Case Studies

Franchise case study - Bill Tompkins

My original career began about 38 years ago with BT.  I then joined Lloyds TSB for 23 years, as an IT engineer, working my way up through the ranks to Data Engineering Manager, before moving to a Senior Project Manager position. I managed the £60m p.a. Data Networks Outsourcing contract with BT for Nat West before joining a security software development start up company with 5 other people.  We increased the company to 55 people over 5 years before selling it to an American company wanting our product.  After that, my wife and I questioned why should youngsters have all the fun? So we decided to go travelling for 6 months - we had a great time, except when we got back to the UK the recession had kicked in and there were no jobs.

After 6 months looking for work I decided I should do some part time wedding photography for friends and relations and researched courses on the internet.  This was to be a way of me having some fun rather than a career change at this point.  At the same time I had started to look at franchises as a way forward and the fact that Barrett & Coe offered a franchise became more interesting.

I looked in depth at the breath of the syllabus, which covered much more than just the photography.  Of equal importance to me was the marketing and business side, both of which were given extensive time. I liked the fact that the course was 7 days spread over a few months, giving time for homework.  To get the most out of the course you had to put lots of energy in, but this was well rewarded with great tutoring from Andrew and Brian - they are not easy on you but I would not have wanted it any other way

Having signed up for the wedding course I came up for an initial franchise chat with Andrew. Instead of attempting to sell the franchise to me it felt more like a job interview with me having to convince him I was good enough to take the franchise.  I found this very reassuring.  I was also given access an existing franchisee to see how the business really worked - nothing was off limits in the discussion and all my questions were answered.  Talking it through with Andrew we agreed that I would be the first of the new Fast Track franchisees and I signed the contract in late June 2009. So, I ended up taking two courses, sorting out premises, and learning all the basic building blocks of the franchise before opening a fully branded studio on 5 October - all in 3 hectic months.

I'm now nine months in and have had some great highs; the first order, a big order and winning the Baby of the Month in the first month!  But it is hard work.  I found the marketing side much harder to master than the photography, but I'm slowly beginning to turn this round with some good support from Elaine and the rest of the team.  And I'm still learning in a big way; the structure group days with Barrett & Coe, during each shoot and with each attempt at marketing. So the big question - have I any regrets at taking the franchise?  Absolutely not - it can be very difficult at times, but the feeling you get from producing a stunning image is amazing and far outweighs any downside.

And a tip for new franchisees - get in the tissues for your viewings because the mums love their baby photos so much they cry!