A Brisbane motorhome renter and manufacturer is on track to double its revenue and continue expanding overseas. Its second-generation managers acquired skills outside the business - but still learn lessons at family barbecues.
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Entrepreneur: Luke Trouchet, Chief Executive Officer
Company: Apollo Motorhome Holidays
Business type: Motorhome and campervan rental and manufacturing business
Founded: 1985
Employees: 55 full-time, four part-time, 35 casual
Turnover: (2004 - 2005) $21.8M
Head Office: 698 Nudgee Road, Brisbane, QLD, 4013 Branches/Locations: Brisbane (head office), Cairns, Townsville, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Broome, Darwin, Alice Springs, Auckland (NZ) and Christchurch (NZ)
Contact details: +61 7 3265 9200 or 1800 777 779
Web site: www.apollocamper.com
The Apollo Motorhome Holidays Story
Luke Trouchet spent his school holidays cleaning campervans in the family business, Apollo Motorhome Holidays. His parents, Gus and Carolyn Trouchet, started the business in 1985 with a single pop-top campervan to rent out on the weekends. They used the vehicle as their family car throughout the week.
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Key learning points:
- Financial records - Establish a good relationship with your banking partners and maintain excellent financial records to back you up.
- Succession - Learn the business from the ground up - and get the right training to succeed. Share control with other siblings based on skills not family birth order.
- Competitors - Study how to differentiate your business: what can you do that adds value for customers and revenue for the business?
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Now, Trouchet presides over a business with an annual turnover of more than $20 million. And this year, Apollo Motorhome Holidays has begun venturing in a new direction by manufacturing its own motorhomes. Trouchet says: "I believe entrepreneurs are born not made, but I had the right foundation and teachers to help me along the path."
In 1996, after completing a law degree, Trouchet moved into the family business as sales and marketing manager. He says: “We had three locations and 50 vehicles.” With 90% of customers coming from central Europe, Trouchet realised that the business needed to expand its product range and offer its service Australia-wide He says: “We had a great product and reputation but travel agents were asking, 'Why use you when we can go with a competitor who is national?'”
Trouchet became chief executive officer after his parents retired from the business in 2001. He says that joining the company in its early stages enabled him to grow with the business: “When I started there were four staff: mum, dad, a cleaner and a depot manager. I’ve employed everyone since then.” Luke’s younger brother Karl joined the business in 1997 after completing his accounting degree and is now chief financial officer. The brothers are co-directors and equal partners. Trouchet says: “We have a good balance, Karl is an accountant who likes to be in the background and I guess I’m a typical lawyer who likes to be out front.”
The rapid growth of Apollo Motorhome Holidays has brought its own challenges. Trouchet says: “With some motorhomes costing $120,000 you need friendly banking partners.” Managing a business that is geographically spread out can be hard to control operationally. Trouchet has invested in high-end software (Mdrive) to assist the branches and streamline the reporting process.
In 2005, Apollo leased a property at the rear of its head office and established a factory to manufacture motorhomes. The company buys a simple vehicle chassis and builds a full motorhome on the back. Trouchet sees this as a fresh opportunity to differentiate the business from its competitors by designing unique layouts for its motorhomes. He says: “Now we can control our own destiny. We can determine the delivery times and the uniqueness of the product.”
Establishing the new division has meant employing staff with different skills: electricians, plumbers and motor body builders. Trouchet is confident this investment will pay off. “The hardest task for any business is to find a customer and our rental business needs new vehicles every year. We plan to build 85% of our vehicles and expect to turn over $20 million this year in that division alone.” That will double the business’s revenue.
Trouchet says he has learnt a lot from the disruptive events of recent years such as the Ansett closure, September 11 and the SARS virus, which all produced short-term negative effects on business. His lesson? Focus on both domestic and wider international markets. “In 2003, we opened two branches in New Zealand and we believe the same business model can be applied in South Africa, the USA and Canada.”
Trouchet says that building a family company can be stressful but is fortunate to have his parents to lean on. He says: “Mum and Dad don’t work in the business day to day but every family barbecue will inevitably turn into a directors’ meeting.”