Jan Chidley explains how she’s gone from stay at home mum to a top female franchisee with Recognition Express, a leading provider of corporate recognition products
After over 28 years following my husband round the world with his job, in 2007 I decided it was time for me to do something I wanted to do - be my own boss.
I set up Recognition Express Hull and East Riding as a new territory. Five years on and I am one of the top performing female franchisees in the network. It has always been important to set my own goals, as well as work to the targets set by my franchisor. Year on year I have met and exceeded them all. In year one we turned over £50,000, which rose to £140,000 by year three, and we are on target to hit £180,000 this year.
Learn
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At 40 and a stay at home mum, there was much for me to learn as I entered the working world for the first time. It took courage and a great deal of organisation, but I’ve achieved everything I set out to do - and more.
I’d taken the decision early on that I wanted to take time out to raise our three children. But when twins Sam and Sophie were 16, the time felt right to focus on a career. As my husband Chris had been running the Driver Hire franchise for four years, I understood the concept of franchising and felt that buying a franchise would enable me to have the best of both worlds - a business of my own that was a proven model, which was supported be an experienced franchisor team.
I was introduced to Recognition Express at a franchise exhibition. I liked the product, while the high level of support provided was ideal for me. I wanted to keep work and home life separate, so chose to rent office premises that was halfway between home and school. When it came to office skills, I was like a dinosaur. I wasn’t computer literate and couldn’t even send an email. The children showed me the basics and from there I taught myself. Now I have most of my records on computer, but still keep a handwritten diary.
One of the first things all new Recognition Express franchisees have to do is ‘walk the territory’ - cold call on 350 customers in five days to gather names for a telemarketing campaign. The contacts I made still make up over 25 per cent of my existing customer base, which stands at over 450.
I got my first big order for £3,500 within two months. It helped spur me on and gave me confidence to go out and secure more business. Networking opened the door to my now biggest customer, health and safety giant Arco, but I was completely unprepared for the ordeal awaiting me. The meeting turned out to be a grilling from the entire marketing team. I had never felt so out of my comfort zone before, but it must have gone okay, as this company now gives me over £50,000 worth of business a year.
Establishing and maintaining good relationships with customers is key to my success. I have demonstrated that I deliver a high quality service and am a reliable and trustworthy supplier.
Focus
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Trading through a recession hasn’t been easy. Keeping a close eye on the sales figures and knowing where I want to be at any given time in the financial year helps me to maintain my focus, while continual contact with customers ensures it is my company’s name that is in the forefront of their mind when it comes to promotional goods and branded clothing.
Seeing me working hard is good for the children. From day one my family have been fully supportive. I learned a lot about running a business from my husband. We have a policy of ‘shutting the door’ on work when we get home, enabling us to focus on the family and each other.
Resting on my laurels is not an option for me or my franchisor. I have recently started outsourcing new business activity to a telesales specialist with great results. There’s always business to be had out there and I will continue to grow the franchise.
