Couples in Franchising Canada The Original Poster Company

Both Jane and myself worked for a small manufacturing company for 14 years. I was production director and Jane was responsible for the manufacturing department. The Company closed and we were made redundant. We saw a distribution company as an ideal opportunity to run our own business with the product already established in the marketplace, with the reassurance that we would have the support and backup from the Original Poster Company.

We investigated the company as much as possible, which included talking to other distributors within the company. We liked the product and felt confident we could offer an excellent service to the customer.

We compiled a business plan with the help of OPC and were able to fund this venture through our redundancy money and committing a lump sum from our savings.

The Original Poster Company gave us thorough training and excellent support from day one. The initial training took place at Head Office and has been followed up by excellent ongoing support at a level decided between the company and us.

The early challenges we faced were taking that first giant step of setting up our own business. Planning what we wanted to achieve on a daily basis and then disciplining ourselves to carry out the plans, especially difficult on days where things were not working out the way we anticipated.

We have now been running the business for just over 3 years. In the first month of trading we sold 1,500 cards, now we sell in excess of 10,000 cards per month and still increasing.

Our future plan is to grow the business as much as possible and create a sound business that will give us good profits and financial security in the future. We both want to continue having a great time running our own franchise. Every day is a challenge when running your own Company but the rewards and satisfaction come when you see it developing.

Jane & Martin Tillsley - OPC Birmingham/Coventry