Franchise Focus Full speed ahead
Andrew Barrie, owner of Speedy Freight Edinburgh, explains why he chose to join the growing business
INVESTMENT LEVEL: FROM £38,500
Why did you decide to invest in a management franchise with Speedy Freight?
I was looking to run my own business and wanted to go down the route of buying a franchise. I was also looking for a company that was fairly new and gave me the opportunity to buy locally, and allowed me to grow my business in turnover and territory. Speedy Freight fi tted my requirements perfectly.
What did you do before taking up a franchise? Do you feel experience is required? I was brought up in agriculture and left a career as a livestock auctioneer to take on the franchise. You can never have enough experience but my knowledge on logistics was very limited. The business model, support and IT programmes within Speedy Freight made it a lot easier to learn enough of the basics to allow you to start to trade and earn quickly. As the business gets busier your knowledge and contacts grow, which, in turn, helps your business grow.
How did you raise the fi nance? I raised the fi nance through family and from an Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
How has the training and support been with Speedy Freight? The training and support has been fi rst class, from my initial three training days at head offi ce, to the three opening weeks of head offi ce support to canvass new clients and ensure we were set up properly. The support since then has never ceased. The head offi ce really wants each franchisee to continue to grow and are at the end of the phone if any problems arise.
Andrew Barrie
What challenges have you faced? The biggest challenge, especially at the start, was getting used to running your own business in terms of not having a guaranteed wage at the end of the month. Also, going from being employed to becoming the employer was diffi cult as it brings the added pressure of making sure that they are motivated and busy and that I am off ering them the incentives to do their best for the business.
What are the benefi ts of a management franchise? The main benefi t has been the access to a business model that obviously works, alongside the fantastic support that is given. The contacts and background staff that you get for the franchise fee would certainly cost a lot more money and time if I had to start from scratch myself. This allows you to grow in turnover far quicker than a startup business.
What made you buy an additional Speedy Freight franchise? It was the obvious move to make. The company as a whole is growing month on month and there was an additional area still available that linked on to my existing territory. I have been delighted with how my original franchise is working, so there is
a greater chance that the new area should be more successful as we learn from any mistakes that were made when opening the fi rst offi ce.
How did you achieve the best- performing fi rst year? A few diff erent reasons. I put it down to hard work, luck, and listening to and following the Speedy Freight business model, alongside employing a salesperson very early on. This allowed us to get more coverage quickly and arrange meetings with clients, while I was able to stay in the offi ce and take any calls or emails that came.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of buying their fi rst franchise? Go for it! Work hard and listen to the people who have made the business work in the fi rst place.
Speedy Freight Courier services
www.speedyfreight.co.uk/franchising franchise@speedyfreight.co.uk 0161 341 0458
June 2017 |
BusinessFranchise.com | 109
Investment: £20k-£50k
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