If you have tatts in your business and are planning to sell you will need to factor in time for tatts to go through their processes. Not only do they take time to vet and approve applicants, there is the real risk that they could say no.
It surprises me when I hear of Tatts saying no to someone approved by their bank for a business loan, the landlord for a lease, magazine companies for magazine supply and other suppliers for product supply. It’s happened before and I am sure it will happen again.
It would not surprise me to see a newsagent taking Tatts to some tribunal to challenge their process when they knock back someone the vendor newsagent feels should have been approved.
My own experience is that the Tatts process differs based on your connections. They are not transparent. They appear to use unnecessary hoops as a barrier to entry, causing you to spend time that could be better invested in helping to kick-start your new business.
Tatts continue to throw barriers up all the time in terms of lotto, selling etc. The big thing about them is they are not transparent, yet they want total transparency in terms of what we do in the shop for them.
The truly bizarre part is their willingness to carte blanche put outlets into national convenience chains i.e. 7/11 and Coles Express. Makes a mockery of the whole process.
The real bogey man is the Landlord – a mate “sold” his agency a while back, did all the handovers and was ready to walk when the Landlord knocked back the sale
Brett I am seeing tatts barriers all around – more so than landlords.
What about the new lotto fitouts in 2015? We have been advised that they will start informing prospective purchasers in their interview about the outlay costs for a new fitout. This will end up like those poor newsagents trying to sell during the T2020. When will it ever end?
really you should be telling the new buyer when its due anyway.
Shauns
Thats the point – it isnt due. We had a new counter fitout down late 2009. Everyone is up for a new one. The rollout across the country isnt going to be possible for years.
Currently in the process of purchasing a newsagency so my Tatts experience is recent. Yes the Tatt’s process is a hurdle, but with a bit of application, it’s very doable. The upside I see is that this may lift the standard of new operators like myself, so no complaints. I think the real point here is to allow an extra 4 weeks to the purchase process…
Matt if only they were consistent. I am not seeing it.
Brett, the same thing happened to a business owner I knew but he won out in the end because the Landlord took too long, it has to be done in a certain time frame.
Matt – good comments – you have to try to find the good bits – and they are considerable so good luck and enjoy your new industry.
Keep contributing because we old jaded newsagents need to hear good positive vibes coming from new people to our industry.
Unfortunately a lot of incumbents are grumpy and it doesn’t help confidence.
In SA we have just gone from SA Lotteries to Tattslotto and we have had a very positive start with the Tatts people being most helpful in the changeover and in the training sphere.
Love that you shared your view with us – we need new blood, and new ideas to continue to grow.