Card Connection Franchisee Goes Platinum
Card Connection Franchisee Goes Platinum
Karen Humphrey joined Card Connection in 2006 and has since become the company's first sole female platinum franchisee. This means she now manages one of Card Connection's largest territories.
Originally the owners of a newsagent store in Derbyshire, Karen, husband Richard and their two children moved half-way across Britain specifically to take on the North Devon Card Connection franchise. "I was familiar with Card Connection's range of quality greetings cards as they were delivered to our shop in Derbyshire," explains Karen. "I loved the products and knew the Devon franchise had become available, so I visited the Card Connection head office for interviews. The Card Connection team spent time with me and explained exactly how the franchise works. Compared with other greeting card franchises I looked into, the staff had a good, common sense approach which I liked."
Although Karen is the franchise owner she stresses the every day tasks of running the greeting card distribution business are a real team effort. "I do most of the merchandising," explains Karen. "This involves visiting stores to deliver stock and ensuring displays always look fresh and up-to-date with seasonal items like Valentine's Day Cards or Mother's Day cards for example. However, Richard manages the essential back office processes which include keeping control of the accounts, ordering and stock selection, route management and packing. We also have a part time assistant who helps with stock delivery.
A typical day can involve visiting between three and fourteen retail stores – depending on their size and location - to deliver greetings cards and gift items like bottle bags, Heart Warmers or Card Connection's popular Flashing Badges. Stores vary from small independents, newsagents and supermarkets and Karen even merchandises for seven stores on the Butlins Holiday Resort at Minehead.
The Card Connection greeting cards and gifts are placed in retail outlets on a 'consignment' basis. This means the stock and display equipment are installed on free loan to the retailer. This is one step beyond 'sale or return' as Card Connection retail customers never have to buy the stock initially, only paying for what they sell, which has proved a particularly popular system over the years.
Keen to expand her business, in April 2009 Karen purchased a neighbouring Card Connection territory. Her area now extends from Hartland to Minehead in Somerset, through North Devon right through to the East side of Dorset.
Karen puts her success down largely to her; "previous experience as a retailer. This means I can see things from the customer's perspective. For example, space is always at a premium and with increasing concerns over health and safety, I can work with the retail managers to ensure the stock displays are optimised while considering maximum convenience for both the retailer and consumer alike.
"Being organised when it comes to route planning for deliveries is also important," she continues. "Now with the bigger territory, making sure all the retailers are merchandised efficiently on a regular basis is key.
"There are many things I like about being a Card Connection franchisee," concludes Karen. "The flexibility of self employment is a major advantage. I work hard but the hours are sensible compared with when we owned the newsagents! I am excited about the future and with the expansion of the territory am looking forward to capitalising on that investment over the next few years."
Pat Blake
In 2002 Pat Blake was working as a transport manager for Pizza Express in Uxbridge. However, after three years, the gruelling commute to and from Dublin each week finally led him to look for a different career. It was at this point he discovered Card Connection.
Card Connection is a greeting card publisher and the leading greeting card franchisor in the UK and Ireland. Its franchisees use a proven system to place quality greeting cards and gifts in retail outlets on a 'consignment' basis. This means the stock and display equipment are installed on free loan to the retailer. This is one step beyond 'sale or return' as Card Connection customers never have to buy the stock initially, only paying for what they sell.
Card Connection's award winning merchandising service provided to retailers by local franchisees has proved popular with retailers all over the UK and Ireland including Card Connection's key national accounts such as Barry's Of Mallow, Gala Retail Services, Mangans Wholesale, ADM/Londis and Musgrave/Daybreak.
Since start-up, Pat Blake's Card Connection greeting card franchise has gone from strength-to-strength. Recently he was able to purchase a further neighbouring Card Connection territory in order to double the size and profit of his growing business.
Pat now employs two merchandisers to distribute the greetings cards and gifts to retail outlets in North and South Dublin and Kildare. A further two packers assist the merchandisers prepare for delivery and a part time book keeper works on the accounts. In addition, Pat has just hired someone to focus on new business development to grow the number of outlets that Pat and his team can supply.
