Franchise Article

In 2006 Tony had reached a crossroads in his career. After 15 years the company he had worked for gave him a choice, move 250 miles to Watford or take voluntary redundancy.

‘I’d been a highly successful Sales Manager for a large electronics manufacturer but when faced with the prospect of moving I thought it was time to take a good hard look at my life and where I was going. Although I enjoyed my job I was covering the whole country and Ireland in my car, racking up 40,000 miles a year. I stayed away a lot and it meant I wasn’t seeing much of my family. And although the pay was good, if I looked at the profits I was earning for someone else it started to grate a little that they could then decide my future with the stroke of a pen.

I looked into franchising as I felt confident that I wanted to start my own business but I didn’t really know what that entailed. I knew I wanted to take control of my life, work locally and earn my own money but I knew that I needed help and support if I was to succeed. The attraction for me was to be ‘alone but not alone’.

After looking into various franchises the Cloudy2Clear business really stood out. The concept of a business that actually saved people money on their glazing was more than sound and after I’d done my own market research it became more and more obvious that there was a real need for the service. The other thing that attracted me was that the business is sustainable, every house and business has windows and they fail. It’s a fact of life. And unlike other franchises which seemed to be a bit of a fad, this one is a real long term business which is always required. It’s also very easy system to learn!

Once I’d met the team and the levels of support were outlined to me the decision was easy. In the first year there was a lot to learn but the team guided me through and everything has pretty much panned out as they said it would. It’s always a leap in the dark when you place your faith in people and I’ve heard of other franchises where the promises didn’t amount to much but I have to say that the team at Cloudy2Clear are brilliant. They’re always looking for ways for us to get more business and we all meet regularly to ensure we swap ideas. I’m now in my third year and the business has exceeded all expectations with demand on the up as people are also looking to ‘improve not move’ in their houses. I’m achieving all the goals I set for myself both in terms of profits and lifestyle and that’s the best thing of all.