Jim's Mowing
{{Short description|Lawn care service franchise}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Jim's Group
| logo = Jim's Mowing Logo.png
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| founder = Jim Penman
| hq_location =
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| hq_location_country = Australia
| areas_served = Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom & Canada
| key_people = Jim Penman (CEO)
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| owner = Jim's Group
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Jim's Mowing is a lawn care service franchise which was founded in 1982 by Jim Penman. Penman initially launched it as a part-time gardening business while he was completing his PhD in history.{{cite web |title=AIB Featured Business Leader – Jim Penman |url=https://www.aib.edu.au/blog/business-leaders/aib-featured-business-leader-jim-penman/ |website=Australian Institute of Business |accessdate=11 January 2020}} He remains CEO of the group and actively involved in day-to-day operations.{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/meet-the-boss-jims-group-founder-jim-penman-20151112-gkx9ec.html|title=Meet the boss: Jim's Group founder Jim Penman|last=White|first=Sue|date=2015-11-14|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2017-08-14|language=en-US}} The business was run independently until 1989, when it became a franchise, which can now be found in four countries, with 5,000 total franchisees.{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Carswell | title=Jim's Empire client satisfaction top priority, mowing mogul on call to 2700 customers | work=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |issn=1039-4192 | page=64 |date=2008-04-22}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.jims.net/about-jims/|title=Meet Jim - Jim's Group|work=Jim's Group|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en-US}}
After launching the Jim's Mowing Franchise in 1989, further divisions followed. The second division was Cleaning, and since then the franchise model has been adapted to almost 50 different service industries (including plumbing, fencing, roofing){{Cite news|url=http://www.afr.com/business/jims-fantastic-empire-20120808-jywxa|title=Jim's fantastic empire|date=2012-08-09|work=Financial Review|access-date=2017-08-14|language=en-US}} and multiple countries (including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada).{{cite news|title=Growing your own franchise|date=2009-04-24|work=Scottish Daily Record|page=53}}
In 2019, Jim's Group is the largest home-service franchise in Australia.{{cite news |last1=White |first1=Sue |title=Keeping franchisees happy works out well for Jim |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/keeping-franchisees-happy-works-out-well-for-jim-20190823-p52k7y.html |accessdate=10 December 2019 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 November 2019}} It has an annual turnover of over $500 million, approximately 4,000 franchises and about 35,000 customers.
History
In 1982, Jim Penman started the company with $24 of capital{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/from-happy-to-nasty-inside-the-battle-for-the-heart-of-jims-20091221-l9zf.html|title=From happy to nasty: inside the battle for the heart of Jim's|last=Sonti|first=Chalpat|date=2010-01-24|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12}} in order to fund his research into biohistory{{Cite web |title=The Founder of Jim's Mowing will Make you Smarter and Save the World |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-founder-of-jims-mowing-will-make-you-smarter-and-save-the-world/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=Vice.com |language=en}} after his PhD thesis was initially rejected.{{Cite book |last=Moolenschot |first=Catherine |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1089126023 |title=Jim's book : the surprising story of Jim Penman - Australia's backyard millionaire |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-7303-6817-5 |location=Milton, Qld |pages=40 |oclc=1089126023}}
In 1989, Jim's Group switched to a franchise model.
In 2009, there was a major disruption from the franchisees when fees were raised{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/business/turfed-out-jims-mowing-magnate-faces-the-sack-20091019-h4kk.html|title=Turfed out: Jim's Mowing magnate faces the sack|last=Sonti|first=Chalpat|date=2009-10-20|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2017-08-14|language=en-US}} and Jim Penman was almost voted out.
In 2010, master franchisors held a "referendum" asking for Penman to stand down because of concerns with his leadership style, breaches of contract, and steep fee hikes. Although the referendum followed the procedures in the operation manual, Jim advised he could not be stood down and that only he could run the company; eventually, negotiations occurred which reached agreement on the fee and master franchise issues. A number of concerns about Penman were also raised by disgruntled franchisees including that "he runs the whole business as though he owns every part of it", changes had reduced the value of their investment, and litigation.
In 2012, there was an unsuccessful bid for $10 million in funding to expedite expansion including a float on the ASX, which has not since been realised.{{Cite news|url=http://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/franchising/penman-delays-jim-s-group-ipo-for-a-few-years-after-failing-to-find-backers/|title=Jim Penman delays Jim's Group IPO for "a few years" after failing to find backers - SmartCompany|date=2012-07-04|work=SmartCompany|access-date=2017-08-14|language=en-US}}
In 2018, the Jim's Group launched the Jim's Plus initiative, now known as Bizza. Every year, Jim’s turns away around 250,000 customers because they don’t have enough franchisees to service the demand. Bizza offers these leads on a success fee basis to non-Jim's franchisees.{{Cite web|title=Homepage|url=https://bizza.com/|last=zeoz|website=Jim's Plus|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-05-08}}
In 2022, Jim's Group received more than 300,000 leads that were unable to be serviced.
In 2024, Jim’s Mowing entered a partnership with a local indoor cricket team known as Jim’s Indoor Cricket.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}
Foothills Conference Centre and Headquarters
File:Foothills Conference Centre (Jim's Group).jpg
Jim's established a conference centre for training franchisees at Mooroolbark, Victoria. This also serves as the group headquarters, and includes a call centre. Several lodges of various sizes have generously appointed ensuite bedrooms equivalent to hotel rooms, surrounding a multi room conference venue with restaurant and bar. The hotel rooms are also available to the public on a space available basis.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.jims.net/}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Service companies of Australia