franchise.co.nz – PUTTING PEOPLE IN BUSINESS
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Multi-licence Paramount franchisee Leon Chen is quite clear about the key
to running his business: “Invest in your people,” he states emphatically. “If you
want to improve, you must have management skills, and if you apply those to
treating your staff well, they are the key factor to growing your business. They
will bring you the rewards!”
Leon’s philosophy is based on seven years as a Paramount franchisee,
running a successful central Auckland commercial and residential cleaning
business. Leon now has a mix of ten full- and part-time staff helping him
operate his three franchise businesses. “I am the first to take up Paramount’s
new Lawn Mowing and Garden Care franchise,” he states with pride. “Just as
the team at Paramount predicted – there is a great deal of potential
business there.”
A reliable business
Leon’s previous career included a couple of years learning people skills by
managing a petrol station and gaining experience working as a commercial
cleaner for another Paramount franchisee. “I realised then that there is a
strong need for reliable cleaning services,” he says.
“My former Paramount boss had impressed me as much as the company had.
I was looking for a reliable business for myself, so after quite a lot of research
with other companies and talking to franchisees, I bought my first
Paramount franchise.
“That was seven years ago, and since then I’ve built up my business by taking
on specialised jobs like carpet cleaning and windows, as well as handling
bigger contracts and hiring the staff to service them with. I believe in hands-
on training – it’s company policy to do the job properly by learning it properly
– so when the Lawn Mowing and Garden Care opportunity came up, I worked
daily with the gardeners in a hospital garden. You must have the skills before
learning your business is my motto!”
Expansion opportunity
Paramount, renowned as a property care partner since 1979, and now with
220 franchisees servicing nearly 5000 locations, only recently diversified into
lawn and garden maintenance.
“It was an obvious move,” explains
Operations Manager for Lawn Mowing and
Garden Care, Hein Visser, “as we kept getting
asked to do it! Our loyal customers like the
way we operate and appreciate the detail we
apply. Many large commercial businesses,
such as banks, have a surprising amount of
lawn and garden – even in central Auckland
– that needs maintaining. We couldn’t keep
turning them down, so now our franchisees
have a further business opportunity that, as
Leon has proven, is very profitable.”
Hein is a botanist from South Africa, where he
had his own company within the landscaping
industry, servicing facilities and ground
maintenance for big corporates. “I emigrated
to NZ in 2020 just before Covid hit.”
Investment in training
Hein is quite clear about the advantages of joining Paramount as a
franchisee. “For a start you are buying a franchise that takes a lot of the
guesswork out of building your own business. You have the backing of a
long-established national brand. We give you all the knowledge and we put in
a lot of advertising – the expensive part if you are a sole trader!
“Paramount have a large range of clients, but for me the cream on top is our
people. We make a huge investment in our franchisees through training.
We make sure everyone is up to scratch and meets our first-class customer
service standards all the way.
“That is the basis we work from – the client is always right, and we do
everything to keep them happy. It was a natural progression to move into
Lawn Mowing and Garden Care, and as Leon is discovering it is not a limited
market. We are finding a lot of the high-end residential areas, especially in the
Auckland region, also need the services we offer.”
Paramount celebrated success last year at the 2024 Westpac New Zealand
Franchise Awards as winner of the Business to Business Franchise System of
the Year award.
“Best of all for our franchisees is that we have guaranteed revenue for
Lawn Mowing
and Garden
Care franchises.
Franchise
opportunities
are available
nationwide from
around $19,000. Call
me today – I’d love
to hear from you
and learn how we
can be part of your
future success.”
PARAMOUNT
TO SUCCESS
Opportunity: Business & Commercial
Paramount Lawn and
Garden Care
www.paramountgardening.co.nz
Contact
Hein Visser, Operations
Manager
021 314 193
0800 158 158
hvisser@paraserve.com
Advertiser Info
Paramount franchisee builds business
with new Lawn Mowing and Garden
Care licence
Paramount’s new
Lawn and Garden
Care franchise is
growing quickly
Leon Chen’s motto: ‘You must have the
skills before learning your business’