Case Study - Rob and Georgina Douthwaite

People come into franchising from many different career backgrounds. Former Army Captain, Rob Douthwaite, who owns a thriving Granite Transformations franchise on the south coast, served a full 22-year engagement with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, ending as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. After travelling for a year, then helping to set up an online betting exchange with a fellow Duke of Wellington officer, he decided to branch out on his own with then girlfriend, now wife, Georgina.

Setting up their own home stimulated an interest in kitchen and bathroom décor, while extensive product training and assisting countless customers with their interior designs have given Rob and Georgina a thorough grounding in the home improvement business. So much so that they have built up a thriving operation covering two franchise territories, in Southampton and Bournemouth, and latterly won an award for achieving sales 150% over target.

With its unique capacity to fit directly on top of existing surfaces, eliminating costly and messy demolition, the core Granite Transformations product virtually sells itself, they say, and now there is an additional revenue stream in the form of replacement kitchen doors, for complete remodelling projects. It’s all quite a change from army life and Rob has no regrets whatsoever about opting for the franchise route.

“With a franchise, you get to be your own boss, but with the benefit of an organisation that knows exactly how the business works and provides expert support in all the key areas,” he says.

Apart from choosing to settle in Hampshire, they were open to new ideas and explored various business options, before somewhat reluctantly agreeing to attend a Granite Transformations franchise seminar.

“We went along to the presentation, feeling pretty sceptical, but quickly realised it was an attractive package, with a great set of products, processes and systems. So Georgina and I set up our own showroom in Lymington seven years ago and within a month we were married — and business partners.” `Neither partner had any particular sales and marketing experience nor any great interest in interior design, but Rob’s army career and Georgina’s as an Executive Assistant equipped them with suitable management and operational skills.

“Military people have massively transferrable skill sets, in areas like leadership, project management, administration, training and logistics. While Georgina’s experience of working with high value entrepreneurs contributed complementary business know-how,” says Rob.

“Besides, in areas like marketing and sales, where we need specialist support, Rocksolid Granit offers all the necessary expertise and makes the right management tools available to us.”