Golf

This may sound like a silly thing to say; however if you don’t have a premises in mind already, then you really need to think about what you require. Whilst Yamaha can provide you with market data which will help determine the type of dealership you will need, the responsibility for finding a location is completely up to you.

Consider:

• The location of your dealership. It can be the difference between success and failure and it must be chosen correctly
• A Yamaha dealership must be located in a highly visible, high traffic sales area.
• The dealership must be well viewed from both directions, allowing signage & branding to be clearly seen from a distance.
• Corner blocks work very well as they offer a number of entry and exit points.
• Access to the site must be easy for, cars, bikes, delivery vehicles and cars with trailers.
• Will you buy or lease? Can you make alterations to the building as you require?
• Will your premises allow for growth?
• Do any council regulations in your proposed location impact your business?
• What size dealership do you require?
• Does your dealership allow you to provide for an appropriate Dealership Layout?

As exciting as a Yamaha golf car franchise may be, it is not to be taken lightly. There is considerable expense and effort required in establishing and maintaining a Yamaha franchise.

Yamaha understands, potential franchisees are often making the biggest commitment of their lives and we take this very seriously. Accordingly, we put your through a relatively lengthy process to make sure that you have the appropriate skills, resources and experience to give you every opportunity to be a successful Yamaha franchisee. 

It is not guaranteed you will be successful; however by the time you decide to commit to a Yamaha franchise you will have been armed with all the information we can possibly provide you for you to make an informed decision and to have the best chance at success as possible. You can expect the appointment process to take a minimum of 8-12 weeks and that is in circumstances where suitable premises already exist and your finances are completely in order. It can take much longer.

Yamaha Motor Finance (YMF) offers wholesale floor plan funding for new Yamaha units. YMF provides an approved credit facility to maintain an adequate stock holding to meet your individual market size and appetite.

Borrowers may be individuals, partnerships or private limited liability companies. A prospective dealer completes YMF’s standard new dealer application and supplies financial statements (balance sheet, profit and loss statements or tax returns) for the prior three years. Where the applicant’s accountants have not completed the most recent financial year end statements, then the applicant will need to provide management accounts for that year. If a business/company is unable to provide figures for the past three years trading the application may still be eligible for consideration.

Situations where this may arise are as follows:

• Principals acquired the business during the past three years. In this case, we would expect to sight the financial statements for any completed financial years plus the financial information upon which they based their decision to purchase the business: or
• The business was newly established during the past three years. We would expect to sight the financial statements for any completed financial years plus we would need to confirm that results to date were in line with original financial projections.

In both these situations, the personal guarantees of the principals are taken and the guarantors must have satisfactory equity held in real estate property assets to pledge as security. The principals will complete a statement of Position to list real estate property and personal assets for assessment.

Alternatively, YMF would accept a Bank Guarantee from an Australian or New Zealand Bank. The amount of the Bank Guarantee to be taken is dependent on the floor plan credit limit required.  These options are our preferred options and are assessed based on risk.

All company credit is to be supported by the joint and several guarantee of the directors. Occasionally, the directors are not the same as the major shareholders. Our definition of a major shareholder is a person or company who holds a number of shares equal to or greater than the shareholder with the next highest shareholding.
All credit lines are annually renewable, from a practical point of view, YMF regularly review the operational and financial behaviour of the dealer and from our experience a well conducted floor plan represents sound commercial behaviour of the dealer

Floor Plan Credit Limits are formulated and based on the projected and forecast unit sales for the Dealership. The Dealership is expected to hold approximately 3 months stock at any one time on floor with a signed Bailment Agreement acknowledging the terms and conditions of operation.

YMF understands the importance for a business/ company to operate effectively and the need to have sufficient working capital on hand. The right level of working capital is dependent on the industry and the particular circumstances of the business. It is important you work out the right level of working capital that you will need as this is crucial to maintaining a positive and efficient cash flow.

Thinking of becoming a franchisee? Click here to download our National Franchisee Information Fact Sheet.