When Fahad Yusaf invested in a CeX franchise last year as his first business venture, he anticipated a steep learning curve, but with the robust support of both the franchisor and his friend: a fellow CeX owner, the success he has seen in the last few months has been no surprise.
He comments: “In the last few months, our store has grown from strength to strength. We are constantly increasing our customer base: people are coming into the shopping centre just because of CeX being present! This has been great for us, and as we drive our business forward our buys have increased quite significantly allowing us to have a wider range of products in store. Our LFLs have also been extremely positive and this is a great sign for the business to carry on striving forward and excel in the coming future.”
Getting to this strong position has been the result of much hard work, aligned with the solid framework of the CeX franchise model. Fahad has quickly learnt the many day-to-day operations that make up store-ownership, and enjoyed the challenge of being responsible for his staff’s wellbeing and watching them progress.
He refers to CeX’s team as being “like a family”, where everybody from each department, from IT to pricing, works together closely to ensure the strongest possible performance, and describes this relationship as being an important motivating factor in driving forward the brand. “The ongoing guidance and support is what enables us to carry on striving forward and hit our targets,” he says. “The help from my franchise manager Brian Gregory has also been brilliant and invaluable throughout the whole process.”
Particularly impressive to Fahad was the openness and honesty of CeX’s approach to franchising, and the fact that despite being a large, market-leading brand, its owners are open to the input of all its franchise owners, enabling the business to grow and develop as a team.He explains: “Going into a franchise and investing a huge amount of money is always daunting, however CeX has been both assuring and unequivocal in all aspects from the start, there is nothing hidden from you and you have all the necessary tools to drive the business forward readily available. Being part of such a big brand I was also pleasantly surprised to see that everyone is open to suggestions and ideas, and as a franchise owner, I found this to be a great thing as everyone is there to aid in the growth of your business and guide you to make it the best it can be.”
With Fahad’s Dagenham store performing strongly and comfortably meeting its year-one targets, his thoughts inevitably turn to the future, and buoyed by the success of his initial investment, he is already looking at other locations with a view to opening his second store in the coming months, something which CeX actively encourages.
Fahad has no hesitation in recommending that others invest in a CeX franchise, and believes that with the support in place, determination, motivation and hard work are sure to lead to positive results and financial reward in a growing industry.
He concludes: “I have always wanted to be a business owner and be in the position to drive it forward; being part of CeX has allowed me to do so. I enjoy what I do and seeing the store evolve from the first day it opened until now has been an incredible journey.”