Building a family legacy
Nazero Construction has a longstanding history thatbegan in Lebanon over 50 years ago. Sebastian Younan, the current Contracting Administrator, tells the story of his grandfather and father. “My grandparents and father migrated to Australia and we formally started the company in Australia in the 1960’s. My grandfather was a stone mason and my father was a builder,” he says. Nazero Constructions has become a nationwide construction company known for their commitment to quality and excellence. They offer their clients a full range of services from project management to design and construct projects. They work hard to adjust to the diverse needs of their client base. Many of Nazero’s clients have become long-term and repeat patrons, so catering to their needs has become easier over the years with building these connections. “Most of our clients have been with us for quite a long time so we’ve developed quite personal relationships with them – so it really is never much of a headache to cater around them because we’ve basically become accustomed to what they like,” laughs Sebastian. “We cater ourselves to what our clients want and need – it’s as simple as that.”Nazero has developed many relationships with their client base in New South Wales, but have only recently begun developing relations in Western and Southern Australia. “We’re quite new there in those markets but we just started a second site for a client in WA – so we’re beginning to establish ourselves there,” says Sebastian.
Trends and challenges
Nazero Constructions is finding that many of the rates for services have appreciated greatly. In addition to this there has also been a constraint on many of the private sector builders in relation to available resources. “There’s been a sort of crowding out effect. We’re having to wait longer for things like on site rentals,” explains Sebastian. Many of Nazero’s clients have had to take a step back before going ahead with their projects. All the while there are also clients that are going ahead with their projects, but these tend to be both larger in size and cost. Like many others in the industry, Nazero has too been affected by the current Global Financial Crisis (GFC).However, through their repeat clientele they have been able to ride out the storm.Their clients have required larger projects and therefore Nazero has managed to maintain their turnover during the GFC. “Overall building works is down but again the work that we do have our clients is actually bigger than ordinary,” says Sebastian.
Nazero faces many challenges on a day to day basis. “In the construction industry you’re faced with the challenge of each particular site,” says Sebastian. For Nazero, many of their challenges are also regulatory. “The government is consistently changing the rules and regulations and sort of interfering. We’re having to constantly keep up with that which is a definite challenge. From site to site it’s a completely different game. Not only are we dealing with different state governments but also different councils,” says Sebastian. These are issues that Nazero is more than ready to meet, but they do seem to have a hand in slowing them up a little.
A signature project
Nazero Construction recently signed on to complete a project in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. The project is only six units, but these six units will be completed to exceptionally high standards. “It will be a signature project for us in terms of our residential construction,” says Sebastian with pride. The six units
will have the best possible quality and finishes available. Sebastian describes them as the “Rolls Royce” of the industry and he is extremely excited to begin the project. The contract has already been signed and building will commence in the middle of this month. Over the years Nazero has completed quite a few luxury homes but in the last 10 years they have slowed down in that department. Due to land availability, the prices for land have gone up and become quite expensive. “The market for it is sort of disappearing – that mansion market,” explains Sebastian.The GFC has taken many people away from the luxury end of the market, especially large homes and since that time Nazero has not really seen any return to them.
Nazero does not limit themselves in terms of how many projects they take on at any given time. They did, however, notice a drop in projects when the GFC had hit, particularly in NSW. “We’ve been in WA the last few years. They’re actually a reactionary expansion from the GFC. NSW turned off just like a tap,” says Sebastian. With the resource boom in WA, Nazero had an excellent opportunity to venture out and expand as a company. They have different divisions within the company but the main entity usually completes projects starting at a million going all the way up to 25 million. Nazero Construction would be classified as a second tier builder.
A “family” company
Nazero Construction currently employs around 25 full time staff members. Over the years Nazero has developed excellent relations with their employees, particularly those that are long term. “We’ve been around for so long and since we are a family business many of the employees we’ve known for years and have become like family to us – some of them actually are family,” explains Sebastian. “We hang out with these people on weekends and we’re socializing all the time.”
Nazero doesn’t only maintain relations with their employees, but also with their subcontractors. For their work in NSW Nazero consistently uses the same subcontractor over and over. When they had ventured out to Western and Southern Australia, they were fortunate enough to have some of their existing subcontractors go with them. “While we generally hang around the same subcontractors, at the end of the day it comes down to competitive pricing, quality and availability,” says Sebastian.
Why Nazero?
Nazero Constructions has made a strong commitment to their existing relationships and relationship development. “When you’ve been in the industry for so long as a company, over the years we’ve not only developed some great working relationships but also made some great friends,” says Sebastian. “This probably explains why so many of our clients are repeat clients. It’s our commitment to them, not just as people that help pay the bills but also as friends.”
The future of Nazero Construction
Throughout the last 50 years Nazero has worked hard to establish a name and reputation for themselves. Now that they have done this, the next step is expansion. Currently working predominantly in WA and NSW, they want to expand into Queensland and Victoria. “In the medium to long term future I am optimistic about continuous growth,” says Sebastian, “but there are definitely a lot of factors that play into it.” As Nazero and many other companies keep their eye on the worldwide financial market, they remain optimistic about their futures and strategies for growth.
