this.
• People looking for a business of which they can be proud. Workplace accidents cause more death, injury, misery and cost to the community than road accidents. That is why the authorities and courts are becoming so savage about non-compliance with workplace health and safety regulations. And why SafetyQuip franchises can hold their heads up in their communities. This is not about selling fast food to kids. Neither is it about being the 'bad guy' in WHS, because you are on the clients's side.
• People who wish to keep learning. Our education process is intense, but there is always something more to know and profit to be earned from that knowledge.
• People who might wish to give their children the legacy of an established, working, profitable business - in which those parents can still play a part by passing on their hard-won knowledge on a part time or consultative basis. In my own opinion, a successful business is a better legacy than the gift of a home, no the least because your children's reward is earned.
• People people. Relationships with customers and staff have a lot to do with the success of a SafetyQuip business. Call it 'caring confidence' based on the knowledge you gain and have at your disposal.
• People who don't mind coming to terms with the uses of 'Information Technology'. It might as well be faced that if this is a problem for you, you probably do not have much of a future in a high level business anyway.
• People with resolute patience. A SafetyQuip business is not like betting on roulette. You will not make leap-in-the-air spending money from day one. But you do have the opportunity to end up with something that will reward you richly - and not only financially.
• People who would not take the risk of losing everything through lack of Professional Indemnity Insurance.
• People who would like to work as a couple. Our system provides flexibility time-wise so that children can be catered for, and most of the time, it is a five day week.

I could go on, but your return enquiry will provide you instantly with a critical essay on the system from an industry luminary, a chart illustrating the course of events from here, and then a very comprehensive information kit - usually couriered overnight.

My final observation comes down to your pride of ownership of a business that is socially important and protects lives, families, bosses, employees and the community at large. You are not a policeman, or a lawyer - you are an essential resource. It is a big, inspiring and rewarding reason to get up in the morning and go for it.

The system itself is only a five or six years old, however it rests on 16 years successful trading of the pilot operation and many years intensive development of the franchise model.

This is what makes the opportunity so exciting. A fully developed system, thoroughly proven business, big growth market, a business niche vulnerable to competition – in its relatively early stages, while entry remains affordable.

SafetyQuip is a respected member of the Franchise Council of Australia, fully compliant with the Franchising Code of Practice, and has committed to upholding the new FCA Member Code of Standards.

In fact, the growth rate can be expected to accelerate. While most sophisticated, large-scale businesses have gone to great lengths to ensure compliance, the small to medium enterprise sector is lagging well behind, and this is where the big boom is coming. Right at the bulls-eye of SafetyQuip's target market.

Later in the exploratory process, we will provide you with a list of target businesses that is pages long and will amaze you. Everything from abattoirs to zoos. And also provide access to the marketing methodology and materials we use to reach them.

Among these are regular advisories, provided to you by our centralised technical support office, headed by a professional who keeps abreast of all the rules state by state, knows what businesses must have (and do) to comply and sets this out in clear language. Ironically, while every new regulation presents an additional hassle to businesses, it also represents an excellent relationship marketing and sales opportunity for SafetyQuip.

Our customers and potential customers need advice, and SafetyQuip can provide it, all the way to a full workplace safety audit conducted by qualified associate consultants. Territories (which are exclusive) are configured according to the volume of target businesses in any particular area.

At SafetyQuip, your training is taken very seriously. Initial training extends over three weeks of intensive classroom sessions in the National Support Office at Noosa Heads, followed by supervised field work and then ongoing. Some areas covered include:

• Workplace Safety Training - the essential modules first, but this part of your training will never cease. The more you know, the less you depend on contracted consultants, the better your customer relationship management, and the fewer your overheads.
• Product Training - you need to know what you are selling to whom, with what risk index and comparative advantages.
• Business Training – doubtless you already have a degree of business knowledge so segments are treated as they specifically apply to a SafetyQuip enterprise. 21 subjects to cover.
• IT training, business and Intranet - our purpose-developed software is the engine room of your business and you must learn to drive and maintain it. Around 50 subjects involved.

This might sound like a handful and it is intensive, however it's professionally handled and perhaps oddly, most trainees find the whole process fun.

As earlier mentioned, a fully developed SafetyQuip operation sees franchisees in a white collar role managing a staffed retail Safety Shop with multi-mobile reach. This is what is known as ‘wall-less' marketing. Your business is not confined by four walls – you are physically out there in the streets, providing mobile service which is both a marketing platform and powerful point of competitive difference. Your 'floor area' is immense.

The system encompasses a carefully staged, four-tier franchisee growth strategy, which enables you to start small, and steadily build your business.

While flexible, the four tiers are:

1. Home based man-with-van providing mobile service only (and you will be surprised how welcome you are in small to medium enterprise workplaces).
2. When your first van is fully occupied, you begin to expand your fleet, hiring sales staff to do much of the road work while you begin to concentrate more on working on the business. At this point you are a multi-van ‘mogul' and will probably have a storage/admin facility separate from your home.
3. You establish a Safety Shop which serves as your static retail centre, administrative enclave and base for the mobile units.
4. You might choose to expand your geographic scope by taking up another territory or territories and become what's known as a ‘super franchisee'. At this point you have multi-retail outlets, a growing service fleet and are at the helm of a very serious business.

Getting there - Systems Co-ordinator Elizabeth Sauterel describes the joining up process
First thing is that I send you GB's essay and our process chart. If that's by email it will be pretty much instant.

The next step is to send you our business outline, which is unusually comprehensive for this stage of the process. You can access this by web given a password, but we find that most people are still more comforatble with having something solid in their hands and so it's your call. Just let me know. Call us for an initial conversation and if you are comfortable with the outcome, we will have your choice of info format in your world PDQ.

The next significant steps are your expression of interest and deed of confidentiality. Once again, these bind you to nothing other than confidentiality. From this point I am your guide. I will help you through the process; I become your PA throughout.

When we receive these forms, we will open up our Saf-T-Net intranet system to you to provide a
structured/staged release of confidential information. This contains pretty much everything you need to proceed through to completion of a franchise agreement, and will more than likely answer all the queries you have.

Further details on what you'll find on the intranet will be contained in our Business Outline.

Thanks for your interest.

Gary