31 A landmark legacy – embarking on franchising From the beginning, Max was an innovator – eager to expand the firm in imaginative ways. The 1960s saw Sydney spread outwards from the city centre in line with population growth, and Max recognised the need for Raine & Horne to be visibly active among its customer base. Ned Raine was concerned expanding the business would entail some loss of integrity but Max thought otherwise. He was proud of the strong reputation and influence of Raine & Horne and had no intention of relaxing its high standards. Despite his father’s misgivings, Max held his ground, and in 1968 Raine & Horne opened its first suburban office in Double Bay, with Max at the helm as manager. Not only did Max prove himself to be an outstanding salesperson, he also demonstrated the potential profitability of suburban offices. Within four years, additional new offices would be opened at Crows Nest and Bondi Junction. Managing geographic growth is often one of the greatest hurdles a business can face, and by the mid-1970s, Max, who by now held the position of Chairman of Raine & Horne, saw the need to embrace a new means of expansion. He had a vision for an option that demanded very little capital from the business yet still preserved the integrity of the Raine & Horne brand. In 1976, Max, together with the Board of Directors, made the decision to offer franchise opportunities, and not long after, the first franchisee came on board in Liverpool in Sydney’s west. It was a watershed moment for Raine & Horne. Just 13 years later in 1988, Raine & Horne was one of only two real estate networks to be represented in every Australian state and territory, and achieved national sales in that year of $6.2 billion. International expansion also took off, with network partners being established first in Malaysia in 1989. Max told The Daily Telegraph in 2016: “When we opened the first franchise in Liverpool, I never expected it to end up where we are today. “Franchising was a revolution that opened up the opportunity for a lot more Australians to own their own business. ... the success we’ve had in creating hundreds of offices under the Raine & Horne brand is phenomenal.
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