Franchise Owner Profiles

Meet Wayne Coley....The Fisherman!

Wayne Coley

A Day in the Life of a provender® Franchise Owner- Vol. 2    provender® not only provides you with your very own vending franchise business, it provides you with the opportunity and flexibility to create the lifestyle that suits you. Affordable upfront fees, great return on investment, easy to run and grow, no staff management, flexible work hours. Own your own mobile vending franchise business. Meet Wayne Coley ...  The Fisherman! "I like to swim, fish, take long walks and relax among other things. As a Franchise Owner I am able to enjoy these activities." Q. How long have you been a provender® Franchise Owner? A. 9 years    Q. What appeals to you about this particular vending franchise business? A. Steph and Phillip Horrocks at provender® have created a family atmosphere for us. They care about the team at large and it is definitely not just about the money. Ever since I have joined the team at provender® my lifestyle has changed and I am able to spend more time with my family and friends. I start work when it suits me and finish when I like provided I have completed the work I planned to for the day. There are many aspects of provender® that has grown on me over the years but overall I really enjoy my job.   Q. What is it like running a mobile franchise business? A. It's fantastic. Working in an office can get extremely mundane; this allows me to get out instead of facing the same office environment daily. I am also able to complete things from home. I set myself goals on a daily basis and meet them which helps me keep my days interesting. This type of business allows me to meet new people, which is great for social and networking purposes.    Q. Was there a lot of work initially? A. Initially there was more work involved because that was the period when I was learning about provender®. It would have been a lot more work if provender® had not assisted me to the extent that they did. In order to keep my franchise business pumping over there is still work involved but not anything exhausting.    Q. Has your workload increased or decreased? A. It's neither really. As a Franchise Owner I always think that I worked harder the previous year, but in actual fact it's just that one becomes smarter and more street wise. For example I had 130 machines at 90 sites and realised that in order to be more productive at my current sites I need to decrease the number of machines I service. Therefore I now own 105 machines; it's the same workload just a smarter approach. I am able to give my machines more attention and therefore drive in more sales. Q. Is it a difficult business to manage? A. No, it's all very basic. provender® does their best to keep us on the right path when it comes to managing our business. I find keeping my mind active helps me keep track of my businesses progress. Since joining provender® I do not have to manage staff. Before becoming a Franchise Owner I managed more than 40 staff members which was a difficult and exhausting task. To keep my Franchise Business interesting I set myself goals which I aspire to meet.    Q. How do you plan to grow your vending franchise business further? A. There is more than one way of growing your business with provender®. You can increase the number of sites you place your machines at or make the most of your existing sites.  Personally I feel that instead of concentrating on the 90 sites I currently have provender® machines at I want to focus on 60 sites, offering them all the full provender® service which includes - snack centre, coffee vending and drinks vending machines. The idea of focusing my attention on existing clients is because it is easier to sign them up to new machines as they already have an existing relationship with me and trust the provender® brand. There is a lot of opportunity within our existing clients, we just have to look for it and capitalise on it. Q. Does being in the franchising business offer you flexibility or is that just a myth? A. It is definitely not a myth. provender® has changed my lifestyle and my current flexible working hours allows me to start and finish work when it suits my personal schedule. This Franchise Business gives me the chance to spend my weekends with my family. Q. Where do you find the time to do non-work related activities? Do you get time? A. Being a Franchise Owner for the last 9 years with provender® has given me the opportunity to live the lifestyle I desire. I do not work weekends and finish work early on week days which means that I don't miss out on much with my family anymore. I enjoy taking long walks, swimming, fishing and relaxing which are all things I am now able to do. Q. Explain how the flexibility offered to you by your franchise business has changed your lifestyle? A. provender® has not only offered me a flexible