FR ANCHISor profile: go gecko
directors and key staff to see what we can do better, kick around ideas,” Geoff said.
Franchisees agree Ennoggera franchisees Brian Carmichael and his wife Brenda opened the doors to their Go Gecko agency in June 2008. “We had been in traditional real estate for about 15 years and could see that changes were occurring and we were looking around for a point of difference, and we saw the Go Gecko concept as the way of the future,” Brian explained. “It was a risk we took – but we haven’t looked back. Because we already had our licence – we just hit the ground running,” he said. Brian’s advice for potential Go Gecko franchisees: “In real estate you’re either busy or not working. Be smart with your time - take time off when you can. It’s the nature of the business,” Brian said. Pat Barrett was one of the first wave of Go Gecko franchisees, setting up his Boondall agency in July 2007. By October of that year, with just himself and one other sales person, Pat had registered 33 sales. “Effectively the business had paid for itself in a very short period of time – it didn’t owe me anything. 18 months later I bought a second Go Gecko franchise, in Bracken Ridge, and this has been just as successful,” said Pat.
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“The amazing thing”, said Geoff, “is that Pat had no previous real estate sales experience and now he’s one of our top performers and winning awards.” Pat, was recently named ‘Go Gecko Franchisee of the Year’ for 2009, he is the group’s second highest salesperson, and his agencies boast the highest list to sell ratio of 85 per cent. Pat had previous business experience, having owned small businesses for more than 15 years, and had made the decision for a career shift to real estate. He studied for three months to gain his real estate license and was looking for an appropriate franchise to buy into. “I was tossing up between Go Gecko and Harcourts. I had been through both companies training and information sessions, but I decided that the Go Gecko model would give me the edge I needed to start up and that I would have more opportunity for marketing and listing than the traditional model,” Pat said. Pat is extremely happy he made the decision to join Go Gecko. “It’s too easy! People come to us. I recently sold my third referral for the one lady. Because of the commission we’re getting to see more properties, so our skill levels, of being able to list and price correctly are always improving,” Pat said.
Top 2 fastest growing franchise Geoff was thrilled when Go Gecko Property Sales was named in the top two of BRW’s list of ‘fastest growing franchises across Australia for 2009’. “Our BRW listing gives our new and existing clients’ confidence about Go Gecko’s ability to achieve exceptional results and compete with the “old” real estate organisations,” he said. He also expected interest levels from potential franchisees to increase, following the BRW listing. “Go Gecko offers an excellent business investment to franchisees, because we have taken out the hardest part of any real estate agency, obtaining listings, enabling franchise owners to build a business with strong and recurring income streams,” said Geoff. Go Gecko’s next major franchise drive is into Sydney, where they hope to have five or six outlets operational by the end of year. “We hope to open several offices at once in the Sydney region. This strategy gives us a more prominent profile and will make a big splash in the media,” Geoff explained. v For more information about owning a Go Gecko franchise visit www.gogecko.com.au