Industry legends


First in franchising


60 Years of innovation with the Zockoll Group


B


usiness Franchise talks to Jim Zockoll about his background in franchising and what propels him to fi nd commercial solutions wherever he goes!


Tell us a bit about the history of Zockoll, How far back does your activity in franchising go? Technically, it’s been 0 years! I worked for an Am as a fl ight engineer. Once, on a trip to ondon, I met a stressed hotel manager on the verge of cancelling a hristmas party since they were faced with pulling up a ballroom fl oor to access and unblock drains at a cost of 0,000 guineas the equivalent of around m today. At that time I let out properties back home in ong


Island, Y, and had carried out maintenance  including drains. I knew I could help the manager with his predicament and offered to clear his drains for only ,000 guineas 30,000 or there would be no cost. So, a few days later, I fl ew to the US, returned with specialist equipment, and with the help of the hotel’s plumber, I did the job in  minutes. He paid me the equivalent of a pilot's yearly salary! So, I


did a little research and found that specialist drain services were non-existent, and, seeing how desperately-needed it was, I relocated with my family to the UK and made plans to set up business here.


How did this diverge into the world of franchising? Well, US franchising as a concept wasn’t known or operated in the UK back in 3. In fact there wasn't even such a thing Yellow ages as a place to advertise drain cleaning. ational newspapers wouldn't accept franchise ads as they did not know what franchising was and even our bank and solicitors did not understand the meaning of franchising. With my own money, my ritish fatherin law, and the plumber I’d met in ondon at the hotel, I built a team and started the business that would evolve into ynoRod, while still working for an Am. I found myself not only introducing a new industry with drain cleaning, but introducing franchising as well, in order to create a national network.


How hard was it to develop franchising in the UK? You can appreciate with franchising being an unknown concept, every move was new and it required creating awareness and education. I simply took the basic rules of franchising that I had seen in


desperately needed our services were, I relocated with


“ zockoll.com BUSINESSFRANCHISE.COM 93


my family to set up business in the UK”


the USA and applied them in the UK. These over time were fi ne tuned as the ynoRod business grew and we introduced new US franchise ideas into the UK.


How did the BFA play its part? In , we were approached by the founder of the A, Martin Mendelsohn, to become the founding member of the Association to help give credibility and encourage other franchises to join. Our franchise director was asked to join the A to help get it off the ground and six franchises soon followed in succession. The A had the role of providing support to both franchisees and franchisors alike, and was much-needed to ensure all members followed certain guidelines and ethical business practice.


im’s entrepreneurial fl air didn’t stop there! ext month, we look at what other fi rsts came next! l


Seeing how


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