Automotive Business Review February 2015 | Page 26

Midas franchise

| by Tristan Wiggill

Q & A with Steven Pohlmann
aBr spoke recently with long-time Midas man, Steven Pohlmann, about the four Midas branches he oversees in the
Eastern Cape.
In your opinion, what is required
in order to run a successful Midas
franchise?

We value the franchise being
passed from one generation to
the next and look forward to
another 20 years of success with
the Pohlmann brothers Mark and
Steven. They are an integral part
of our Midas family.
- Gerhard Braun;
Midas franchise director

➲ The Newton Park store hosts many a car

Tell us about the stores you look after…

How does being a Midas franchise help
the businesses?

club and car enthusiast

Midas stores can by their location be
very different types of businesses.
What remains constant though is that
the Midas flags provide an excellent
platform to grow your business.
Our philosophy is simple really...we
focus on doing the basics and doing
them well. We also spend a lot of time
developing and training our sales staff.
What do you like about being a Midas
franchisee?

Noel Pohlmann opened Linton Grange
Midas in 1995. The store had a staff of four
and was 200 m². The business grew over
the years and we purchased the Newton
Park Midas store in 2001 and opened the
Walker Drive Midas store in 2004. In 2013
we welcomed the Walmer Midas store into
our group of stores. This year we celebrate
our 20 year anniversary and the business
now has over 50 employees and covers over
2000 m².
Who are the owners of the businesses?
It is a family owned and run business. While
Noel is now retired he still acts as a valuable
sounding board and we bring him back in
whenever we can.
What do the businesses specialise in?
Customer service. While we work hard on
trying to make sure that we keep a wide
range and availability of quality products at
all times it is service that we specialise in.
Developing and maintaining relationships
with our customers has been crucial to the
businesses success over the years. Over the
years we have also expanded our accessory
ranges to include camping and fishing which
generate extra interest in the front store.

Being a Midas / Napa Member has given
us access to the best brands in the
country at competitive pricing and the
seasonal national advertising done by the
Franchise office works well in our stores.
They have also been active in assisting
us with our marketing to our trade
customers.
What is business in general like at the
moment?
Despite the difficult economic times
we have found business has remained
positive and we are optimistic about 2015.
Do you perform deliveries? If so, how
often?