One year on... Year zero
Steve Thompson, 33, is zero dry time franchisee for the Wrexham and Chester area and began trading in December 2015
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efore I bought the franchise I’d worked in IT, security, fi re/ fl ood restoration and medical carpet/upholstery cleaning. I purchased a franchise for a
variety of reasons, among them were great support, that the products are tried and tested and that one receives full training. Added to this is the fact that zero dry time’s branding, signage, marketing and logos, are well established and, most of all, the fact that franchisees have a way higher success rate in their fi rst year over those who set up on their own. I chose zero dry time because there was a gap in the market for a dry carpet and hard fl oor cleaner in my area. Once I found out the details of the franchise – that there is no deduction of profi t, ie you pay fi xed fee, there is no minimum chemical order, etc – I was very interested. The head offi ce team were very helpful and when I went up for a day to see how it all works I couldn’t wait to be able to do it myself.
“Life has changed so much for the better. I have control of my diary so I can choose when and when not to work”
Training
I had two weeks’ training including classroom-based training covering health and safety, marketing and so on, but was mostly on the road, in actual customer’s properties learning on the job. It was great to see the diff erent results and how pleasantly surprised customers are with immediately dry carpets! The training and support doesn’t end there and the team are always on the end of a phone or email, and the other franchisees are very helpful. We have an online training portal that is full of videos and tips in case you need a refresher; this is updated all the time when new products or machines are added. My personal life has changed so much for the better. I have control of my diary so I can choose when and when not to work. I see my family a lot more as I can organise
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BusinessFranchise.com | April 2017 Steve Thompson
I eat with my family and then, once my daughter goes to bed, I update my map of customers and customer records for that day, reply to any enquiries from email and Facebook, then enjoy the rest of the evening with my wife.
work around things I have going on. I can now socialise more with my friends and have been able to join back up with my old pool team.
Typical day
My day starts with getting up with my family, answering any emails, phone calls, checking Facebook etc. I then take my daughter to school and next make my way to my fi rst customer’s house usually about 9:30am. I complete the job, answer any phone calls and then move on to my next job. No two jobs are the same and the duration varies depending on the size of the rooms. I would normally have a maximum of three jobs booked in. I get home for around mid-afternoon most days and then I clean my machines and prepare the van ready for the next day (my daughter loves helping me with this).
Enjoying growing success After six months of trading, I began to fi nd that I was so busy with jobs on a day-to-day basis, that I didn’t have time to actually promote my services! My wife has since joined the business to help and now growth is even better than I could have imagined! I started to market my business by listening to the franchisor’s advice. I advertise in local A5 magazines, I have listed the business on most free sites – yell, Thomas local, etc. I mainly use social media showing ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures and work on getting my name out there and leafl et drops have also worked well for me. Word-of-mouth from customers has boosted the business so much; one person booking usually leads to one of their friends, family or neighbours following suit. Head offi ce update their marketing initiatives from month to month with various off ers to customers.
The future I would strongly recommend a zero dry time franchise business to others. I have spoken to new enquirers looking to invest and they have subsequently become part of the team. As for the future, I plan to expand, and have another van on the road in the next 12 months, and will be looking at taking over another territory within the next two years.
www.zerodrytimefranchise.com
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