Special Feature
Esquires Coffee
Dale and Clare Smith
Husband and wife Dale and Clare acquired the Esquires store in Durham city centre two years ago. Before this, Clare was a nurse for the NHS and Dale worked as a project and construction manager in the oil industry.
Why franchising and why with Esquires? We had wanted to run a coffee shop for a long time and we have travelled the world in search of excellent-quality coffee. Being in a position to finance a coffee shop, we looked into starting our own. Opening a coffee shop on our own seemed quite complex, so we decided to go with a franchise, as this route would give us a better return on our capital investment. We could also just start running a shop and enjoy serving great coffee without all the pitfalls and hassle of jumping into the unknown. We reviewed a lot of franchise opportunities and none of them fitted in to our high expectations; the majority were too corporate with no soul. We were adamant as to the type of franchise company we would fit in with. We came across Esquires and now the
rest is history. Esquires offers great team support, while being a fun and exciting company. Esquires has a family ethos with great coffee and products. We have room to breathe and bring a local culture to our
shop. Esquires promotes Fairtrade and organic coffee, which is very important to the both of us.
Why did you decide to go into business with a family member?
After many years working in difficult and demanding jobs, often spending long periods of time apart, we wanted to enter a business where we could spend time together doing something fun and exciting.
How do you divide the work? We split the work pretty evenly, working hand in hand making coffee and serving customers. We also split the back-of-office tasks, such as ordering, managing staff, rotas, and wages.
Have you worked with a family member before?
Neither of us had worked with a family member before.
Would you recommend franchising with family in this sector? We would definitely recommend working with a family member in the food sector.
What strengths do each of you bring to the business? James: I tend to go into something straightaway, whereas Leanne is more level headed and keeps me grounded. Leanne takes care of the running of the shops and I tend to be more hands on with the stairlifts and engineering.
Ableworld
James and Leanne Studdart
James and Leanne found themselves at a crossroads after they were both offered redundancy. After looking at their options, they decided to go into business together, and Ableworld offered an attractive package with ongoing support.
How do you fit work around family life? It’s always difficult balancing your work and family life especially when you are starting your own business, but having Ableworld head office to help is such a benefit. We have recently decided to use its accounting service as it was taking too much of our own time, which means that we can concentrate on other things. You can also have a manager for a week, which allowed us to have a break away from the business to recharge our batteries.
“
...customers like the fact that we are a couple and they feel that they are part of the journey with us”
What did you do prior to franchising? I was in direct sales for six years and prior to that I was manufacturing medical furniture. Leanne worked for the local college in the hairdressing department and prior to that she ran her own salon for 10 years.
How have you found working together so far? It’s been challenging and we have a rule not to bring anything home with us. We have found that customers like the fact that we are a couple and they feel that they are part of the journey with us.
What strengths do each of you bring to the business? Leanne is more organised and has a lot of empathy for customers due to her previous jobs.
I tend to be more hands on, whether that is fitting stairlifts or talking directly with the customers about their needs.
What kind of support have you received from the franchisor? We have used a wide range of services that Ableworld offers, from store support and accounting through to staff training and engineer support. By using these, it has taken the stress off our backs and allowed us to focus on other things.
November 2016 |
BusinessFranchise.com | 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
