Bright future for award-winning ChipsAway franchisee

A franchisee since November 2010, Ryan Lythe is ChipsAway’s Newcomer of the Year

It’s been a busy few years for Ryan Lythe since he joined ChipsAway. In just under two years he has launched and expanded his business, taken on an employee and won the ChipsAway ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award for his enterprise.

“When you first think about leaving the security of employment to start your own business, obviously a big question in your mind is whether there will be enough work for you to pay the mortgage and cover the bills,” Ryan reflects. “If someone had told me that within months I’d have no financial worries and would actually be looking to expand I’d never have believed it.”

Unhappy
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Ryan turned to franchising after he became increasingly unhappy with his lifestyle working in the construction industry. Tired of long hours, work was making him miserable, until one day he was asked to help with spraying one of the diggers.

“I absolutely loved it,” he recalls. “I considered going back to college to retrain, but decided I simply couldn’t afford not to work. Then I spotted an advertisement for ChipsAway and it seemed to offer the perfect opportunity for me. Accordingly, I arranged to attend an open day and in the meantime read everything I could lay my hands on about the ChipsAway franchise. It all seemed great - almost too good to be true - but everything ChipsAway promised has turned out to be spot on.”

Since a very successful launch weekend, in which he generated estimates worth £10,000 and took sufficient firm bookings to guarantee his first two weeks of work, Ryan has been continually busy, with his diary filling up at least a couple of weeks ahead. As a result, he has taken on an employee, Charlie, to help him manage his ever increasing diary.

“There is enough business coming in that both of us could work six days a week and we still wouldn’t run out of work,” says Ryan. “Having someone working for me now has made a world of difference; previously potential customers were having to wait for me to finish the repair I was doing before I could visit them to provide an estimate. Now my time has been freed up sufficiently to enable me to handle all customers’ estimates, while my employee carries on with the job in hand. This has meant more work booked in and more jobs completed, which in turn means more money.”

Ryan says he’s holding back on local advertising until he’s ready to cope with the further influx of new business it will certainly bring. He adds he has enjoyed excellent support, not only from the franchisor and his business mentor, but also from neighbouring franchisees, who are ready to offer advice and practical assistance whenever he needs it.

To top all this, Ryan was recognised as ChipsAway’s Newcomer of the Year at the franchise’s annual awards ceremony, a role that has inspired him to go on and become a business mentor, enabling him to share his expertise with other franchisees.

“Winning the award was a humbling experience for me,” Ryan confirms.

“Having someone recognise your hard work and achievements really inspires you to keep going. The support you get from head office is amazing.”

Confident
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In the long term Ryan plans on expanding into a new territory, taking on a CarCare Centre (a fixed base workshop) and a fleet of mobile ChipsAway vans, so he and his team can process even more repairs. Whatever he does, Ryan is confident that ChipsAway will be behind him every step of the way.

“I’m not at all nervous about investing in a CarCare Centre or another employee, as I know that if I follow the business model and rely on ChipsAway’s continued support I can easily grow my business,” he says. “I can’t believe I’ve come so far so quickly - I wouldn’t change my lifestyle now for anything in the world. For the first time ever I look forward to going to work, my days fly by and I get paid every day by delighted customers for doing a job that I love.”

ChipsAway is the leading brand in mobile automotive paintwork repairs, fixing minor damage such as scratches, bumper scuffs and kerbed alloys within a matter of hours and at a fraction of the cost of traditional body shop repair methods. Established over 18 years, ChipsAway has over 300 specialists in successful operation across the UK and a network of master franchisors worldwide.