increase in travel made this market attractive.


What made you decide that Pack & Send was right for you? There are many courier and freight companies around, but none of them offer the packing and insurance services that we have, so it is great to be in a market where there is no obvious competitor. The fact that the business had already been running successfully for 20 years in Australia and that there were attractive territories available was also important.


Did you have any reservations at first? If so, how did you overcome them? With any new business there are always concerns and risks but the fact that Pack & Send has had 20 years of growth and success in Australia gave me confidence. Having been a franchisee previously, I knew that there would be support available from the centre and this eased concerns and as I have been running businesses for many years there are not too many issues that I haven’t seen before!


How did you source funding? I used some personal funds and financing from the bank.


34 | Businessfranchise.com | September 2013


What initial support or training did you receive from the franchisor? Pack & Send were helpful in identifying and assessing potential store locations and in the store fit itself. The initial training was comprehensive and included my assistant as well as myself. There was a lot of general business training – finance, admin, sales and marketing – as well as practical advice on running a Pack & Send store. We spent several days working in a store to get hands-on experience. Once my store opened, Pack & Send had someone to work on-site with me to give advice and back-up as we got started.


What ongoing support does your franchisor provide? We get store visits from the team and they are always available at the end of a phone for advice or help when we need it but as we have grown the business, and because of our experience, we have less need to get their help. We have also have team meetings with all the other franchisees which is helpful in developing the business.


What are the challenges you have faced?


The toughest things for me were finding a


good site for the store and recruiting good staff – but I have both of these resolved now. There are never enough hours in a day but I guess that is true for most businesses.


What part of your business are you enjoying the most?


For me, the fun of the business is in never knowing what we are going to be dealing with next. We are always amazed at some of the things that our customers need to have safely moved. With every job being different, there is a lot of satisfaction in designing the right solution for a customer and completing the job well for them. The number of good reviews and testimonials that we get also gives me great satisfaction.


What is the most unusual job that you have undertaken so far? There have been many fragile and high value items that we have had to pack extremely carefully such as a glass artwork for a Chinese collector or £80,000-worth of laboratory equipment, but working with the BBC to send out a Pudsey Bear costume for Children in Need was fun too. Finally, any kind of franchising needs commitment if it’s going to succeed. n


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