FDS’s help has proved invaluable

Tony Bowman, Managing Director of etyres, explains how Franchise Development Services has helped his business expand successfully since 1995

After three years of trading profitably, our Fleet Mobile Tyres business was well established and ready to be franchised. Finding the right consultant to help us franchise our business was crucial, I interviewed several leading consultancy firms before deciding on Franchise Development Services (FDS), who we met at The National Franchise Exhibition in Birmingham NEC. FDS was by far the most superior in terms of knowledge and experience.

We started franchising the business in 1995 under the guidance of FDS Franchise Consultant Paul Hague. He was extremely helpful, and during the first year Paul ensured everything was in place from finalising the parameters of the business and defining the territories, to the legal agreements, operation and training manuals.

With Paul's help we were able to develop the business into a management franchise instead of a man in a van business. We identified 105 franchise territories within the UK, which were large enough to accommodate four to five mobile tyre-fitting vans. In 1997 we started to feature our business on the web and consequently re-branded the business to etyres to co-ordinate with its new online presence.

We are very happy with our working relationship with FDS – Paul's help has proved invaluable and without his input I feel we would not be the successful business that we are today!

Other members of FDS have helped us with our recruitment and by providing words of wisdom. At present, we have a successful arrangement with FDS where we pay by result. FDS forward potential franchise owners intermittently to us. If we choose to recruit them, FDS gets paid for making a successful match. This has proved very successful!

We will continue to seek advice from FDS on the development of our business and would recommend its publication The Franchise Magazine and its website to other franchisors. This is because serious prospective investors use these mediums to find their ideal franchise opportunities.

etyres is looking to recruit hard working, customer focused franchise owners with good communication skills. While a practical background and experience within the motor trade would be beneficial it is not essential as full training is provided. Regarding available capital, we at etyres are very fortunate that the banks look favourably on our business model especially during the current economic climate. Some of our recent franchise owners have been able to obtain 100 per cent loans to pay for the franchise fee from the banks and I think this says a lot about the kind of solid business etyres has built with the help of FDS.