One of CeX’s latest franchise owners, former Sales and Marketing Manager Armun Jahromi, had always dreamed owning his own business, and believed he had he business experience to make the store in Hinckley, Leicestershire, work.
Like many individuals who have made this important life-choice, the process of making the dream a reality is made much less daunting by the backing of a proven business model, which allows the potential franchise owner to go it alone, but not by themselves, and remove some of the uncertainty.
Armun comments: “The business model will be tried and tested and therefore has a higher chance of success. Setting up a business from scratch has a very high-risk. Being my own boss, my destiny is in my own hands.”
In choosing a franchise, he sought an established brand with a good reputation, something that he could really believe in. As a satisfied former customer of CeX, he knew that the brand’s ambitions and approach matched his own.
He explains: “Initially, I was going to sell my phone, and CeX provided the best quote. At the time I didn’t know CeX was franchising, but I liked the business model. I came across CeX franchising online while looking at other franchises.”
Armum liked what he saw online from the CeX franchise and was convinced to go to the next stage by contacting existing franchise owners to gain first-hand accounts of the experience and advice of becoming an owner. What he found particularly impressive was the rate at which several of these franchise owners had been able to grow their CeX empires and expand with additional stores.
Importantly, they also had nothing but praise for the level of support received from the CeX franchise team, as well as the overall “family feel” of the whole operation.
Training as a CeX franchise owner is famous for being comprehensive, at some 500 hours, leaving the new investors confident in their ability to manage all aspects of running their own business. The 500 hours is split equally between sales assistant training, and supervisor/management training plus time spent in existing franchise stores.
Armum was particularly pleased with the professionalism and attitude of the trainers, and the fact that they displayed they really cared about getting the new investors happy and prepared.
Of course, support does not end with training, and it is good for franchise owners to know that they can access guidance further down the line and feel part of the decisions taken that will affect the business.
Armum comments: “Right from the start, corporate have stayed with me throughout, and I have never felt left out of the loop. Starting a new business for the first time is scary, but the fact that they showed how much they care about the success of my store made this process less stressful and more relaxing.”
Knowing a franchise will be profitable is, of course, is as important as any other aspect of the choice, and Armum is pleased with the projected year-one profits for his particular CeX store, of £600,000.
The experience of becoming a CeX franchise owner has then, lived up to his high expectations, so much so that Armum is already planning for the expansion of his CeX business into multiple stores, and even better performance from the Hinckley branch.
To conclude, Armum had a few words of advice for those considering the same path, and making the same leap into ownership of a CeX franchise. He comments: “To succeed with CeX, you need to have the dedication and passion for the products we sell, and not be afraid of facing new challenges.”