10 years on from his seminal interview with Making Money magazine, we follow-up with our COO, Danny Hanlon, to talk about what has changed in the last decade, and what the future holds for Granite & TREND Transformations.
10 years ago this month, our COO, Danny Hanlon, made it onto the cover of Making Money magazine with a fascinating interview about how Granite & TREND Transformations made such a splash on the UK market. He talked about how he originally got involved with the brand back in his native Australia, and how he worked his way up from shopfitter to franchisee, and eventually to training other franchisees.
He went on to help the brand launch in the US, and then jumped at the opportunity to become the Chief Operating Officer for the new UK side of the business. Since then, he has been instrumental in building one of the UK’s most successful home improvement franchise businesses.
Q: In your first interview, you talk about how the biggest selling point for customers of Granite & TREND has always been the "Top that fits on Top", but how has that product grown and developed in recent years? What other products and services have you introduced in the last decade?
DH: While our overlay worktops are what made Granite & TREND Transformations stand out from the crowd, and continue to be huge sellers, our long-term goal has always been to offer our customers a totally transformative service for their homes, not just their worktops. For this reason, we’ve continued to add new products every year, and our replacement cupboard doors have become particularly popular, with some franchisees making more than 30% of their turnover from that alone.
We also introduced a 'storage solutions' strategy last year so we can now improve the functionality of a kitchen as well as its appearance. Improving function is super important to our core demographic given the high level of retirees who want to find easier ways to use their kitchen. It also has great appeal to a wider range of homeowners who are now choosing to make more of their existing space, rather than buying a bigger home.
Our biggest development this year has been launching 'Palio by Karndean Flooring', so we can now apply Luxury Vinyl flooring solutions over existing floors, much in the same way we have always done with our worktops. It’s the perfect final touch in our creation of a full, 360° kitchen makeover for our customers.
Q: Many industries are struggling with customers looking to save money in the last 3 years. However, many Granite & TREND franchisees are seeing some of the best sales figures ever recorded by the franchise. Why is this business bucking the trend?
Well, we are seeing fewer numbers of customers in some cases, but the actual average spend has been going up, which has translated into substantial year-on-year growth right across our network. 2022 was a very strong year, and the figures already suggest 2023 will be even better for many of our franchisees, some of whom are seeing 7-figure turnovers.
The fact is that most of our customers are in a demographic which has been largely unaffected by the cost of living crisis. A majority of them are 50+, even retirees, who have substantial savings and have seen their homes increase in value a great deal in recent decades. Not only do they still have money behind them, but they also fully appreciate just how well investing in your home can pay off. A great looking kitchen can add a huge amount of value.
Even for those looking to spend less, our ethos of making over, rather than starting over, means our kitchen renovations can be as much as 40% cheaper than a complete redo.
Q: What are the biggest challenges the franchise has faced in the last 10 years, and how have you overcome them?
DH: One of the biggest changes in the last decade, and certainly over the nearly 30 years Granite & TREND Transformations has been operating, is marketing and lead generation. Almost everything is done online now and we’ve gone from advertising in shopping malls, newspapers and the Yellow Pages, to social media, digital media and the vast variety of campaign tactics within those mediums, as well as your traditional marketing, such as print, physical displays and direct mail.
Marketing has become a really complex landscape but, rather than be overwhelmed by these changes, we’ve leaned into them heavily and we’re very proud of just how much we do to help our franchisees make the most of this. We have a marketing portal where they can access a huge number of marketing assets which are constantly updated and optimised, and we help them with regular audits of all their marketing activities.
Embracing these changes fully has actually given us huge advantages over the old way of doing things, as we are able to analyse the impact of our marketing in a way that simply wasn’t possible, even 10 years ago. We can now tailor campaigns and monitor their impact down to the tiniest detail, helping all of our franchisees target exactly the customers they need in a cost-effective way.
For our franchisees on the ground, the biggest challenge has always been building their teams. If we look at any of our top performers, having a great team is always the biggest thing that sets them apart, so we have always taken a very active role in helping new franchisees by building recruitment campaigns and even sitting in on interviews.
Q: How have your franchise support systems, particularly FAST (the Franchise Advisory & Support Team), evolved over the last 10 years?
DH: Being part of a bigger team and having the support of your franchisor, is probably one of the single, biggest advantages of being in a franchise versus going into business alone. Which is why this is something we invest a lot into here at Granite & TREND Transformations. As the network has grown, we’ve expanded from a core team of 2 into 5 key personnel who each lead the 5 key areas we consider to be essential to franchisee success: Sales, Operations, Marketing, Technical and Finance.
These people are absolutely at the top of their game in the industry, so our franchisees know they can always call on the very best to help them.
Another big change has been opening two company-owned showrooms, one in Maidstone, and the other in Eastbourne. New franchisees are trained in these stores to make sure they get invaluable experience in real-life scenarios. The stores are also the perfect places to field test new products and systems before rolling them out to the network as a whole.
Q: What has been your biggest highlight of the last 10 years?
DH: What I am most proud of is the longevity of our franchisees. Not only are they finding success early into their partnerships with us, they’re renewing their agreements again and again. If a franchisee chooses to keep working with you for 10, 15, or even 20 years in some cases, you know you must be doing something right!
Q: What's next for Grante & TREND? What can we expect to see in the next 1,5 or even 10 years?
DH: We never rest on our laurels. For us, success is very much a journey, not a destination, so we’re always looking to the future. We’ve always had a clear vision: “To enhance the worlds’ surfaces with natural, timeless and sustainable beauty” but now we also have a clear mission statement on how to achieve that: “We encourage everyone to think differently about renovations, and to be inspired by a simpler way to transform your living spaces.”
Of course, these statements are only ever as good as the effort you put into making them a practical reality, which is why we have a very clear plan of where we see the business going in the next few years.
We want to continue to diversify our offerings so that franchisees can tap into more revenue streams. The future of their business is going to be about so much more than just kitchens, instead offering customers complete “living space solutions” for their entire home. We’re going to be aligning our entire brand message around this concept, engaging customers with it, and providing them with the best possible brand experience.
The first step will be a total transformation of our own spaces – a complete revamp of our company owned showrooms to reflect this huge leap forward in our offerings. Our plans include a totally refurbished space which will not only provide a very modern experience for our customers, but also showcase the very best our brand has to offer, right from concept through to completion. That will be put into action in the middle of 2024, with the new design made available to franchisee showrooms in 2025 and beyond.
So, where do you see yourself in 1, 5 or 10 years? Or even just 6 months from now? Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your dream of owning a successful business in this exciting and dynamic industry.