138 139 WIF DSAR 2/3/07 9:30 am Page 1
RACHEL SPAUL
women in franchising
Jane gets ahead of the
game in football fashion
Q. What motivated you to and distributed to customers. I drew on
buy The Soccer Company? my experiences in accountancy and
A. My seven-year-old son is my internal auditing to work through every
motivating factor. I’ve watched other system in the company and to
people make personal investments and document them to make sure that
raise finance through banks and everyone was working to the same
institutions to buy a business, then systems, and communicating with the
grow that business and sell it on to staff to help them take greater
repay the debt and make substantial responsibility and pride in their work.
personal gain. I’m ambitious and I We laid the groundwork for the
wanted a slice of that cake for myself, implementation of the franchise by
and the best for my son. producing training manuals that
I looked at several businesses before included these systems and by
I found The Soccer Company. At that developing a website to allow online
time it was a mail order company ordering. We had tremendous
selling football kits. I help from FDS. We
recognised that the shopped around for a
owners would struggle franchise consultant
to grow the business but wanted to use
because of the Tony Urwin from
fragmented market - FDS Northern. His
the Football advice has been
A single mum with a driving Association is the invaluable and he has
ambition to build a better
only lead body and hand-held us through
they only hold data on the entire process. I
future for herself and her
15 per cent of the believe the advice and
son, Jane Lennon raised the
footballing population. We service we have received is
would need a unique method of second-to-none.
finance through private
approaching customers that wasn’t mail
order, or high street based. Q. What is the franchise model?
investors, banks and venture
A. The franchise, Football Kitz ‘n’
capitalists to buy The
Q. When you took control of the Pieces, was launched in July 2006.
business in 2005 what steps did Franchisees visit football fields, sports
Soccer Company. Now in
you take to develop it? grounds, schools, league meetings, etc.
her third year, Jane reflects
A. The business had been trading in their mobile showrooms to show
successfully for 18 years but there were customers the garments. They then
on the highs and lows of changes that needed to be made. I place orders via the website to head
business ownership.
started from the bottom up looking at office where it is dispatched to the
where we source and design the kits, franchisee, who delivers direct to the
Rachel Spaul interviews how they are brought into the country customer. This has given the company
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