Jim's Book

9 Growth

In 2000 Jim's Group included Mowing, Cleaning, Dog Wash, Trees, Fencing, Carpet Cleaning, Car Cleaning (later changed to Car Detailing), Blind Cleaning and Repairs, Antennas, Building Maintenance (later changed to Handyman), Bookkeeping, Paving, Mobile BBQ, Security Doors, Wardrobes, Alarms, Motor Vehicle Repair Service, Floors, and Road Training. The last seven are not in operation today. Those who were franchisors at this time look back with nostalgia and a smile, or a grimace of frustration because they wish things were still the same.

‘Back then we were what you might call less regulated,' said Jason Jaap, who was a franchisee, then franchisor, then expanded Jim's in the UK.

The contracts were very vague, and we pretty much did what we wanted to some degree. We loved the business back then, we lived and breathed it, and we made good money.

Andrew Parke shared the same sentiment, remembering the great friendships all the early guys had:

We were all learning from each other and sharing ideas. Jim was very much, ‘You've got the rights, do what you have to do'. There wasn't a lot of support from the office; we had our own little group that tended to come up with the right way of doing things ourselves.

Craig Parke said that around 1999 to 2004 were ‘the golden years'.

We went to each other's weddings — it was the good times … There was lots of growth and money being made, lots of development, lots of banter, lots of fun.

For Phil Maunder,

the good old days were from ...