franchise option that has also changed my lifestyle making me a more flexible person. I was in the service industry even before joining provender® but was on call 24 hours, 7 days a week. As a Franchise Owner I work my own hours and allocate time to myself, family and friends. I do not have to manage and control staff members which can be very stressful. provender® has given me the chance to enjoy my work. Q. What are some things you are able to do with your spare time now, that you were not able to do prior to becoming a franchise business owner? A. I like to swim, fish, take long walks and relax among other things. As a Franchise Owner I am able to enjoy these activities. Q. What benefits does a home-based franchise offer you? A. As a home-based franchise I have the advantage of finishing work earlier and doing the data entry from the comfort of my home. I no longer have to worry about rental costs for an office or stable location. My costs overall have decreased. Q. Is the process of obtaining your vending machine products difficult or time consuming? A. NoÖ it is a very simple process. If I wasn't with provender® then it would be difficult to shop around for supplies. This way I pre-order directly from provender® and have the goods delivered to my doorstep.    Q. What is your favourite vending machine and why? A. Wurlitzer (combo) - all my customers love the products in this machine which in turn drives more sales in for my business. Q. What made you choose franchising as a career option? A. I was looking for a change in lifestyle from the busy life that I was leading. I reviewed a few options but provender® appealed to me the most. It fits in place with the lifestyle I desire, one where I am able to make time for myself and my family. The provender® concept provides me with a passive income which mean I don't have to be there to encourage sales and am paid upfront for the products with no invoicing required. This is great from a cash flow point of view because I don't have to wait for payment. Q. Are you happy with your franchise business choice? A. Yes, very much so. That's why I'm still with provender® and have no intention of leaving. Q. How does the franchise business differ or compare to your past jobs or career paths? A. Working with provender® as a Franchise Owner has proven to be a far less stressful occupation. The service business I worked with prior to joining provender® was very competitive with too much pressure placed on the employees. I don't miss that at all. provender® can be stimulating if you set goals for yourself and strive to accomplish them. The lifestyle with provender® is completely different to any other company I have worked with.  Q. Tell us who your favourite customer is and why they are your favourite? A. Data Mail - they consistently give me good feedback which helps me to provide them with the products they like. This in turn increases my business. They are also very friendly and will stop for a quick chat which always leaves a positive feeling. Q. Describe your average weekend since you've become a franchise owner? A. Since becoming a Franchise Owner I has been able to spend more time with my wife and family. We go away on impulse because I have the luxury of taking my weekends off by choice and don't have to go through the hassle of getting other staff members to cover me. I love to fish, swim and take walks. I have an outing with provender® which is one that I enjoy and prefer not to miss. provender® creates this great tight knit family environment that is wonderful to be part of. Most of all I am able to relax on my weekends. Q. Do you feel the need to hire employees to help run your vending franchise business? A. No. If I go away then I have a trained friend to help me out, but that occurs very rarely. With my workload and current long term plans to change the way my business is growing, I don't feel the need to employ any staff members. In the future if it becomes too much for me to handle and starts to affect my much enjoyed lifestyle, I will definitely take someone on board. Q. Is there any advice you would like to give to potential Franchise Owners? A. provender® helps you at any point in your career that you need them. Remember though that it is a two way street and we as Franchise Owners should be trying to improve franchising as a business. A lot of people join provender® who have not worked for themselves before and end up relying too much on provender®. They do support you but in order for you to find success it is up to you as an individual to put in the effort. If things don't work as you had hoped it is not the fault of the franchisor (provender®). If you put in the work, you will reap its rewards. Having said all that provender® does help you find success!  Create your own lifestyle like Wayne Coley. Join New Zealand's No. 1 Vending Franchise. 