He puts his success down to his: "ability to always be thinking ahead and looking for new ways to develop his business." To a large extent this was a skill he developed in his previous role as a transport manager, managing a team of staff making between 300-400 wholesale product deliveries per week. However, Pat says: "The difference with the Card Connection franchise is that I am directly rewarded for all the effort I put in, because it's my business.
For Pat, the best part of the job is being in control of his own destiny. "I love the fact that I have full control over every aspect of the business and that the direction it takes is down to me. Working for myself means that my hard work is always rewarded, making it totally worthwhile.
"If I was to offer advice to someone who is thinking about buying a franchise it would be to choose a reputable franchisor that will provide you with the help and support you will need to grow your business. I would always recommend one that is a member of the British Franchise Association (bfa). Card Connection is a full member of both the bfa and the Irish Franchise Association so I know the company is bound to adhere to the best practices laid down in the bfa "Ethics to Franchising" guide which is really important.
"In addition, I would recommend looking into the finances carefully and choosing a franchise with potential to grow. No business can stand still so you will always need to think about the future, considering ways to expand your business. In this way, you will always be one step ahead of the competition and have fun at the same time.
"If only…….
John and Trish Andrew first though of venturing into some sort of franchise business in 1999 when John left his job as a Management Accountant and Trish was an Assistant Manager with the local 'Birthdays' retail card shop.
However having just bought a disused Welsh Methodist Chapel, which they had decided to convert to their home, they felt that to start in business then would have been one project too many so the idea was put on the back-burner.
As the chapel conversion progressed John worked four nights a week in a local supermarket to keep some money flowing into the family purse whilst leaving him three full days and four part days as a do-it-yourself builder. By mid 2001, with the work almost complete, thoughts of their own business with the advantages of a franchisor's backing began to return.
Conscious that they were in their late fifties the choice of the right franchise was of paramount importance so the first step was to obtain a copy of the British Franchise Association's guide and study the advice it contained.
Basically, that advice was firstly to look at all the fields of business in which franchises were on offer, then having selected the field in which they wanted to operate, look at all the franchisors operating in that field before choosing the one to purchase.
John sums up: -
"Our decision to opt for greeting cards was reached based on four reasons –
- The product itself is regularly in demand by everyone and not subject to volatile changes in public taste.
- There was no need to acquire premises to carry on the business, thereby removing the problem of finding the right location.
- There was no need to employ staff to run it, so removing another possible source of problems.
- Tricia's love of cards would add impetus to our efforts to set up our own business.
Once we had chosen our preferred area of operation we contacted all the franchisors narrowing this down to a short-list of three. After many meetings and visits we felt that Card Connection was the one which would suit us best.
However we wanted to be sure that we were doing the right thing so to that end we decided that before making a final commitment we should visit the National Franchise Exhibition some six weeks later to look at any other possibilities. Happy that we had reached the right decision we went ahead and took on the franchise for North Wales in November 2002".
Trish admitted to a certain amount of trepidation. "As we were taking on Card Connection's last remaining 'Virgin' territory there were only 40 existing customers so initially I stayed in my existing job until the business built up. We hoped that this could be achieved by September 2003 when I would come into the business full time. In the event the business gained ground faster than anticipated and by April 2003 I was able to give up my job and concentrate fully on the business."
With their three sons now independent of Mum and Dad, John and Trish don't have any problems devoting themselves to the business and are thoroughly enjoying the experience.
John says: -
"We have been tremendously encouraged by the fact that everyone at Card Connection is so friendly and helpful and this makes us feel more enthusiastic and acts as a great boost to our confidence.
Obviously any new business requires hard work, but so far we feel that things are very much going according to plan and the rewards make the effort worthwhile. My main hobby is horse racing and I also own a share in a race horse.
By organising my schedule, which often means working extra beforehand, I am usually able to take a day off to go to the races when our horse runs. That is something I could not have done previously, and I regard this freedom to organise our lives as we would wish to be one of the greatest benefits we have had so far."
Inevitably John and Trish's success has made them think "if only we had gone ahead in 1999".
But then as we all know hindsight is a wonderful thing!
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