Franchise Focus


Express Success


Jan Chidley, Recognition Express franchisee, on her journey from stay-at-home mum to top female franchisee


INVESTMENT LEVEL: £35,000


was ideal for me. I got my first big order for £3,500 within two months. I was so excited. It helped spur me on and gave me confidence to go out and secure more business.


Networking opened the door to my now biggest customer, health and safety giant Arco. The meeting turned out to be a grilling from the entire marketing team. I had never felt so out of my comfort zone, but it must have gone okay – they now give me over £50,000 worth of business a year.


“A franchise enabled me to have the best of both worlds”


Jan Chidley with students and staff of Pocklington School “A


fter over 28 years following my husband round the world with his job, I decided, in


2007, that it was time for me to do something I wanted to do – be my own boss. I set up Recognition Express Hull and East Riding. Five years on I am one of the top performing female franchisees in the network.


It has always been important to set my own goals as well as work to the targets set by my franchisor. Year on year I have met and exceeded them all. In year one, we turned over £50,000, which rose to £140,000 by year three, and we are on target to hit £180,000 for 2013. I hope my story will inspire other women to consider


taking on a franchise – at 40, and as a stay-at-home Mum, there was much for me to learn. It took courage and a great deal of organisation but I’ve achieved everything I set out to do – and more. I’d taken the decision early on that I wanted to take time out to raise our children. But when the twins turned 16, the time felt right to focus on a career. As my husband, Chris, had been running the Driver Hire franchise for four years I understood franchising and felt that a franchise would enable me to have the best of both worlds – a business of my own backed up with the confidence of a proven model and support from the franchisor team. I was introduced to Recognition Express at a franchise exhibition. I liked the product, and the high level of business support provided


I had to jump through similar hoops to become an accredited supplier to my husband’s company Driver Hire. It was important that I won the business in my own right – not just because I was ‘Mrs Driver Hire’. Landmark contracts and repeat orders followed from McCains and the Pocklington School. Trading through a recession hasn’t been easy. Keeping an eye on figures and knowing where I want to be at any time in the financial year helps me maintain focus, and continual contact with customers ensures my company’s name is in the forefront of their minds. This January was bad for sales – but it was just a matter of re-doubling my effort in following months to get back on track. There’s no magic formula, just follow the tried and tested model and have faith in your own ability. Seeing me working hard is good for the children. From day one, my husband and children have been fully supportive and they quickly adjusted to life with Mum working. I learned a lot about running a business from my husband. We have a policy of ‘shutting the door’ on work when we get home enabling us to focus on the family and each other. Resting on my laurels is not an option for me or my franchisor! I have recently started outsourcing new business activity to a telesales specialist with great results. There’s always business to be had out there and I will continue to grow the franchise.” n


RECOGNITION EXPRESS


WEBSITE:www.recognition-express.com EMAIL: jmatthews@recognition-express.com PHONE: 01530 513 300 CLASSIFICATION: Business-to-business


September 2013 | Businessfranchise.com | 79


Investment: £20k-£50k


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