Bigger, better, faster
When Amber Fordham of SCJowzy Builders joined Fresh Networking, she was hoping to build connections that might lead to business referrals. She achieved that goal – and in a bigger, faster and better way than she ever could have imagined.
SCJowzy is a Master Builder, based in the south-eastern suburbs, specialising in residential new builds and renovations. Amber explains ‘Things have been tough in the building sector and Shiran – the business owner – and I decided that networking would be an effective way to broaden our connections and hopefully find business opportunities’, she explains. ‘I knew of Fresh Networking because my brother had been a member and I’d seen what it had done for his business.’
A strong referral
Amber joined the Mordialloc hub and at one of her first meetings, met Hillz Van Estrop, a mortgage broker who was visiting from Fresh Mulgrave. That meeting led to a Get Fresh, where Hillz was so impressed with what Amber told him about SCJowzy, that he asked them to quote on a job for a contact of his. The job was a new build, family home on a one acre block in the south-eastern suburbs.
‘This was a really strong referral’ says Amber, ‘by which I mean that Hillz was able to give us a really good oversight of the project, what the client wanted, and some budget guidance. Without that level of detail, it would have been much harder to quote.’
Building trust
As well as a quote, SCJowzy had to provide reassurance: the client was somewhat nervous – they’d been planning the project for five years but had been let down by the builder they originally chose. Amber and Shiran were able to give them confidence that their dream home was achievable, and to build a high level of trust.
SCJowzy also had to provide the finance lender with the evidence that they could handle the project. ‘Construction and finance insurance industries are slow and risk adverse’, says Amber, ‘and for the bank to approve the contract, they had to be confident that we could cope with the payment structure.’
With the family and the lender on board, SCJowzy won the business. They signed the contract in June 2024, and soil was turned in October that year. ‘Turning soil is when you know a project is officially underway’ explains Amber, adding ‘although I always think that the real test is when there’s a portaloo on site!’
Making a difference
The project has made a very real difference to SCJowzy, and to the 15 or so contractors that they will employ. Amber explains: ‘This is a large, long term project that will take around 12 months. It gives us, as a small business operator, the space to breathe and plan. It has allowed Shiran to scale the business and generate greater efficiencies. But best of all, for our subbies and their families, it provides certainty of income for the next 12 months. In our business, the small jobs are great for spreading risk, but the big jobs like this are the ones that give us and our team security for the future. Any small jobs we win in the next year are now a bonus, not our entire business.’
Fresh is gold
‘When the contract was signed, Shiran couldn’t have been more delighted with the results of joining Fresh’, says Amber. ‘He told me that he had me and Fresh to thank for locking down 12 months of work. ‘Fresh is gold’, he told me.’
The family home project is the jewel in the crown, but SCJowzy’s Fresh success story goes beyond this one contract – ‘In our first eight months of Fresh membership, we’ve won three contracts, worth $1.1 million in turnover’, says Amber. ‘That’s some success rate.’
Amber and Shiran weren’t the only ones to benefit – Shiran was so impressed with Hillz that he became his client, so the relationship goes both ways!
‘Fresh has been everything I hoped for and more’, says Amber. ‘We joined Fresh to get local connections and we’ve been able to tap into a terrific group of people who live in the area and who, as we’ve discovered, can introduce us to great new clients.’