These are profiles of a few of our current franchisees and you can see from the varied nature just how diverse their backgrounds are.
Previous life
Diana was originally a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, then trained to be a therapeutic Masseur and ran her own successful business for thirteen years. "I was looking for a new challenge and my husband Barry and I had always wanted to work together." They began to look for an opportunity that took advantage of Barry's experience and Diana's strong business skills.
How they got involved with The Garage Conversion Company
Diana's ease and ability to communicate with customers teamed with Barry's building skills made The Garage Conversion Company the ideal franchise choice for them. "We first saw the opportunity in a national newspaper and then eventually signed up and opened our franchise in February 2006," explains Diana.
Diana's secrets to success . . .
"Working as a team has enabled us to keep the overheads to a minimum which is important when running your own business, our customers like the fact that we are a husband and wife team it gives them a sense of confidence that the job will be done properly, I personally feel that people feel less intimidated by a female sales person and our customers have always commented on my professionalism and friendly approach when meeting for the first time," says Diana.
What Richard Benning, Co-Director of The Garage Conversion Company says: "Diana and Barry are such lovely people. Diana's experience of running her own business for many years has had a positive impact on their ability to run their own Garage Conversion Company franchise. We are pleased with their progress and look forward to assisting them with their future goal of taking on other teams to install the garage conversions."
Previous life
Phil has spent the last 10 years working in a sales role with high value computer software in the UK & America. Before that Phil ran his own construction business dealing with property development. Previously to that Phil was a policeman. Having spent the last 10 years travelling between America and the UK, Phil was ready for a new challenge with less travelling involved.
How he got involved with The Garage Conversion Company
After searching through several online franchise websites and reading franchise magazines, Phil had a better idea about the type of franchise that he wanted. He decided to visit the National Franchise Exhibition in Birmingham in October 2007 to meet a few of the franchisors exhibiting. The Garage Conversion Company was one of the franchisors exhibiting and Phil had an opportunity to meet one of the Directors, Richard Benning and chat through the franchise opportunity. "They convinced me enough to come onboard," remarks Phil who has now been trading with his Garage Conversion franchise for 4 months and has already achieved a turn over of £100K.
Phil's advice to new franchisees . . .
Phil strongly believes that sales is the key to his success so far. "If you are going to take on a Garage Conversion Company franchise, you need to know about sales or get some sales training," recommends Phil. "Sales is definitely the key, along with an understanding of basic construction. New franchisees will be putting their back office systems in place, engaging with potential customers, putting together a small team of builders and overseeing the garage conversions". Due to Phil's experience in sales, he is assisting The Garage Conversion Company to train new franchisees in sales to help give them the skills they need to succeed.
When asked about the future, Phil comments "I plan to build a sustainable and successful business"
What Richard Benning, Co-Director of The Garage Conversion Company says: "Phil is a real asset to our team, not just as a franchisee but as a trainer. His experience in sales has proved invaluable as a training resource for new franchisees. Since he started in January he has taken on board all the advice and put our recommended systems in place. Phil's enthusiasm and hard working attitude are the kind of traits that we look for in franchisees and we are sure that his franchise will become a sustainable success because of this".
More profiles to come . . .
Related pages in this section:
The ideal franchisee | Franchisee profiles