Entrepreneur USA – September 2019

Franchisee

66 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / September 2019

Why did you want to

open your own business

back in 2000?

Being a first-generation immi-

grant has really pushed me to

accomplish as much as I can.

That’s how I saw myself when

I came to the U.S.: I have to

make it happen for myself. I

realized if I could incorporate

the business genes I inherited

from my grandmother with my

own pinch of creativity, I could

succeed in the sign industry.

Back then it was a male-

dominated field—fabrication,

welding, sewing—and people

said, “Are you out of your mind?

A woman can’t operate this.”

But graphic design was my

passion.

After almost 20 years in

business, why did you decide

to convert your operation

into a FastSigns franchise?

My husband and I were

exploring ways to expand our

business and attended a sign

convention, where we met the

FastSigns team. They had a

lot to offer—name reputation,

brand identity, continued

training. The beauty is that I

now have a support system for

every aspect of the job. If we’re

puzzled by anything, we just call

them, explain the situation, and

ask, “What do you suggest?”

Was any part of the transition

difficult?

Before, I had the luxury of run-

ning the business all by myself. I

could be selective about projects,

and I was a one-woman show. I

used to print, design, deal with

fabricators. When I became a

franchisee, I needed to work with

a team because of the additional

business that came in, and I had

to get out of my shell and collabo-

rate with others. But it’s amazing

and rewarding. We’ve hired three

young men we work with right

now, and it’s awesome. I feel like

I’m giving back to the community

by creating jobs.

Have your vendor partners and

operations changed?

As a small-business owner, doing

all the research and starting every

product from scratch was hard.

For example, we’re working on an

entire package of documents—

booklets, fliers, signs, and more—

for the College of Staten Island.

They called us and gave us the list

of items, and it was overwhelm-

ing for me to think about tackling

all these products. But because

I’m part of FastSigns now, I have

access to special vendors that

provide these services and offer

discounts to the company.

How did your existing customers

react to the change?

They were shocked. They asked

me why I was transitioning: “You

spent all these years to make a

name for yourself, and then you’re

just giving it up!” Their reactions

made me briefly reconsider. But

I feel confident in my decision;

being a franchisee has been exactly

what I was looking for. We’re

experiencing strong growth, an

increase of somewhere between

40 and 45 percent in terms of both

customers and sales revenue.

N

ikki Taheri grew up in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution

and was raised on tales of her trailblazing grandmother—a

six-foot-tall woman who chose to forgo a hijab and dressed as a

man in order to pursue a career in trade. Taheri never met her

grandmother, but she likes to think she inherited some of her

gumption. In 1993, as opportunity and education for women

seemed nonexistent in her home country, Taheri fled to the United

States, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, discovered a passion for

design, and eventually opened a sign-and-awning business in Bayonne,

N.J. Nearly two decades later, as business was thriving, Taheri made

yet another bold decision and converted her business into a franchised

location of FastSigns International in 2018. Joining a network of

700 locations may seem like an odd choice for a successful (and inde-

pendent) business owner, but so far, all signs point to success.