By CASEY NEILL
WINDOWS are never too far from Joe Mulholland’s mind.
Even after spending 10 years out of the industry he’d drive past homes and be drawn to the glass panes.
“It’s something that doesn’t get out of your system,” he said.
So last year he partnered with former colleagues Mick Filosa and Wayne Copley to start 363 Enterprises in Dandenong South.
“We rented the premises in July last year and we started operating full time from the middle of October,” he said.
“We simply make timber windows and doors. We try to sell ourselves as a company that makes custom-made windows.
“We’ve got a passion for the product itself, not just for making a crust out of it.”
It was among five businesses that were successful in this year’s instalment of the City of Greater Dandenong’s Business Grants Program which was announced on 25 March.
Each was reimbursed for up to $8000 and received about $2000 in advice from the Small Business Mentoring Service.
Mr Mulholland put the cash towards an electrical upgrade and fitting out the warehouse.
“Basically, we were working off a bunch of extension leads,” he said.
He said 363 Enterprises mainly catered to people who wanted to replace old windows or renovate heritage homes and were looking to match existing windows.
The company also serves architects who are looking for something different.
“We make the windows to any size that the architect has on the plans,” he said.
“We don’t say ‘no, the windows have got to be to our standard size’.
“We start all our windows from scratch so we cut to size for every job
“We don’t buy glass in bulk quantities.
“We pay a slight premium for that privilege but we offset that by not having the big overheads.
“Our competitors, the larger ones, will, basically, have a standard range of windows and doors which they’ll buy their raw materials in pre-finished in those sizes so all they need to do is assemble it.
“We cut it and join it and make it for you.
“When a window goes through this place, we actually spend a lot more time and effort in actually designing the windows.
“We go back to the customer and talk to them about what they’ve got on their plans, how it will look when it’s finished. We offer them solutions.”
Mr Mulholland said 363 wouldn’t compromise on materials.
“We’re not pretending to be the cheapest on the market but we’re certainly not more expensive than our major competitors either,” he said.
“We can go with what some of the others use and we choose not to.
“We might be saving $3 or $4 on a winder which is a lot when you’re building 300 windows a month.
“But we don’t want someone complaining that the winder they got is a cheap one and it looks cheap.”
Mr Mulholland said it wasn’t difficult to return to windows after a decade-long stint in plumbing.
“More advances have been made in other species like aluminium and PVC, but timber is still timber,” he said.
“Timber is a traditional look.”
“We like timber because it just feels like a nice product to work with.
“I firmly believe it makes a house look better – I could be biased!
“I’ve used it in my own home every time I’ve built. This is my third home.
“It’s got a lot of natural warmth to it.”
Setting up in Dandenong was an easy choice for the 363 Enterprises team.
“We’ve always lived and worked in the Greater Dandenong and Casey area,” he said.
“It’s a convenience for us to commute to work but, more importantly, you’ve got access to your raw materials, you’ve got access to a heck of a lot of people who can make stuff for you.
“If you want a guard made for a machine you just walk next door.
“If you want your saw blade sharpened you just go to Hammond Road and there’s half a dozen blokes there.
“If you want to buy rollers for your racks, they’re just around the corner.
“The infrastructure that we’ve got in Dandenong is really supportive for manufacturing.
“We think it’s damn important that people like ourselves make a small contribution to keeping it going.”
City of Greater Dandenong’s Business Grants Program is designed to encourage business growth, attract investment and generate jobs.
The Journal supports the program and will profile each of the successful businesses.
