£100,000 turnover in sight for record-breaking franchise owner

\"I like the fact that the harder I work now, the bigger the financial rewards will be in the future!\"

With head office securing good national account contracts for him alongside his own marketing initiatives within the Wakefield territory, Revive! Auto Innovations franchise owner Phil Allan is on target for a £100,000 annual turnover. He also holds the company record for the most number of sales invoiced in one day - with a job that totalled £1,600 plus VAT.

"Before I joined Revive! I worked as an office manager," explains Phil. "I had wanted to change careers for sometime, but could not find anything that paid as well. I decided to look into working for myself, as I would be in control of the hours I worked and my salary. Investing in a franchise was the logical choice, because I would have access to a working business model and ongoing support. SMART repair (small to medium area repair technique) franchise Revive! Auto Innovations stood out because it had the ongoing support I was looking for and I got on well with the head office team."

Established in 1994, Revive! has a comprehensive training, support and promotional package to ensure its franchise owners have the skills and tools to build a successful franchise. Initially all franchise owners attend a five-week training course, which covers all aspects of operation from repairing the paintwork to business strategies and administration.

The promotional package includes marketing materials such as Yellow Pages advertising, a branded marquee and quotation pads to telesales campaigns targeting local car dealers. Head office provides ongoing telephone support to franchise owners and takes care of payroll, accounts and debt collecting. This gives franchise owners more time to focus on finding new business and repairing vehicle paintwork.

"I have found the telemarketing campaigns really useful," continues Phil. "When I launched my franchise in March 2006 I found it difficult to canvass my territory, so Revive! stepped in and conducted two successful campaigns with local car dealers. Since then, head office has forwarded through national account work on a monthly basis, which equates to more than the management service fee!

"The £1,600 national account job was for a local builder's merchant and my business partner, Andy and I completed it in 12 hours. Masonry paint had blown onto eight cars and so our role was to machine polish all of the cars and remove the paint from the windows and trims. This specialist work attracted a premium rate of £200 per car.

"Although I work long hours, I do enjoy being my own boss. I like the fact that the harder I work now, the bigger the financial rewards will be in the future! The benefit of becoming a franchise owner is that you feel part of a big team and you are never completely out there on your own."

Interview by Jess Sturman