Andrew McGarvy
With over 20 years experience in the Office Systems and Financial Services industries, I decided I wanted to start up an executive search business in this area. I had a lot of experience in recruitment but I felt that I didn’t have the expertise required to set up my own search business from scratch. I decided that the best way to do this was to look at setting up a franchise where I would be given all the support I needed but would still be running my own business, as part of a larger organisation. I made various enquiries, talking to headhunters I already knew and exploring the possible franchise opportunities.
Attending the Franchise Exhibition in Glasgow was a great help, I talked to various companies and took away a huge amount of literature produced by both the BFA and the companies attending the exhibition. It was here that I read a "real life"" article about one of the UK MRINetwork businesses and I was immediately impressed, so contacted them directly.
I was invited to the office to meet the team and also had the opportunity to observe a training session which was being run for UK owners. What I saw here was an extremely professional and motivated group of people and the training was superb. Seeing this "live" session was invaluable as I was able to talk one-on-one to the various franchise owners and get a real feel for the business and its people. This openness, combined with what I had read and seen, convinced me to join.
I attended a three week induction in Windsor which was the most important three weeks I have had! The training answered all of my questions, gave me a real insight into the methodology and essentially, it gave me all of the tools that I needed. I finally opened my franchise in January 2000 and since then we have had some outstanding times, but we have also had our growing problems.
Typical challenges we have faced include hiring the right staff, selecting the right clients and being ready and adaptable to changing market conditions. We had to overcome a downturn in our chosen industry and we learned to cope with it through winning new clients and developing other business areas.
The training and support I have received from MRINework was outstanding from the start and it continues to be so. The advice I would give to someone considering buying a franchise is be ready for a lot of hard work from day one; you are now the employer and you have to make it happen! If you have an idea of what you might like to do, make sure that it’s something that excites you and is something you really want to do. Do your research, take your time and talk to existing franchisees so you can see things first hand. If you buy a franchise, then embrace the whole process.
Franchises are successful because they have proven processes, so buy totally into the franchisor and their proven methods. Also make sure that you have adequate capital - you are building a new business from scratch and you will need to be prudent, especially so in the early days. This is a long term relationship, so make sure that the franchisor's people are your kind of people. And lastly, remember to enjoy it and have fun!
