Q&A with Anthony Johnson – Franchisee for Hull, York and East Yorkshire

Anthony Johnson @ his 1st Anniversary with Stocktake UK

June 2024 marked Anthony’s first anniversary as our Stocktake UK Franchisee in Hull and East Yorkshire, and so we thought it would be good to catch-up and see how things have been going!

HQ – How would you rate your 1^st year’s business? Was it what you expected?

AJ – Head Office has been able to provide me with a level of business that has far exceeded my expectations. Financially it’s been excellent, and so I’ve not had to use the reserves I had set aside for day to day living. The only downside is that the travelling has been a little more than I wanted, but local sales leads are starting to come through and as my reputation grows, I am getting more recommendations from existing clients.

HQ – What was the main motivating factor behind purchasing your Franchise? And have you achieved this?

AJ – After years of working weekends and most public holidays, I was looking for better work life balance. The franchise has allowed me to continue working in the sector, but with less weekend work and the bonus of managing my own workload.

HQ – How’s the stocktaking been – any real challenges?

AJ – Having worked in the leisure and entertainment industry for over 30 years I was never worried about transitioning from running a business to helping others with theirs, and I’m happy to say that I was right! From day 1 I’ve been able to visit a business and quickly understand the issues my customers are facing, after all with 30 years’ experience I’ve seen most things!

It’s been very rewarding to revisit a site a month after identifying an issue and seeing my advice has been implemented and made a difference. Just the other day I revisited a site which had been suffering from excess wastage on their cask beers, and with just a few tweaks here and there I’ve been able to cut this dramatically for them, and overall GP% has increased by 2%!

HQ – That’s great to hear, so you didn’t have any worries after your initial training?

AJ – I wouldn’t say that! Whilst the initial training was thorough, it’s very intense, and I was quite daunted by everything at first. It was similar to when you first pass your driving test – the real learning starts when you go out on your own.

HQ – Going back to that initial training, was their anything that you were worried about when you started?

AJ – I’m not the most confident person with computers, and so was a little nervous about learning a brand new (to me) system. However I needn’t have worried, as the initial training was focused around learning how to use the Logonn system efficiently and accurately. I feel fortunate in that the office provided me with work straight away, and so I got to practice what I’d learnt straight away. Also because a lot of the training is doing “live” stocktakes, there were no issues taking what I’d learnt from the “classroom” into the “real world”.

HQ – Great, so the initial training works. However once you’d finished this, were you left on your own?

AJ – I’m in contact with the Head Office team most days (weekly at least), and their ongoing support has been excellent. I very much feel that they are with me and want me to succeed.

I’ve also been fortunate enough to work with a number of other franchisees, and they’ve also been really helpful, and an invaluable source of help. Everyone I’ve spoken to has been happy to help with any aspect of stocktaking and running my franchise.

HQ – We’ve had a number of new franchisees start after you. What advice would you give them?

AJ – Spend as much time as you can with other franchisees, you will gain knowledge from them, and they may also pass on work. Also take as much work from Head Office as you can, you benefit both financially and through the experience of working.

Also when it comes to looking after your customers, remember each one is different and will want a personal service. So get to know them and understand how you can best give them what they need.

HQ – Final couple of questions – If you could improve 1 thing with your franchise, what would it be? And would you recommend the franchise to a friend?

AJ – Ultimately I want to do less travelling. I’m getting there, and my local client base is building nicely. I recognise that really this is in my own hands, and it’s up to me to rely less on the support from Head Office and drive the way my business grows from here.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the franchise to anyone.

HQ – Thanks Anthony, that’s been a brilliant Q&A. It sounds as if you’ve really enjoyed your first year with us and we wish you the very best for the future.

Anthony is currently building his network on linkedin, please find him here – Anthony Johnson | LinkedIn.

For all those reading this and thinking that a Franchise might be the thing for you, please get in contact with Head Office to discuss further.