During the global financial crisis while other businesses cut back, the car-wash franchise Ecowash Mobile splashed out. The Sydney-based franchise run by former racing driver Jim Cornish used recession downtime to perform a $300,000 makeover.
“We saw that as an opportunity to do what we didn’t have time to do in the beginning, which was sit back and have a look at the business,” says Cornish, 40, a director on the Franchise Council of Australia.
Too many entrepreneurs just jump in, pick a name and build a business without gathering feedback, he says.