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Meet Wayne Coley....The Fisherman!

Meet Calleigh Baker ......The Social Bug!

Calleigh Baker

A Day in the Life of a provender® Franchise Owner- Vol. 3  provender® not only provides you with your very own vending franchise business, it provides you with the opportunity and flexibility to create the lifestyle that suits you. "Affordable upfront fees, great return on investment, easy to run and grow, no staff management, flexible work hours. Own your own mobile vending franchise business." Meet Calliegh Baker ...  The Social Bug! "I have made some fantastic friends through provender® and have the time to go out with them." Q. How long have you been a provender® Franchise Owner? A. 3 years    Q. What appeals to you about this particular vending franchise business? A. The aspect of this vending franchise business that appeals to me the most is the flexibility it offers me. This really suits my lifestyle as I have 3 kids under the age of 5 who are at times sick and cannot go into school and my husband works shifts. I can spend that time working from home and catching up on all my paper work. I can track my machine content knowing that I can always make up for my day the following day. provender® has a fantastic support network which I appreciate very much. They help me out with things like designating suppliers that are well known to them therefore I can count on them to be reliable. provender® also has its own warehouse in Auckland. Q. What is it like running a mobile franchise business? A. Visiting many sites means I am constantly meeting new people giving me the chance to increase my network. Through word of mouth from networking I have had companies come to me for business.     Q. Was there a lot of work initially? A. Not really. I bought off a well established Franchise Owner who had 86 sites. The first week was busy because I had to go out and service all the sites. provender® helped me into a routine and its been very comfortable since.    Q. Has your workload increased or decreased?  A. After working on the 86 sites I gradually increased it to 133 sites. All it takes is planning and good management to be able to handle it. provender® taught me how to manage my time between visiting sites and doing the paper work at home. provender®'s online tracking system made the increase in sites I own possible. Also I am able to plan out my days. It is not possible to visit every site daily but with their system I know which machines at which sites needs restocking. Q. Is a vending franchise business difficult to manage? A. Not really. My time management skills have also come from having 3 children. provender®'s online tracking system helps me to plan out my days. I find that although having a business sense is not essential it does help me with my decision making process. The vending franchise business still requires you to be alert and make wise choices for the successful progression and growth of your business.    Q. How do you plan to grow your vending franchise business further? A. I have only lately picked up 6 sites which has put me in a comfortable position of 133 sites. As a Franchise Owner I believe that I do not need to expand my business much more at the moment. A lot of my business has come to me through referrals (word of mouth) and leads from provender®. Working with provender® has changed my lifestyle. In the future I am looking to expand the coffee vending side of my business.   Q. Does being in the franchising business offer you flexibility or is that just a myth? A. It does offer me flexibility. I only work 4 days a week leaving me time to relax, spend time with my family and do things for myself that I normally wasn't able to. Q. Where do you find the time to do non-work related activities? Do you get time? A. I am able to take 3 day weekends without letting my business suffer at all because I am able to track the products in my machines with provender®'s online tracking system. If they are low on products then my husband or I do a quick run to fill it. Q. Explain how the flexibility offered to you by your vending franchise business has changed your lifestyle? A. Working with provender® has changed my lifestyle dramatically. I always know that if I need to take time off for my kids I can without thinking twice about it because it's my own business. My husband is able to fill in for me at times. I have made some fantastic friends through provender® and have the time to go out with them. My health is good as I am much fitter due to the nature of my work.  Q. What are some things you are able to do with your spare time now, that you were not able to do prior to becoming a franchise business owner? A. I am able to make plans with friends and family. I go shopping not just for the house but also for myself. Also I don't miss any of the important functions that my children have on at school. Q. What benefits does a home-based franchise offer you? A. provender® allows me to earn a wage without being stuck in the four walls of an office. It is financially beneficial for my family. It is flexible and being home-based means that I can still work from home when I need too. For someone like myself working from home allows me to stay organised. Q. Is the process of obtaining your vending machine products difficult or time consuming? A. Not at all. Through provender® we have nominated suppliers which mean I don't waste any time trying to source suppliers and hope that they are going to be reliable. With my current suppliers I go online and fill up a shopping cart with all the goods that I require then most of my suppliers deliver it straight to my doorstep saving me a lot of hassle. I only have 4-5 suppliers referred from provender® who provide me with fantastic service.    Q. What is your favourite vending machine and why? A. Crane - this machine is nice and easy to run (programme) and fill. It has a large variety of products which keeps my clients happy. Q. What made you choose franchising as a career option? A. My primary reason for choosing provender® was the flexibility it could offer me. Having 3 kids less than 5 years of age made it an important factor in my working life. I was also aware that I could work from home therefore would be able to spend more time with my family. My husband does shift work so one of us needed to be flexible with our work hours. provender® is also a well known company and brand therefore a safer business to invest in.  Q. Are you happy with your vending franchise business choice? A. Yes I am. It has turned out to be all that I expected. provender® delivers on their promises.   Q. How does the vending franchise business differ or compare to your past jobs or career paths? A. In my previous job I worked in an office environment from 8am - 5pm, 5 days a week. There I felt very couped up and always missed the great weather in summer. Now as a Franchise Owner I am out in the sun, constantly meeting new people and making friends. Working outdoor is like a dream which provender® has given me. There are also no ranks and I love working for myself. Q. Tell us who your favourite customer is and why they are your favourite? A. CTC Aviation - they are very easy to please and friendly guys. I find that I actually end up spending a lot more time there than I need to just for a friendly chat. Q. Describe your average weekend since you've become a franchise owner? A. Since I've become a Franchise Owner I have time to relax and do house work regularly. On Sundays we have our family day when we go to the pools and for walks. The kids love to get outdoors. Q. Do you feel the need to hire employees to help run your vending franchise business? A. No. I have been very smart with my choices and have not taken on any more work than I can handle. There has been a couple of occasions when I hired someone part time, but that was when I was going away on a holiday with my family. Q. Is there any advice you would like to give to potential Franchise Owners? A. provender® is very supportive and will provide you with all the help that you require. You won't even have to find most of your own sites. provender® also provides you with manuals for business development purposes, it's a complete guide to grow your business and manage your existing ones. Give it a shot. Besides we're all a fun bunch and you'll make lots of friends.  Create your own lifestyle like Calliegh Baker. Join New Zealand's No. 1 Vending Franchise.

