This education role marks the company as an unconventional franchise. Its structure follows that trend. Wannabe Nerds pay a once-off $3750 up front and, should they chose to acquire a Nerdmobile (which must be a 1998 or later red VW Beetle), receive free sign writing to build the brand. A small monthly fee then covers back office and group marketing.
Each Nerd operates as both a sole practitioner finding their own clients and a member of a network that assembles itself into virtual teams to tackle tasks too big or too complex for an individual. Set charges or hourly rates are eschewed in favour of “solution-based pricing” that sees Nerds offer clients a shopping list of differently costed approaches.
A complex set of rules covers the way fees are shared, with respect for other Nerds the dominant concern instead of legal niceties. “We shouldn’t have to squabble over things,” Carter says. “But once the client pays, it is the Primary Nerd’s [prime contractor’s] responsibility to ensure that any other Nerds who worked on the job get paid within 24 hours.”
That steely 24-hour edge to the rules of engagement is an indicator of how serious the company is beneath its fun exterior.
“We want 300 Nerds in Australia in the next three years,” Carter says, expecting that it may be possible to secure more. “We’ve never saturated a city.”
Another Jim
Another company that has yet to find a limit on growth is the Jim’s Group. Founded in 1982 by Jim Penman, the company has grown beyond its lawn mowing roots to offer a multitude of different services, all operated as franchises.
“Jim’s has 30 divisions,” says John Lawrence, regional franchisor for central and south Sydney. “The computer services division is fastest growing,” and already boasts 60 franchisees around Australia.
Like Nerds On Site, however, Jim’s Computer Services believes it is just starting its assault in the market. “In Sydney we are just beginning,” Lawrence says.
“Jim’s Computer Services is now in its fifth year. Initial growth was slow while we prototyped the business model. Now it’s a mature model and growth is really starting to kick in.” Lawrence will not be drawn on exactly how much growth the group desires. “Our ambition is to provide excellent service and if we get that right the growth will follow,” he says.
Achieving that services excellence will come from a process akin to those used by Nerds On Site.
“We require them to have a certification with either MCSE or CompTIA,” Lawrence says. “We have to be convinced someone can be a success in business, they need technical and customer service skills and we look for people who are upbeat, can present themselves well, are confident and really looking to work a successful business.”
“They need the correct personal attributes and motivation. We are careful of people who think they can buy themselves a job.”
Successful applicants generally come from a strong technical background, often learned in a large corporate IT department. “That gives them good customer skills because they have been working with users inside the corporation,” Lawrence says. “If a job is a little bit obscure or high end the first person may not be able to address it immediately, but it is very rare to come across something we cannot handle as a group.”
Jim’s then provides corporation-like support structures. “We make sure you have insurance, meet all the regulatory and compliance requirements. Then we help you with marketing.”
These services do not come cheap. Franchises listed for sale on the company’s website in eastern Sydney start at $18,700. The company also charges a monthly fee of $550 that covers the entire infrastructure.
Complaints
But one of those pieces of infrastructure is a call centre that serves two important functions.
One is to act as a professional capture mechanism so that franchisees can be allocated work based on skills and availability. The other is to give customers confidence they can complain about the organisation and escalate their problems professionally without having to confront a franchisee personally.
Nerds On Site’s call centre also performs the same functions, and it is this easy access to an escalation point that makes the two stand out from smaller or stand-alone resellers.
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