COLLABORATION IS KEY TO UNLOCKING HIRE GROWTH IN WA, ACCORDING TO MANDURAH-BASED, HRIA MEMBER AJM HIRE. WE SPEAK TO AJM HIRE’S AMY MULLIGAN TO FIND OUT WHAT THEIR FIRST YEAR IN THE HIRE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN LIKE.
WIFE AND HUSBAND TEAM, AMY AND JACK Mulligan found themselves pushing into the Hire sector over time, recognising the opportunity and seeing an unserved gap in the market in Mandurah.
Amy, a qualified beautician, and Jack with a background in running a detailing business, were stood in good stead for building a company from the ground up, combining business acumen
and customer service, two vital components for success in Hire. “We noticed there was a small gap in the market in Mandurah, a gap that we knew we could fill. We knew the core foundations
of starting and running a business and we had ambition enough to be up for the challenge and learn the skills,” said Amy.
A year on from joining the HRIA, we asked them about their experience in the industry. For AJM Hire, the best part about the Hire Industry has been the ability to be able to make their clients lives and jobs easier. From hiring them a trailer to helping them move house, to an excavator to help finish a job. In their corner of WA, Greenfields, AJM see a mixture of DIY Clients, who are
renovating their yards and installing sheds to businesses including but not limited to electricians, plumbers, arborists, landscapers and your everyday people who may be moving, doing tip runs or going camping. AJM Hire’s values of integrity, commitment and passion are embedded in their business culture.
“Customer service and customer satisfaction is the secret to success,” said Amy.
“There are many hire companies around and plenty of work for new hire companies. The secret to standing out from the rest is in meeting your customers’ needs and making those needs a priority. You want to ensure you are your client’s first call when they need to hire a piece of equipment, and they are going to remember that time you prioritised getting that equipment to them on short notice or that you accommodated their needs when the job didn’t go as anticipated.”
Customer projects vary conderably for AJM. “Honestly, we find all our equipment goes through phases of high demand one week, where you can’t keep a certain item in the yard to the next week, when it will move on to another item. All in all, though I believe our Posi Tracks and Skid Steers are our most in-demand products, said Amy. “My personal favourite piece of equipment is my laptop, without which we would be up the creek without a paddle!
“In all seriousness it keeps everything and everyone on track and our company running smoothing,” she added. “Jack’s favourite machines are the scissor lifts because of their versatility.”
For Amy and Jack, being a member of the HRIA has been critically important because of the opportunity to connect and create relationships with people who share the same interests and passion. Membership allows them to connect with services and suppliers who want to help their business succeed and who strive to make the running and management of the company effortless.
As rewarding as the Hire industry is to work in, it is not without its challenges. “One thing I would love to fix, which is not limited to the Hire industry, but business in general, is the stigma around recommending competitors. In the hire industry in WA, there is no shortage of work for Hire companies, with new developments popping up everywhere.
“If your products and customer-care are the greatest they can be, you should have no hesitation around recommending your competitors for a product that you may not stock or currently have available for hire. The client will always return to you if you have impressed them with your service”.
The future looks bright for AJM Hire. With the population in WA projected to grow strongly, new developments are set to continue to keep up with demand. This will in turn have a snowball effect on projects outside of residential new building. “We are fortunate in WA and, all in all, the demand for hire in our area within the hire industry will only continue to grow. And we have big plans for the future, but you’ll just have to wait and watch them unfold!” said Amy.
Find the lesson in every setback
As founders who didn’t come from a hire background and little experience in the industry prior to opening AJM Hire, Amy and Jack’s advice to owners starting out is to “find the lesson in every setback”. “When starting out, you’re going to experience many setbacks, from damaged equipment to challenging customers. But use these events as tools to implement procedures for next time; because let’s face it, it will happen again.”