"I had previously spent 10 years owning a print centre and I had the expertise to set up independently if I had wanted, but I recognised that having the Prontaprint brand behind us was worth the investment. It gives your business extra gravitas and when you speak to multinational customers you can do so on an equal footing because they recognise you represent a quality high street brand."

Prior to being taken over by Paul, the Basingstoke centre had stopped growing, with its previous owner ready to retire. "The centre wasn't pushing its boundaries any more, so the first thing I did was change the culture here - we began to say 'yes' to everything and we became very customer focused," says Paul. "As a result we've earned a lot of referral business and have good customer retention, which has helped us increase the business by 50 per cent in 18 months. It helped taking over an existing business because we were able to generate cash from day one, and started with an established customer base, goodwill and order book."

Paul is looking to continue his business's upward curve, with estimated monthly turnover currently increasing by 50 per cent per month. "The location we find ourselves in has got huge potential," he reflects. "We have a number of blue chip clients and as we ramp up that side of the business we will need to establish a production unit, which may require opening up a second centre or relocating. There is enormous scope for growth."

"The advantage of taking over an existing re-sale opportunity is you have immediate cash flow," emphasises multi-centre franchisee Danny Sedgbeer, who has taken over two existing Prontaprint centres in Bishop's Stortford and Colchester. "When you have existing turnover you know how far away you are from break even."

Formerly a centre manager at a Prontaprint centre, when Danny decided to go into business for himself the Prontaprint franchise was the "obvious choice". After taking over the Bishop's Stortford centre three years ago, he has doubled turnover and recently invested in his second centre.

"The Bishop's Stortford centre had slowed down before I took over, so I concentrated on improving the customer service while my wife Anna pushed the sales," he explains. "The important thing was to get out there and let people know we were here, and that's what we're doing again now in Colchester. We're transferring some of our staff to the new centre, and Anna is also going across to build up the sales."

Confident of repeating their success with their second centre, the Sedgbeers are already looking beyond to centre number three: "Ideally we want to operate with one main centre with the big equipment," Danny explains. "Then have three or four other centres servicing clients face to face."

Prontaprint...the 'obvious choice'

A success for 35 years - Prontaprint is the largest and best known print-on-demand Franchise in Europe and the first print Business Superbrand.

So what's the secret of our success? A tried and tested business model? A range of high-quality services? Or an unrivalled business support team?

It's all of these plus one very special factor - our talented and ambitious Franchisees.

We're looking for talented individuals with a broad commercial background and experience in generating business-to-business sales and managing a team.

If you have the talent to shine, register your interest today...