Ryan Rubertazzi is head of commercial operations and
franchising at Vodafone.
Vodafone is a household name – but do you think it’s widely known that it’s possible to invest in and partner with the brand? Exhibiting at the National Franchise Exhibition in Birmingham in October 2018 was one of the first times we had ever actively pushed out our franchise opportunity externally. We were approached by many attendees on the day who were surprised to discover we were franchising and excited to find out more. I don’t think many people are aware that 80 per cent of our global estate is already franchised – the UK was actually one of the last countries to launch! When we initially rolled out the opportunity
we approached store managers and their teams who already work in our stores and asked if they’d be interested in stepping up and becoming a partner agent. We opened our very first franchise store in August 2017. Now we are keen to push the opportunity out to external entrepreneurs to see what fresh eyes and new ideas they bring to Vodafone.
What are you looking for in partner agents? Whatever experience you have, our franchise model equips our partner agents with the training and skills they need to be able to run a successful business. We are looking for hands-on, committed, driven and hard-working entrepreneurs to join our network.
What investment level, and return, is involved? Our franchise model is different in the sense that we do not ask for any upfront fees from our partner agents. All we ask is that they can demonstrate that they have access to enough funds to be able to pay the operational costs of their store for the first three months. We give them a fully stocked, fully staffed store and we pay them a commission payment on a monthly basis, our partner agents can make between £45,000 and £100,000 depending on how many stores they take, but of course this is uncapped, the more commitment they put in, the more they are likely to earn.
What support comes with the business? With over 20 years of experience, we’ve got running our stores pretty much down to a ‘T’ which means we have ready-built, set and proven successful processes. Partner agents take over existing stores – refurbished in the
last six years, providing an improved, consistent customer experience – with a fully trained, experienced team of staff, so they can pretty much hit the ground running from day one. We provide partner agents with in-depth
training on various aspects of running a business including business plan, financial projections, and how to monitor performance. They also spend one month with a fellow partner agent or store manager in store where they will learn everything they need to know about the day-to- day running of a Vodafone store. As for ongoing support, our local regional managers assist them with looking at the performance of their business and setting targets. Continuous training is provided to the partner agent and their team whilst online forums keep all teams up to date with any changes and announcements.
What makes Vodafone stand out in the marketplace (as a business opportunity)? Other companies in the telecoms industry have
previously provided franchise opportunities but at the moment, as far as I’m aware, Vodafone is the only telecoms company in the UK actively seeking new franchisees. I think what makes us stand out in the
franchise industry is that when people ask us “how much is it?” we can say “nothing”. This comes at quite a surprise to most, but here at Vodafone we want the opportunity to be open to anyone; we just want passionate, driven and committed entrepreneurs who want to succeed.
What are the future plans for the network? We plan to pass over a significant proportion of our existing stores to partner agents, our focus will then be to provide them with the support they need so they can build their businesses and reach their objectives. We also have plans to open further stores within the UK in the coming years. As of November 2018, we’ve franchised 16 per cent of our 410 stores in the UK so there are still plenty of territories up for discussion. n
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