Derek Allsop

Having worked his entire professional career of 30 years in the technological side of the media/ broadcasting industry, the past 14 years of which were spent in Australia, Derek Allsop knew that when he returned home to the UK in June 2010, he wanted to do something completely different. Exactly what he had still to decide, but two diverse avenues immediately sprung to mind.

Initially degree educated with a BSc (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the early years of Derek's career were spent in a variety of engineering and lower management roles in the UK. In 1996, Derek was head-hunted to take on the role of Chief Technology Officer in a SME in Adelaide, Australia. From there Derek moved to Sydney, and over the intervening 11 years held several senior management and executive roles in large public and private sectors organisations. In 2005, Derek decided to complement the general business knowledge and skills he was attaining by enrolling in a part-time MBA, and in 2009 graduated with distinction.

Therefore, regardless of which avenue Derek would decide to take, the final decision would need to tick a number of boxes. The most important box was that the role would continue to develop Derek's business and leadership skills and allow him to put into practice as much as possible of the knowledge acquired from his MBA program.

One avenue Derek explored was to seek a job with an employer in an allied industry to the one he had been working in for the past 30 years or even a completely new industry. Whilst, at the same time, exploring his more favoured avenue - setting up his own company.

When it comes to settling up your own company, research undertaken by the Nat West Bank in 2009 had shown that 80-90% of business based on a franchise arrangement were still trading and profitable after 3 years of operation, which was in remarkable contrast to the 80-90% of self-start businesses (not based on a franchise arrangement) that failed within the first 3 years. Armed with this knowledge, Derek decided to explore what executive management (or white collar) franchise opportunities were available, and ended-up selecting three on which to conduct full due diligence. While each of these franchises had their individual strengths, it was the latest franchise offering from Jani-King that ticked all of Derek's boxes.

In addition to Jani-King's extremely well refined on-line management system that gives a franchisee the freedom and time to manage their own business and turn it into extremely profitable asset, it also had the further attraction for Derek, that from day one the company would need staff, and with staff the company would need a structure. All too many franchises are one person operations - and that was certainly not what Derek was looking for.

However, as Derek explains "to be able to employ staff and acquire equipment you need revenue but to obtain revenue you need staff and equipment, it is the proverbial chicken or egg? This is where the new Salary Guarantee scheme is a winner". Under the Salary Guarantee scheme the franchisee purchases from the outset a minimum amount of monthly revenue from Jani-King. In the first year or so, while the franchisee's business is still growing, any shortfall in revenue from the guaranteed minimum is compensated on a monthly basis by a direct payment by Jani-King of 10%. So in Derek's case he receives an income of £4,400 per month from month 2 under the scheme. "It is this extra payment that enables one to break the proverbial loop and have sufficient income to put in place the right structure to take on new business at very short notice - thereby gaining a competitive edge over the competition - that finally made me decide that a Jani-King franchise was for me" states Allsop.