Leading Australian building firm NU-Steel Homes is seeking franchisees in Queensland and New South Wales to join the business as it expands to meet increasing demand for its new homes, despite a continuing industry slump.

While building approvals nationally slowed significantly following the 2009 Global Financial Crisis, since 2007 when the business was purchased by current owners, Nu-Steel Homes has year on year continued to experience steady growth, with work in the pipeline now six times greater than it was in 2007.

Nu-Steel Homes Managing Director, Ash Richardson said they were now looking for up to 40 franchisees to manage exclusive areas.

Mr Richardsaid said Nu-Steel Homes had developed a comprehensive high-tech franchising model, which would provide franchisees with strong support and reduced risks, when compared to other franchise business models.

“Nu-Steel Homes, a trusted Australian residential building brand with a 30-year history, has developed a modern approach to franchising, operating a high-tech central system and using preferred builders so franchisees can focus on sales and client services,” Mr Richardson said.

“This means together we can continue to provide more customers with innovative homes that are tailored to their needs.”

The Nu-Steel Homes business model sees the company, and not the franchisee, carrying the margin risk on every build. The single biggest risk for local building franchisees is profit margin; either from poor costings, time blowouts due to bad weather or unforeseen problems during the build.

“Nu-Steel Homes is the first Master Franchisor in Australia to take on the profit risk per job. This protects both the franchisee and the end consumer and makes building a Nu-Steel Home a far more attractive option for what is for most people this single biggest life investment,” Mr Richardson said.

The areas where franchises are available including Mackay and the Gold Coast in Queensland and Newcastle, Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Albury in New South Wales have been selected because Nu-Steel Homes already has strong demand in these areas.

Mr Richardson said there was no denying that the broader building industry had been through a tough time but Nu-Steel Homes’ approach has set it apart.

“Our model is working and consumer clients are attracted to reducing risk even more so in the current climate, and by building up a suite of services that beats the competition we are also positioning ourselves well for when the market cycle returns to a boom.

“For these two reasons we believe this is an excellent time to become a Nu-Steel Homes franchisee.”

Mr Richardson said the high-tech central system provided full support to the franchisee so they could focus predominantly on sales and local lead generation while the Master Franchisor has an international, experienced team to take care of design, engineering, selections, manufacturing, procurement, scheduling, transport, returns and warranties.

“Not only is this good new for the franchisee but also for the consumer because operating this way means bigger buying power so the consumer pays less.

“Most of the bigger building companies still operate on a local procurement model so the consumer ends up paying more if they want a high quality home,” he said.

Mr Richardson said the franchising sector had improved significantly over the last 20 years and Nu-Steel Homes aimed to be at the forefront of innovation and service to both end consumer and its franchisees.

“Once we find the perfect local franchisee partners, we will have them all up and running on the world leading Salesforce CRM platform plus they will be fully trained and kitted out with an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air.”

For more information about Nu-Steel Homes visit www.nusteel.com.au or to enquired about a Nu-Steel Homes franchise, email franchising@nshq.com.au.

As part of its quest to raise more than $500,000 in 2012, the Buderim Foundation is working with University of the Sunshine Coast students to challenge neighbours to work together to make an everlasting contribution to the community.

The ‘Street by Street Challenge’ will be launched with a special fundraising showcase organised by the students. The event will feature ideas that street communities could use to make a joint contribution.

The Buderim Foundation’s B150 Community Challenge, part of the 150th birthday celebrations of Buderim, aims to raise money to take their investment fund to $1million. This would enable the organisation to distribute more grants to a wide range of Buderim community groups.

Buderim Foundation Chair Professor Paul Clark said with all donations over $2000 to be acknowledged on a commemorative plaque, the new ‘Street by Street Challenge’ was an opportunity for street communities to work together and collectively make a donation and be acknowledged.

To inspire neighbours to pool their resources and have some fun as they fundraise, the ‘Street by Street Challenge Fundraising Showcase’ will demonstrate different fundraising ideas from raffles and jumble sales to bake sales, live entertainment and the good old-fashioned lemonade stand.

Student group mentor, Reflected Image PRoductions Public Relations Director Michelle Smytheman said using any or a combination of the fundraising ideas available at the Fair would not only help the communities raise funds but also help neighbours get to know each other more and have some fun.

“The idea is that the Showcase will provide inspiration for people to go off and fundraise in their own street using whatever activities work best for them, whether that be a bake sale and lemonade stand, children’s fun activities, car wash or even just a collection if people are too busy,” she said.

The ‘Street by Street Challenge’ Fundraising Showcase will be held on Saturday, 19 May at the Buderim War Memorial Community Association (BWMCA) Hall from 10am to 1pm.

Not only will it be a morning of fun for the whole family, with music, food and drinks, raffles, carwash, kids activities and more, the event will also provide the community with simple and fun examples for fundraising.

Buderim residents will be encouraged to sign up on the day, as a street coordinator for their street. Coordinators will be provided with fundraising kits and resources to assist them in their efforts.

The Buderim Foundaiton is a not for profit community foundation that aims to enrich and enhance the quality of life of Buderim’s residents by generating income from donations and using the income to provide grants for worthwhile community projects

Since its launch eight years ago, the Foundation has raised $450,000 and aims to reach the $1,000,000 mark in just one year.