Derek Wilson has decided to franchise his door-to-door distribution business, Distribution Unlimited, throughout the UK.
If you like the idea of needing relatively little capital investment and working outdoors then this could be the opportunity for you.
So Derek, why franchise your business and why now?
Derek: I’ve been in business for 14 years and I am very much in my comfort zone. I started looking at the business and put out a number of marketing campaigns, including a Google advert campaign, which was very successful. Although it advertised our service as being in Edinburgh, we have been getting enquires from places like London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Harrogate almost on a weekly basis now.
There is a huge marketplace, so we started looking at how we could expand the business.
So there’s demand across the country for this service, not just in Edinburgh. What else will attract people to your franchise?
Derek: We have very good systems – ultimately it’s simple and we have taken the pain of the learning curve and applied best practice for our franchisees. There’s no legislation required, no training courses or skills required.
Most people applying will have no previous experience of running a business and we intend to support our franchisees and guide them in the right direction
So you don’t expect any prior experience of running a business?
Derek: No. My belief is that most people applying will have no previous experience of running a business and we intend to support our franchisees and guide them in the right direction. Obviously if you buy a carpet-fitting franchise, then you need to be a carpet-fitter to do that. With this, there’s no specific skill required.
So it’s low on skills, but what attributes does a franchisee need?
Derek: If you came to me and said “I need to hit the 50,000 biggest or most expensive houses in Edinburgh” I could do that, because we have the local knowledge and tools. But I couldn’t do that in London, Birmingham, or even in Glasgow – so I need people with local knowledge. We have a demographic mapping system, but area knowledge is key.
Franchisees must also be organised, strong, determined, and have some business acumen.
They don’t have to be the best salesperson in the world because we will support them in obtaining their initial leads and their start-up efforts until their confidence is flowing. But I do want someone that wants to better themselves and has drive and a willingness to succeed.
Is your business model robust enough for such a person to succeed?
Derek: I believe we’re the best out there. It’s not a glamorous industry but we’re proud of what we do and we charge the right price, giving value for money.
We will train franchisees how to foster good communications with clients. We like to keep clients updated by phone and follow-up with maps to show which areas we have covered.
Franchisees get access to the expertise we have built up and the system we have developed over the last 14 years. A key part of the package is our street database, which let’s our franchisees know exactly how many houses and businesses there are in every street in their territory. It works in conjunction with mapping software and our customer management system.
They basically get a ready-made, turnkey business. It is ultimately their own business, but we are there to support them at every stage - what to do, how to do it and when to do it. They’re buying into our experience.
