Steve Lamb has been running his InXpress franchise in Edinburgh since 2009. Having been made redundant, Steve and his wife were looking for a new opportunity that would provide a more secure future for their family. Having researched a number of opportunities, he found InXpress and now enjoys the benefits and rewards that being his own boss brings.
Steve explains: “We moved to Scotland in 2001 when I started working for Scottish & Newcastle. Prior to this, I’d held senior sales positions with both Pepsico and GlaxoSmithKline. After being made redundant, I wanted to avoid uprooting my family again to move back to England. I decided to look at my redundancy as an opportunity to secure and control my future by working for myself.
“I considered a number of options but felt that the InXpress model and nature of the business best suited both my own and my wife, Alison’s, existing skills and competencies. Alison had previously managed a telesales team for both a national and regional newspaper.”
Although Steve and Alison already had previous experience in sales, they still found that they benefitted from the training and support on offer at InXpress. All InXpress franchisees undertake a week of training to learn how the InXpress model works and the ins and outs of the business. The ongoing support provided to the network also helps to keep franchisees updated with new technology, systems and processes and helps them to regularly meet with other franchisees and to share ideas and best practice.
“For our training, we undertook a five-day sales and motivational course followed by a two-day software and administrational workshop,” confirms Steve. “In terms of ongoing support, we attend three regional meetings and a national conference annually. We also attend a sales conference once a year where relevant topical training is provided.”
As for daily life, Steve continues: “Typically, we start the day with a short briefing with our sales assistants, Gillian and Candice, during which we cover targets, new systems and processes, issues and opportunities. We all have our own individual objectives for the day with Gillian, Candice and Allison focused on managing our existing customer’s needs whilst looking to increase the breadth and depth of the business we do with them.
“My primary role is to secure new business so I’ll either be meeting with potential new clients or in the office cold calling.”
Starting any business can be a challenging time and a time to learn and face new skills and experiences. Steve’s business was no different but he found the back-up and support of the InXpress brand and team helped him to overcome them much more easily than if he had decided to go it alone.
“Owning a business has given us a degree of control of our own destiny and it has also given us financial freedom and a more secure future for our family. My advice to anyone looking into franchising would be to ensure that you have a robust business plan in place and ensure that you get experts to look at and critique it. This will help you to set-up and run your business successfully in the future.
“I would also recommend that you are someone who has a good work ethic, a ‘can-do’ attitude and are self-sufficient. Although you are part of a franchise and, to some extent, the work is done for you, you still have to work hard to make your business successful.”
And in coming years the husband and wife team have big plans. “For the future, we’re looking to purchase a franchise in the USA whilst still maintaining our current UK franchise. The UK franchise will either be managed by staff or our children once they have finished university.”
