SPECIAL FEATURE
Fantastic Services Vanya and Hristo Yankovi
Vanya and Hristo Yankovi started small – just three team members covering a small area in Oxford. Today, they manage 64 technicians in London and the North West, providing a range of professional cleaning services for both domestic and commercial properties.
What did you do before franchising? Hristo: We were running a restaurant but we decided to close it down because we wanted to focus on the franchise.
Mary
Brown’s Waqar Azam and
Aysha Waqar Husband and wife Waqar Azam and Aysha Waqar opened their first store in 2015 and now have four thriving quick- service restaurants in Ontario, Canada.
Why did you go into business together? Waqar: We were married for 14 years when we decided to go into business. We worked hard while raising our kids, so we missed spending quality time together. We developed a very good understanding of each other and of our strengths and weaknesses and decided to try something new that would provide us with freedom over our lives and true payback of our hard work. With belief in each other’s abilities and support, we were confident that we could bring great results as business partners.
In what ways do you individually bring strengths to the business? Waqar: I was an accountant, so good with numbers, budgeting and taxes, whereas Aysha's good with people-management skills and has great food sense. We never interfered with each other’s area of expertise but we do exchange thoughts if one thinks otherwise.
What's good about working as a couple? Aysha: If you have a clear division of roles and a solid understanding between yourselves, it helps with any challenges that may arise. You can discuss the outcomes of decisions in more detail at
What appealed to you in particular about Fantastic Services? Vanya: We always had the ambition to grow our business beyond what it was initially. But, at the same time, we did not want the business to consume our family life. To us, family is what matters most. And I guess this value resonated with me when we decided to join the Fantastic family of services.
What was it like in the beginning? Hristo: The beginning was very exciting but also painless. In business, people can promise you the world until the moment you sign a contract. But the people of Fantastic Services proved to be very down to earth and responsive to our needs. We were able to adapt quickly to the company's standards and our business just took off.
How did your first year of running the franchise go? Vanya: It was terrific! We started with a team of just three people, providing domestic cleaning. But week after week, month after month, we were adding more people to our roster, increasing our range of services. We were growing not just in numbers but in expertise as well.
Did you achieve the work-life balance that you were after? Hristo: Honestly, I could have not imagined that it was possible to develop our business to this extent without being stressed out all the time. But here we are. I think we were somewhat lucky to join Fantastic Services just as they were developing their digital tools. We handle everything online, it’s all automated, saving us so much time.
your own comfort and you can then agree on better practices in future.
How has business been? Waqar: We opened our first location in 2015 and today we have four. We're progressing at a phenomenal rate, with double-digit growth year over year. Aysha: We’ve already applied for the fifth location and hope to achieve the magic number of 10 franchise locations by 2025.
What initial training and support like? Aysha: It was easy, and support from head office was always a phone call away. We were required to undergo three weeks’ hands-on training to bring us to a level where we could operate independently.
Have you encountered any problems along the way? Waqar: No, not at all. Even when we’ve had questions about a process or procedure, we would simply reach out to our field team for support and they would visit us to answer or find solutions to any of our questions.
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