Franchise Article

Virtual PA business Kendlebell has launched a second type of franchise and found it comes down to matching people’s skills to the challenges of running a business. 

At its simplest starting a business boils down to just two things: how much do you have to invest? And who is going to buy your product or service? That is why franchises are so appealing to any entrepreneur. From the start you know the cost and have a clear idea of who the customers are, whilst getting plenty of support to help you find your way.

Simon Carter, Managing Director of Kendlebell, Britain’s leading virtual PA and personal telephone answering business, agrees, but points to a third factor essential to business success: what people bring to it themselves.

“With a franchise business like ours you can assess the costs and get really precise information about the market, so it is easier to decide if it is right for you. But in a perfect franchise operation there is an X-factor - and that is having the right person running it. This is too often overlooked but it is one of the things we really care about,” he says.

Kendlebell currently has 25 existing franchisees scattered across the UK and Ireland. Each franchisee currently manages a team of virtual PAs – and looks after hundreds of clients while generating more.

It’s a big job. And generating more business takes time and expertise - which is why Kendlebell has now set up a second franchise opportunity, called the Sales and Management franchise (see box). This aims to encourage people with a sales background to use their skills to help build Kendlebell’s success.

Kendlebell’s existing franchisees come from all walks of life and even include a former RAF engineer and a software developer.

But whatever their background, they all have one thing in common – they all pride themselves on the highly-personal service they provide to clients and believe that is  Kendlebell’s unique selling point – and its key to business success.

Helen Gould, of Crewe, in Cheshire, has been running her Kendlebell franchise for nearly four years.

She says: “Our service stands out because it is so personal. I want people to know just how committed our team is to helping their company deliver a professional service. It’s rarely the case for people working in larger call centres, but here at Kendlebell, our PAs feel in some ways as if they are part of the companies they work for.

“Small businesses can be very vulnerable – if they miss an important call, then they could lose out on a contract worth thousands of pounds. The business world is so competitive these days and small businesses need extra support if they are to survive.”

As Helen says, running a business is not easy – especially during the early days. In fact, five out of six new businesses don’t even survive the first six months, which is why extra support from companies like Kendlebell is so vital. Not only does the company provide a telephone answering service, but it can also offer a wider administrative support package, which includes services such as diary management, credit card payments and brochure mail-outs.

Jet Shah, of Luton, who was an RAF engineer before he and his wife Rita started running a Kendlebell franchise, says that it is crucial for a new franchisee to understand the psychology of the business if you are to be successful.

Jet, who runs a team of three PAs, says: “So much in this business is not about money – it’s about trust and my aim is always to get the client to trust and believe that I am there to help. It’s then they understand that we can really make a difference for them.

“I think the reason why more and more companies use our service is because we know what’s going on in their day-to-day life and we fit in with that. You have to be really disciplined in the RAF and always do your best and that’s what motivates me.”

Kendlebell is not the only telephone answering service in the country, but it is the leading company in the sector with more than 3000 clients shared between the franchisees.

Simon Carter says that the commitment to wanting to make a real difference to clients’ lives is what makes Kendlebell franchisees stand out from the crowd. And that is the character trait he will be looking for when considering who should take on the new Sales and Management franchise opportunity.

“Helen and Jet’s dedication and professional approach make them exactly the kind of people we want to run a Kendlebell franchise – whether it’s a full franchise or a Sales and Management franchise.

“At Kendlebell, we put people first and that’s why we are so successful. It sounds so simple but so many companies – in all sectors across the business world- fail to get this basic principle right. And you do that at your peril.”

Kendlebell franchisee Norma Ingle, of Ware, in Hertfordshire, runs one of the company’s biggest franchises.  Norma says she was looking for a franchise opportunity that would give her job satisfaction as well as being profitable and running a Kendlebell franchise appealed to her because it offered a professional service to businesses in a strong and growing market.

She says she could see the business potential straight away and two years after launching, her PAs work for more than 270 different businesses including chiropodists and specialist bathroom fitters.

Norma was so committed to giving her clients the personal service she prides herself on, that she split her office in half when she felt it was getting too big – deciding to run two small offices instead of one large one.

“We provide so much more than telephone answering and it is the added value we provide our clients that makes Kendlebell so unique. Our clients have their calls handled professionally and we are able to answer caller’s questions about a particular product or service, take an order or make an appointment, saving our clients valuable time.

“I’d experienced the frustrations of seeing businesses lose opportunities because they missed phone calls or managed customers badly.”

Norma’s advice to anyone looking for a business opportunity is to “concentrate on quality and getting the business basics right. In this kind of business it is all about treating people well and knowing what you are doing.”

It’s a simple formula – and it works – whatever franchise you decide to take on.