Iridium Partners
Iridium Partners director Nathan Bonney on franchise recruitment in NZ: matching franchisees with the right franchise, and franchisors with the right people.
“We have a huge number of people that want to buy a franchise, but there’s a real misalignment… between the right people into the right business.”
With more than 500 franchise systems in New Zealand, there’s no shortage of choice for people looking to buy a franchise. The challenge is finding the right fit, for both the franchisee and the franchisor.
We caught up with Nathan Bonney, Director at Iridium Partners, to learn how his team draws on more than 20 years in franchising to match the right people with the right franchise businesses.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Iridium is a precious metal used as a connector in high-end electronics, and its salts take on different colours depending on how you look at them. Nathan sees that as a fitting description of the business: Iridium Partners connects people, and works with franchisors and franchisees in different ways depending on what each one needs.
FINDING THE RIGHT FRANCHISE FOR YOU
For someone buying their first franchise, the right fit looks different for everyone. Some want to build wealth, some want to replace an income, and others want to build an asset they can sell or pass on to their family.
“There’s no point putting you into a man-and-a-van business when you want to be a multi-site McDonald’s owner,” says Nathan.
Iridium starts by understanding what you want to achieve, how you want to work and what you’re able to invest. From there, the team can match you with one of the brands they represent, or another franchise opportunity you may not have considered.
People often come in focused on one industry without realising what they’re really after. Someone drawn to food and beverage may not actually want to be cooking burgers on a Friday night. If what they enjoy is working with people and leading staff, a retail franchise or a Monday-to-Friday business-to-business franchise could suit them better.
RECRUITING, NOT JUST SELLING
On the franchisor side, Nathan sees a common problem: many franchisors focus on selling the business rather than recruiting the right people. Iridium approaches franchise recruitment through a recruitment lens. That means asking not only what a franchisee wants from the business, but whether they can do what the brand needs them to do.
How Iridium works with a franchisor depends on where the brand is in its journey. An emerging brand like Roll’d, which has only recently arrived in New Zealand, has different needs to well-established names like Guthrie Bowron and Rodney Wayne. Support ranges from setting a growth strategy for franchisors to run themselves, through to managing the entire recruitment process for them.
A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP
Iridium started with a simple goal: to help brands and individuals grow in businesses that suit them. When that happens, it’s a win-win for franchisee and franchisor alike.
Nathan compares a franchise relationship to a marriage. “It’s relatively easy to get into. It can be expensive and takes a long time to get out of.”
For Iridium, success means seeing people thrive in their chosen brand, whether that’s running a single site or going on to open a second store. The team watches that growth “a little bit like grandparents from the sidelines.”
Whether you’re looking to buy a franchise in New Zealand or you’re a franchisor wanting to recruit the right franchisees, Iridium Partners can help you find the right fit.
Learn more by clicking on the WEBSITE link below.