STARTING A BUSINESS
FROM SCRATCH ISN’T
SOMETHING I’VE DONE
BEFORE, SO THAT’S
WHY I WENT FOR A
FRANCHISE”
up for me any more. I decided to
look into something similar to
Sainsbury’s and I liken Countrywide
Signs to that role a lot - it’s all about
customer service, a multi-van
business, managing people.
“That’s the stage I want to get
to, expanding into more vans and
bringing in a team. At the moment
it’s just me in the van, so I’m doing
everything.”
That’s the kind of culture change
that would be tough for many to
swallow, but despite his young age
Liam’s already displaying a rare
maturity in his approach to his new
business.
He says: “It’s going to be me for
probably the first 12 months or so
before I take someone on, but that
way I learn the job inside out as well.
“I always like to know what the
people working for me are facing.
Every job I asked of someone I had
either done or been trained to do,
so I could help those people out. It’s
the same now, I need to be able to
drive the van and put up the signs,
not just employ people to do it. I’m
transferring what I’ve learned in my
career.”
RESEARCHING FRANCHISES
That attitude is typical of the way
Liam approaches things, highlighted
by the lengths he went to in his
research.
He says: “I spent about a year and
a half researching franchises, as I
wanted to be sure I found the right
thing. I looked at everything from
investing £300,000 in a pizza outlet
to a few hundred pounds making
cards from home - there’s such a
broad spectrum. But this is where
I landed, because of my previous
experience and how relevant it is.
“I wanted to know the scope of
my local market. So as part of my
research I rang 150 estate agents and
asked them how their service was.
The average score out of 10 was six,
so I knew there was a lot of room for
improvement.
“The internet can only tell you so
much, so speaking with the people
that have the service was the best
way to gauge how the competitors
were doing in my area.
“I know I can serve customers to
the highest of standards, I’ve been
Visit http://www.countrywidesigns.co.uk
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signs.com.INFORMATION
doing it for the last seven years, so I
knew I could take that and succeed in
this sector.”
Liam credits his analytical mind
to his career skills: “I think that
experience comes from managing
multiple departments. A bakery or
produce manager is very different
to groceries or checkouts. There’s
always a process to figure out. Look
at the steps to move forwards by
building the right foundations. That
means when you get to a certain
point, those foundations don’t
crumble.”FORWARD THINKING
As for the future, Liam’s plans are
unsurprisingly ambitious. His aim?
“Expanding,” he says.
“In my first month I didn’t push to
take on extra clients, just using the
base provided by head office. If I’m
going to walk into a client and say: ‘I
can provide you with the best service
you’ve ever had’, I need to believe in
what I’m saying because they won’t
believe in me if I don’t.
“For me to be able to make that
statement to potential clients, I’m
making sure with the work I have at
the moment that I’m delivering the
best service they’ve seen in the area.
When I’ve got the foundations right,
when I walk in and tell them that I
can give them the best service, it’s
the truth.”Does he feel being younger is a
hindrance? Not even a little
“I was managing a team of people
when I was 18 and I’ve always enjoyed
it,” Liam says. “I think it suits my
outlook and how I approach things. I
was seen as someone who would get
things done and get things moving. It’s
how good you are that counts.”
Liam’s certainly getting things
moving now. But did he think about
going it alone?
“I don’t have any of the systems that
Countrywide have,” Liam says. “If I
wanted to start my own sign erection
business, I’d be walking into an agent
with nothing backing me up.
“It would have been a lot harder to try
and start without the name, the brand
recognition. When I spoke to the agents
I called, I mentioned that Countrywide
Signs were coming to the area, and they
said: ‘Excellent’.
“They’d already heard of us. It’s the
support network I required. Starting a
business from scratch isn’t something
I’ve done before, so that’s why I went for
a franchise.”