Meet Dave and Dawn
Berkshire Franchisee
Dave and Dawn have grown their business steadily every year and have big plans for the future.
What did you do before joining the Christmas Decorators?
I was largely employed in the IT industry, initially as a Service Technician but mainly as a Service Manager working in companies from all sizes from SME’s to large corporates.
Dawn has been office based throughout her career as a secretarial/legal assistant so the freedom, flexibility and variety of visiting different clients and sites is an added bonus.
What made you choose The Christmas Decorators Franchise?
There were 4 main elements that attracted us to The Christmas Decorators
- The opportunity to create a business that we could run jointly.
- A business we could initially start without ceasing our regular day jobs allowing us to mitigate financial risk.
- Fulfilling a long-term plan to create a lifestyle business that allowed us to spend more time together and travel more.
- The model and opportunities presented a chance to provide a more secure future, financial position for our retirement and for the benefit of our children.
How useful did you find the initial training?
One of the initial concerns was our lack of experience in creating anything of this nature. The initial training allowed us to realise that this was not a barrier to success. It provided confidence and the basic tools to create luxury installations for our clients.
What kind of support have you received from the head office team?
Support has been varied and of course depends on the individual and their own strengths. We have been supported with several large installations and national accounts that helped launch and grow our business, but also the technical advice has been invaluable in helping us find solutions to challenges.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the business?
We are in a business that is generally a ‘feel good’ industry. Creating designs and solutions for clients who invariably are delighted and very grateful for our services is a lovely feeling. In addition, we would have to say the network of franchisees. We all have a great bond, support each other and have enjoyable social gatherings and we have formed some strong new lifelong friendships.
What advice would you have for anyone thinking of taking on a territory?
Talk to existing franchisees! There is no substitute for hearing it from the horse’s mouth but be sure to know what questions you require answering.
Also, if you are looking at this opportunity between November and beginning of January, you should look around high wealth residential estates, high streets, shopping centres, bars/restaurants and you will see just how much opportunity there is.