Franchise Article

CASE STUDY 1

From Franchisor to Franchisee

You would hope that if someone who worked for a franchisor was looking to buy a franchise, they would know what to look for.  Well Kerry McCaughey of Lasertech Stoke certainly did his research and believes he found a franchise right for an ex franchisor.

Before Kerry purchased Lasertech Stoke he used to work for a franchise company in Australia. When he moved back to the UK in 2006 he didn’t want to get a 9-5 job, he wanted to use what he knew about franchising and running a business and find a franchise opportunity that he felt suited him.

In March 2006 he purchased Lasertech Stoke as a resale, at that time Lasertech Stoke was doing under £10,000 turnover a month, but he could see the opportunity and felt he could grow the business.

When asked why buy a Lasertech franchise when he first started at Lasertech? his comments were “When Researching franchises. What I liked about Lasertech is that they sell essential products that keep businesses functioning, the products are consumable and retention is very high.  Lasertech genuinely stand out against the competition, everybody from the delivery driver to the sales person is passionate about providing an excellent service to their customers”

After completing his training in April 2006 Kerry quickly got to grips with the day to day running of the business. Kerry concentrated on making sure the service he gave to existing customers was always exceeding their expectation and did the basics of getting on the road marketing his franchise to as many SME businesses and schools as possible.

Since his start in March 2006 his efforts have been well rewarded, from that small start he has built his business to over £30,000 a month by March 2007.  Obviously Kerry has benefited from his hard work and has now moved into small premises and taken on staff to help grow the business further. 

Kerry was recently asked by Lasertech for his thoughts on his first year as a franchisee and especially what he thought about the franchise, coming as he did from a franchisor background.  “What actually makes Lasertech stand out is what you get for your money, when measured against other franchises available for similar prices the length and quality of training and support along with what Lasertech spend to get you up and running is much more than any other I’ve heard of and was definitely a factor in successful first year”

Kerry has now built his business up to such a level his wife is now employed in the business and just recently they purchased a second house.  Kerry’s ultimate goal is to build the business enough to be able to realise a resale himself and with the profits move back to Australia.

CASE STUDY 2

“The competition was so good I joined them”

In any business understanding who your competitors are and what they do is vital.  The rise and fall of your business could depend on your ability to add value to your business compared to the competition.  Well, 18 months ago Dane Beckett used to work a French company that is one of largest office products suppliers in Europe and services predominately the public sector. 

As a Project Manager in the sales division of their UK office, he was ideally placed to monitor the sales and performance of their UK competitors.  One day he was asked by his boss to look into Lasertech and monitor their performance.  Dane therefore went off and started to do some research on the company. 

Unbeknown to Dane at the time, this simple request from his boss turned out to be the turning point in his life.

A few months later Dane had purchased the Shrewsbury franchise territory of Lasertech and was starting what he hopes to be a long running and very profitable business.  Dane said when joining Lasertech “Before I joined Lasertech I actually worked for a national competitor and was tasked by my boss to research Lasertech as we were losing business to them.  I was so impressed with what I learnt I joined them!”

Dane continued on to say “What Lasertech have is very simple, but unique.  Enormous need for their products with a local and personal service that today’s customers demand, something many have tied to copy but failed”

Now having just finished his first year of trading, the future looks extremely bright.  In his second year he is already on course to do well over £100,000 turnover operating from a single van servicing business customers in and around his local town of Shrewsbury.

He has also found that elusive “work life balance” and says life has never been so much fun, without the commute to and from work and no strict working hours, he can manage home life much easier and believes he has become a better person to be around.