Tool Box
Issue No. 10 - April/May 2003
Bug Free Zone
Glen Field, Managing Director of Termimesh in South Australia, knows all about doing things tough in spite of having a good product.
Ten years ago, he bought the only franchise in South Australia for Termimesh - a non-toxic, permanent termite treatment for new homes and buildings developed in Perth, WA.
Since then, he has installed Termimesh in over 25,000 sites around the State and has acquired the second of only two Termimesh franchises to be offered for sale in South Australia. He now owns and operates a multi million dollar business which is growing at a rate of 9% per annum.
To set up the first franchise, Glen turned to a small group of investors-friends and family-who provided capital. Operations began on Brighton Road, Brighton in November 1992 with first financial year turnover of $5,000.
"As this approach to termite protection was revolutionary; securing sales in the early days of trading was extremely difficult," Glen says.
Hard slog was needed to gain market acceptance. Importantly, Termimesh could count on the advantage of a legislated demand for its product.
"As every council region in metropolitan Adelaide requires an approved termite barrier be installed into new buildings during construction, our market already existed," Glen says.
"Our initial challenge lay in driving sufficient consumer demand for our product by marketing our unique features and benefits. Most termite control products require regular top-ups or retreatments, so our permanent solution became well supported by the consumer once they became aware of its existence."
Since Termimesh-a woven stainless steel barrier- is ecologically friendlier than pesticides that have to be reapplied, the product benefits from consumer awareness of long-term toxicity. For example, Glen explains that if Termimesh's 25,000 installations had used toxic pesticides, 25 million litres of poison would have soaked into South Australia's soil, gardens and e...
