20 Year Anniversary Celebration for South Australia ACE Franchisees

In 2002, Florina Fernandes was a support care provider to individuals, and her son Tyson D’Sylva was working for Optus.  Both were interested in making a career change, especially Tyson who was bored with his day-to-day role. With the combination of Florina’s wisdom and previous business experience and Tyson’s energy and enthusiasm, this mother and son duo felt inspired to explore new options and take on the challenge of running their own business.  

At the time, franchising was a new and exciting option and so, on the lookout for something to invest in together, they attended a Money Expo in May 2002 at the Convention Center in Adelaide where ACE Body Corporate had a booth and provided them with information to read.   Their deliberations turned to fruition once Stephen Raff (ACE’s Founder) invited them to Melbourne to meet and mix with other Franchisees and attend a group meeting.  The honesty and openness at the meeting are what impressed Florina and Tyson, and with their mutual interest in the property market and the support and structure provided by ACE Body Corporate Management as a Franchisor, they realised the Body Corporate industry was a good one for them to invest in and the timing for them personally was right.  

From the outset, ACE Head Office was instrumental in providing support and training, with the franchise business in Adelaide being the first one for ACE to be opened outside the borders of Victoria.  Yearly visits and ongoing phone support, plus the annual conferences were a morale booster and allowed Florina and Tyson to develop their network and learn about the industry and franchising code of conduct.

Their first office was on Milner Street, Hindmarsh and consisted of a 6 by 3-meter room.  Those early days were very hands on for the painstaking tasks of folding letters and levy statements (Tyson became adept at folding at night while watching episodes of “2 and a Half Men”), manually collating AGM packs, sticking stamps on envelopes, receiving cash and banking daily and using the modern technology of the time: the fax machine. 

As the business grew and technology advanced, they purchased new equipment, looked at automated systems and acquired additional resources when needed - human and machine.  

The challenge for Tyson initially was being inexperienced at running a business and unfamiliar with the industry as a whole. Learning about the industry, quoting, and trying to gain additional business, managing the human resources side of things, and dealing with clients were all new experiences. However, it was a challenge that drove him to become creative and to keep the business evolving while embracing both the opportunity and privilege of working with his mother as his business partner. Florina feels the same about Tyson and says that in any business relationship, respect, honesty and staying focused on your purpose in life will lead to the most positive outcomes.

From small beginnings they have added to their portfolio and are now involved with:

• South Australia - Area Development Managers Florina and Tyson  
• Adelaide CBD: managed by Florina and Tyson
• Adelaide West: managed by Tyson and Michael Caruso.

South Australia has the following areas that are available for a prospective Franchisee to purchase, and they would fall under Florina and Tyson’s management and guidance:

• Adelaide East
• Adelaide North
• Port Augusta
• Adelaide South
• Mount Gambier (South East)

Florina and Tyson both attest that working in strata is one very busy, ongoing cycle. They think that learning about the strata industry, staying current, being open to continually learning and having good conflict resolution and human relationship skills are the key to success. They have learnt that the average person who buys into strata may often not be educated about their purchase and all that strata entails, and helping facilitate that learning process is a part of the job.

Tyson and Florina both think that it is a great business to invest in as ACE provides assistance to new Franchisees with regular training modules, support in IT and marketing, as well as having the buying power of PICA Group ( ACE Head Office’s parent company) on board reduces costs for systems. They would advise anyone wanting to become an ACE Franchisee to:

• Embrace technology and be willing to change and give it a go 
• Create systems that make life easier and track accountability  
• Review and change the systems as required
• Not be afraid if they lose a client – there will always be another customer 
• Have fun along the way and don’t lose yourself in the business- it is there to create you and others a life.  

Looking back over 20 years with all they have achieved is worthy of recognition and celebration. They will be marking this time later in the year with a function scheduled for the 24th of November involving key people that have been with them on this incredible and successful journey. It is certainly an achievement worth celebrating.