Market Focus
I’m making a living, which is great. I want to be gaining a 100 customers a year and up to 500 plus total by the end of my first five years.
What kind of support network does Riverford have? You get a huge amount of support from Riverford. The home farm up here in North Allerton has a great, supportive team and they’re there at the end of the phone to help you out. They’ve got a strong brand and reputation but if you want to go further you’ve got to be inspired and be a bit creative. I’m in contact with three or four franchisees who are all in the same boat, and we chat and share ideas. I don’t have to worry about quality – the products are all perfectly picked at the peak of their life.
Subway
N
ichaphat Maguire lives in Navan, County Meath in Ireland. She and her husband own two Subway stores in the Blanchardstown and Liffey
Valley Shopping Centres in Dublin. She started out in catering but grew frustrated with the lack of opportunity. In November 2007, she launched her first franchise.
What did you do before franchising? Before becoming a franchisee I worked in the catering industry as a kitchen assistant in a Thai restaurant. I found that the prospects to grow and move forward were limited, and it was frustrating. Becoming a franchisee was a huge change but I still have a keen interest in cooking and different cuisines. Last year, I entered Masterchef Ireland, which was probably my toughest challenge to date! I was very proud to get through to the final three.
Why did you choose Subway? We were looking for something that would be easy to set up, with a good support network behind it that we would be able to draw expertise from. We wanted to be part of a big strong brand that people would trust and have heard about.
We saw a gap in the market in our local
area and realised that a Subway store was a perfect fit. As a new business owner the Subway brand offered us a lot of training and support, which really helped us to the ins and outs of running a successful business.
“We were looking for something that would be easy to set up, with a good support network behind it that we would be able to draw expertise from”
What growth has your franchise shown?
In 2012, after five years’ trading, we felt in a strong enough position to open our second Subway store in Dublin.
What aspects were challenging or needed a creative approach? We have found the recession to be our biggest challenge; the population has less money to spend than ever before. Our challenge now is to ensure that we maintain our sales and strive to improve them – something we have been fortunate to do over the years. Important future steps for us will include a focus on in-store promotions to build up our sales as the economy slowly works its way out of the recession.
What are your tips for people who want to follow in your footsteps? Do your homework, because you need to know exactly what the business entails and how you intend to run it, you have to keep your eye on the ball. The Subway brand is a great franchise opportunity but you need to work hard and understand how it works to ensure you are successful, there are field consultants and development agents from the Subway brand on call throughout to help with this process. n
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Businessfranchise.com | October 2013
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