Case Study - Carole and Martin Roberts
Martin Roberts, former CEO of a worldwide transportation company, and his wife Carole have been Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees for almost nine years, during which time their business has grown significantly. Based at their Plymouth store, they serve a large area of the West Country.
“In fact, we are the only Mail Boxes Etc. store in Devon and Cornwall. We are now well known for the specialist pack and ship service we have developed for the auction houses and art galleries throughout the two counties. This area of our business has trebled in recent years,” Carole explained.
It’s a far cry from their former life when they had lived and worked in countries all over the world, from Europe to USA and from Africa to the Middle East. Martin was European Director for an American business based in the USA when he was offered the CEO job based in the UK.
They moved back home but it did not take long for the previous relentless pattern to emerge. Martin describes it as: “Planes, hotels, offices, M25, repeated over and over again.”
“It began to pall and I really felt I didn’t want to do it anymore. One hotel is like another, so are offices, no matter where you are in the world. We wanted to escape from the corporate rat race and the frustrations of the M25. We’d also reached a point when we wanted to control our own destiny a little more. We loved the West Country so we packed up and moved down to Plymouth, to be near the sea and Dartmoor,” Martin explained.
When the Roberts started thinking about a business of their own, they were attracted to MBE, a company they already knew from living in America. “We were advised to use them in preference to the US post office because they provided a great all round service. We were so impressed we thought we might like to be part of it some day,” Carole said.
“Having run businesses in the past, it wasn’t difficult for us to understand the value of branding, identity and corporate muscle in ensuring the right cost. Therefore the franchise licence fee and on-going contribution were acceptable overheads,” Carole and Martin commented.
Now in their ninth year of business and still working harmoniously together, the Roberts attribute their successful relationship to deciding from the beginning that each should have separate areas of responsibility.
Carole said: “We do work very well together, as a team, because we both know what we have to do. Our most recent year end results demonstrate how effective this approach has been since our turnover has increased eight-fold.”
Martin commented: “The overall growth of the business has been good and we are particularly pleased about packing and shipping, where we feel we can really add value. It is very interesting and enjoyable as well as lucrative. People sometimes come in thinking we’re an art gallery when we have as many of 60 or 70 pictures in here at one time.”
They added: “We are continuing to work hard but really enjoy what we do, confident that we are building a saleable asset to sell on for our retirement. Neither of us would ever want to work for anyone else or rejoin the rat race again.”
“And Martin definitely doesn’t miss the M25!”, Carole summed up
