Franchise Focus Relative values
Franchising is a family affair for the latest Fastsigns centre owner INVESTMENT LEVEL: FROM £35,100
S
hahzad Ahmad waited patiently for the perfect
location to become available for his
Fastsigns business. With the help and support of Fastsigns managing director, Garth Allison, Shahzad has now secured the ideal site in Islington, north London for his fi rst premises and will launch in November.
Fastsigns is the world’s leading visual communications franchise, with over 550 centres worldwide. In Fastsigns, Shahzad saw the benefi t of having access to over 25 years of expertise in the signage and visual communications sector and the advantages of being part of a well-known and respected brand.
No stranger to the world of franchising, Shahzad has already worked within two other very successful franchises – Domino’s Pizza and Mail Boxes Etc. After fi nishing college, he decided university was not for him. He was keen to get out into the workplace to start earning some money and took the opportunity to join his father’s well- established Domino’s family business. For the next decade, Shahzad helped expand the Domino’s business to six thriving north London branches and then went to work in his brother’s central
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London Mail Boxes Etc. franchise in 2009. With both family businesses booming, Shahzad decided the time was right to set up on his own and, inspired by his extensive experience working within the franchise sector, he sought out an opportunity where he could build his own franchise business in London. The young entrepreneur identifi ed a gap in the market for signmaking and, as a previous customer of Fastsigns, he knew all the potential the venture offered. Shazad explains: “I was attracted to franchising as a proven business
“The quality of ongoing support available from head offi ce is excellent”
model and felt that it offered me the best way of starting to work for myself. I was impressed by Fastsigns when I used its services as a customer myself and had a feeling this business could work for me.
“The fact that I don’t have experience in signmaking is not a problem, as the training that I will get from the franchisor will cover everything from the technical side to sales and marketing, human resources and admin.
“The quality of ongoing support that is available from head offi ce is excellent and
its central buying power will help me to be very competitive within my marketplace. My aim is to become as successful as my father and brother and eventually have several Fastsigns centres in London.” Fastsigns UK managing director Garth Allison is delighted to welcome Shahzad to the network. He says: “We have a fairly rigid recruitment process to make sure that the calibre of Fastsigns owners is high across the whole network. Shahzad already knew the signifi cant benefi ts that the franchise model can provide and he brings a great deal of valuable experience with him to Fastsigns north London. We look forward to mentoring him in his ambition to follow in his family’s footsteps and expand his business across London.” Shahzad adds: “I’ve learned from my own experience that franchising can provide a really fl exible and enjoyable way for a family to earn a good income and build something for future generations. Plus, you get to spend more time together, which is a really good thing.” n
* As a guide, typical opening costs are £117,000 including working capital. You will need to provide at least 30 per cent with the balance being funded through banks.
FASTSIGNS
WEBSITE:
www.fastsigns.co.uk EMAIL:
garth.allison@
fastsigns.com PHONE: 01246 456 512 CLASSIFICATION: Visual communication
Investment: £20k-£50k
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