Penny has worked in the Greeting Card Industry for 20 years, some of which was in her home country of South Africa. She moved to England where she was employed by Card Connection as a Regional Sales Manager and spent 5 years managing 11 franchisees of her own. So impressed was she by the business model that she set herself a 5-year plan to invest in her own Card Connection franchise.
Penny’s husband, Colin, comes from a BBC security background but found the awkward shift patterns interfering with him having a quality family life. With Penny as his new wife, and a daughter from a previous relationship living far away in Scotland, he was struggling to maintain the work life balance that he craved.
An opportunity arose for Colin to work with the Card Connection franchisee for Reading, whose territory just happened to be on the market. Colin was able to experience the day-to-day workings of the franchise, to see if it was something he would like to do. He took to it like a duck to water, immediately seeing the benefits of a better work life balance it could offer. He could now spend quality time with his daughter Sam, who visits them regularly during school holidays, while also being able to spend evenings with Penny.
Within 8 months Penny and Colin took the plunge and bought the Reading territory, going from being employees with a fixed income to franchisees directly rewarded for the efforts they put into the business. They initially worked the business from their rented residential property, converting the single garage to a stock room.
Relationships & Service
Maintaining excellent relationships with their customers is paramount to both Penny and Colin and they can quite often be seen on the road together, working as a team. Usually new franchisees would expect to see a slight decline in turnover during their first year especially as this is a period of getting to know customers and the seasonal effects on their operations, however, all of Penny’s card experience really paid dividends. This, plus the relationships Colin had already built with the store owners previously meant they managed to grow the business by 2% in the first year.
The fact that Penny had been an employee for Card Connection gives her a unique insight and perspective, allowing her to provide invaluable feedback from the field about the products and customers, what works for them and what doesn’t. This has benefited Card Connection’s head office, who value her knowledge, experiences and opinions.
Year 2 saw no let-up by Penny & Colin, grabbing the prize as regional winners for the highest gift bags and gift wrap sales, all helping them ending the year with an overall 4% growth in their business and being runners up for the coveted Franchisee of the Year, Regional Winner Award 2019.
This all coincided with Penny having health problems, meaning she needed to lose weight. Working in the franchise was far more physical than her previous role, but with a strict diet regime she was able lose a massive 8 stone. Franchising is good for your health! Penny’s now able to work more effectively and has much more energy.
Unforeseen Challenges
Penny and Colin set themselves a 2-year target to buy their own home, never on the agenda previously when both were employed. The start of third year of franchising saw further sales growth but then the Covid Pandemic hit the world in March 2020. Their business literally ground to a halt overnight, and as like many others did, they furloughed as per Government guidelines.
Fortunately, it quickly became apparent that the public’s demand for greeting cards as a means to keep connected with loved ones they couldn’t see during lockdown, was enormous. No initially being able to go out and merchandise, this industrious couple managed to post stock out to some customers desperate to refill the empty card displays, and as soon as restrictions allowed, they worked relentlessly 7 days a week to keep up with the demand. Unprecedented sales followed, ending their 3rd year with a massive 15% growth in turnover.
Now in their 4th year of running the business, lockdown extensions pushed their half year results to show a fantastic 17% growth. With June almost upon them they picked up Card Connection’s award for Regional Franchisees of the Year 2021. This was particularly impressive, given the strong sales across the whole of the Card Connection network that meant they were up against some stiff competition.
Although their franchise is very demanding, they have loved every minute of watching their hard work pay off, not just with increased turnover, but also the satisfaction of a job well done. The cherry on top of the cake is they have said goodbye to wasted money of a rental property, and purchased their very first home, immediately investing in a bespoke garden unit, specifically designed to be their perfect warehouse.
The short walk from the home they own and love, to the purpose-built office and warehouse of the successful business they’ve helped together to grow, is a daily reminder of the fantastic work/life balance they have achieved. Running the business has meant they have been able to spend more quality time together; regularly taking date nights visiting new restaurants. They’ve even been able to return to South Africa on holiday, taking Sam with them to meet family she’s not been able to meet before.
Summing up their Card Connection journey, Penny says, “In short, this business has provided us with a steady income, the ability to buy own home and have amazing work life balance. What more could we ask for?”
