Case Study - Roger Hetherington

Roger Hetherington became Business Plan Services’ first franchise partner when he completed his extensive training programme just before Christmas 2011.  Having spent a long career as a senior manager with Business Link in the East of England, BPS’ model of a business support franchise looked a perfect fit.  Roger tells the story of what happened next:

“I made contact with BPS and held a couple of in-depth meetings with their senior managers.  I was immediately impressed by their professionalism and they were looking to build a partnership with me, rather than simply sell me a territory.

They were as keen as I was that all the due diligence should be done thoroughly and gave me the names of a number of specialist franchise lawyers so I could get the best possible advice.  That gave me a lot of confidence.

My own experience meant that I already knew that there was a market for BPS’ services, so my main concern was that the training and ongoing support would be of a high standard.  I spent a lot of time with them going over those issues and how we would launch my business.  There had clearly been a lot of thought and planning put into this area and I was soon convinced that BPS could deliver.  I signed my franchise agreement and embarked on the training programme.

All the training was conducted by BPS’ Managing Director, Jane Khedair herself – you cannot get better treatment than that.  It was a very intensive three-week programme in London, and there were times when it was very challenging.  But as things fell into place I realised that I had been really well prepared to face the business world of Cambridge.  It was excellent.

The training covered the company’s products and systems in depth, but a lot of the focus was on developing the marketing and launch plans that would ensure that I hit the ground running.  I don’t think that I could have had better preparation.”

Roger opened for business on January 3rd 2012 and got off to the best possible start. In parallel with his training, BPS had been busy putting together the comprehensive launch programme.  Amongst many other things this included a launch event later in the month, a media campaign and an optimised BPS Cambridge website.  It paid immediate dividends.

“On my second day I picked up a lead through my website for £5k of business, had my first serious client meeting on day three and my first proposal out in my first week.  The launch activity certainly seems to have worked.  It augurs well for a great future”