Following many years in a highly stressful working environment as a senior manager for various manufacturing corporates, Mark Jobling decided it was time for a change and, after a year spent travelling, invested some of his savings to become a franchise owner with the UK’s leading auto paintwork repair network – ChipsAway.
“I looked at various franchise opportunities, from coffee to business analysts, but I could clearly see that there was huge demand and market potential for the ChipsAway service – after all, pretty much everyone has a car,” comments Mark.
Having attended an open day at ChipsAway’s head office in the Midlands, it didn’t take long to make the decision, and in no time, Mark had completed the comprehensive training course and was out on the road!
“I’ve literally been busy from day one and only really just started to market my territory so I can grow the demand in line with my plans for the future,” Mark explains.
“Much of my work comes through word-of-mouth recommendation and even just 18 months in, I’ve got customers I’ve done repair work for three to four times! I find the ChipsAway brand gets me the leads and customer confidence, and I retain the work through quality of repair and service.”
Mark has a clear strategy for the growth of his business. In just five months he had made the transition into a fixed-base workshop, and his first employee completed training last week. The next phase will be to recruit another member to add to the team so Mark is able to concentrate his time on growing the business more effectively and enjoy the benefits of being his own boss, such as a few more holidays!
Mark concludes: “I’m really enjoying the flexibility being a ChipsAway franchise owner has given me and have no regrets about my move to self-employment. Don’t get me wrong – I am working really hard to grow my business – so there are still a few late nights, but it’s all ultimately for my benefit and not others. I’m far less stressed and I wouldn’t change it for the world!”