Driving Home The Tricks Of The Trades
The Age
Friday April 22, 2005
Omni supplies tradesmen to government bodies but is struggling for private jobs, writes Janine Perrett
AT A TIME when a lack of apprentices is a business dilemma, Eugene Hansen proves a role model for employers and employees alike. A former plumber and gas fitter, he worked his way from apprentice to management at the Victorian Gas and Fuel Corporation, and now runs his own small business, Omni Trade Services, with more than 30 staff. "One of the things I did from day one in business, before I could even afford to pay myself, was to pay an apprentice to work for me because I believe the opportunities I was given as an apprentice were extraordinary," Hansen says. Omni's motto is "first time, on time, every time", and Hansen is moving to broaden his customer base from local government to the general public. Expanding his client base, will prove a challenge in the months ahead. Not that he hasn't faced challenges before. Hansen founded Omni Gas 10 years ago when he saw an opportunity in the privatisation of the old Gas and Fuel Corporation. The delivery and maintenance of gas supply to consumers passed to private companies, and Hansen's background told him they would need contractors to service the delivery networks. "I used my superannuation package and spent the best part of seven months putting together a tender proposal," he says. The concept proved successful and the company employed 30 people, including 11 apprentices. But in 2000 Hansen decided to abandon the heavily regulated gas business, with its low marginal rates. "I had to let go an enormous amount of people, and I basically started from scratch again with only four employees," he says.Omni now specialises in maintenance work for local government, broadening from plumbing and gas fitting to other trades including electrical and carpentry. Work ranges from emergency repairs to maintaining sports pavilions and town halls. Omni's nine government contracts include councils and the Defence Housing Authority as well as two child care centres. "Our top 20 company clients represent 80 per cent of our business," Hansen says.Hansen has been adept at tendering for government contracts, but he recognises that it is becoming increasingly competitive and the margins are "skinny". The answer is to broaden the client base to the general public. "We are redirecting the business to become basically a general maintenance company, where the margins are greater," he says."We're looking for premium work, among time-poor people who have a lot of maintenance jobs, want an immediate response and don't mind paying up front." Hansen estimates that if he doubled the share of business from the public, from its current level to about 15 per cent, it could account for 30 per cent of profits. The big challenge is marketing. "We tried local papers but only got one call in 18 months; we've done letter drops and signage on vehicles. We also do the Yellow Pages," he says. "We took on the burden of a sales and marketing person to specialise in that - to seek opportunities." This new area of business presents issues for his staff. "We're not used to the general public contacting us, and we need to know how to approach them. We're good at quoting prices, but that can scare off some clients. How do we sell our services as opposed to just the price of the service?" As anyone who has dealt with unreliable tradesmen can attest, reliability is the key issue, and Hansen hopes to sell that as Omni's point of difference. "We are competing against every local plumber, electrician and carpenter, but our difference is that we promise to provide reliability and service." Hansen does not believe he will have any problems meeting extra demand. "Normally we handle 40 to 60 jobs a day but during the recent Melbourne storms we were handling over 150 jobs at once because we have an infrastructure that can handle it." Omni is not immune to the skills shortage, even though it is unusual in the industry because it puts tradespeople on staff rather than sub-contracting. "We still do apprenticeships," says Hansen. "In fact we're advertising for one at the moment, but we find it almost impossible to get applicants." The former apprentice bemoans the unrealistic expectations of the young, who often quit their training because "they claim they can make more money packing boxes". Hansen is looking at introducing incentive programs as well as profit share, but admits he does not have a "magic formula".There are more general issues such as phone communication problems because the office is based in the hilly outer Melbourne suburb of Warrandyte. Hansen realises Omni will have to relocate, but does not relish having to deal with banks on financing issues. "We're basically sick to death of the Big Four," Hansen says."You spend 12 months building up a relationship with your banker and then he's gone and you have to start from scratch. That has happened three times in 21/2 years. Not to mention you have to put up all your personal assets to start with. So I've said no more personal guarantees."CHALLENGES FOR OMNI TRADE SERVICES? Moving focus from government contracts to general maintenance company? Selling service to general public ? Recruiting, retaining and rewarding staff
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