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Meet Calleigh Baker ......The Social Bug!

Meet Deborah Williams ... The Mum!

Deborah Williams

A Day in the Life of a provender® Franchise Owner- Vol. 4   provender® not only provides you with your very own vending franchise business, it provides you with the opportunity and flexibility to create the lifestyle that suits you. Affordable upfront fees, great return on investment, easy to run and grow, no staff management, flexible work hours. Own your own mobile vending franchise business. Meet Deborah Williams... The Mum! "I don't work weekends giving me time to take my kids to their sports activities and by working with provender® I am also able to make time to help out at their schools."    Q. How long have you been a provender® Franchise Owner? A. 17 years Q. What appeals to you about this particular vending franchise business? A. Having been with provender® for so many years I have built great relationships with both provender® and my clients. As a Franchise Owners I thoroughly enjoy the customer contact on a daily basis. It is because of this communication that I have so many long term and loyal customers which is very important for ëHonour Vending' to be successful. provender® offers a level of flexibility which makes it possible for me to spend time with my children and be apart of their school activities for example working in their school canteen on occasion. Q. Was there a lot of work initially? A. Yes I thought that there was a lot of work involved back then. I had never run a business prior to provender® therefore this was a challenging learning curve for me; getting use to doing taxes, book work etc. We worked our way up from nothing. Having said that provender® is well established now and offers more assistance than they could many years ago. Franchise Owners today can buy fully established businesses. It is not as difficult now as it was 17 years ago. Q. Has your workload increased or decreased? A. Personally my workload has increased as I don't employ staff anymore. I can handle my workload since my kids have grown and they don't demand as much attention anymore. Our product range has also increased and this is due to provender®'s growth as a franchise company. Q. Is a vending franchise business difficult to manage? A. No. Experience has definitely helped. provender® provides me with assistance wherever I need it. Q. How do you plan to grow your vending franchise business further? A. There is a lot of potential for new business with existing clients by offering them a wider range of provender®'s services. I only have one vending machine. Honour Refreshment makes up 99.9% of my business. I therefore have a great potential to expand into the vending machine sector. My existing clients refer my business to their contacts. I have not needed to cold call for many years. Q. Does being in the franchising business offer you flexibility or is that just a myth? A. Yes it does. The flexibility I get as a Franchise Owner gives me the chance to be part of all that is important to me in life. But you must not take advantage of the flexibility. In order to make your business work you need to remain focussed. Q. Where do you find the time to do non-work related activities? Do you get time? A. I don't work weekends giving me time to take my kids to their sports activities and by working with provender® I am also able to make time to help out at their schools. I am also able to do more reading. Q. Explain how the flexibility offered to you by your franchise business has changed your lifestyle? A. provender® doesn't have a strict corporate business like structure which was the lifestyle I came from. I am not tied to office hours and enjoy the flexibility and responsibility of starting and finishing work when it suits me. Because of this I am always home when my kids are. I enjoy working outdoors in the fresh air and believe it has had a positive affect on me staying fit and healthy. Meeting new people has made life more interesting as I am always up for a chat. I find that if a client upsets me it doesn't stay with me like it would in a corporate environment because by the time I move onto the next site I have cooled down and the change of environment and people changes how I feel. I had considered going back to my corporate lifestyle but very quickly changed my mind. Q. What are some things you are able to do with your spare time now that you were not able to do prior to becoming a franchise business owner? A. If I had not changed from my corporate lifestyle to becoming a Franchise Owner with provender® I would not have been able to be as involved in my kids life with school and sporting activities and also making time to work in their school canteen. Q. What benefits does a home-based franchise business offer you? A. I am a very family orientated person therefore just being able to be with my family is important and a big benefit. When my kids are home, I'm home. I can catch up on paper work and other aspects of my business from home but at least I am still at home with my family. I have been able to help my kids with their homework whenever needed which I have enjoyed over the years too. Q. Is the process of obtaining products for your vending machine difficult or time consuming? A. No. provender® has a very efficient ordering system in place which is easy to use. The delivery arrives at my doorstep easily and quickly despite the fact that I am in the South Island and the products come from Auckland. We don't have to be concerned with sourcing suppliers because provender® has them in place for their Franchise Owners. Q. What made you choose franchising as a career option? A. provender®'s concept appealed to me and my husband. It was a job I thought I could do bearing in mind that it would be a challenge. Knowing provender® would provide support via their business development managers as opposed to starting a separate business was very comforting. It is evident to me that provender® has grown and evolved a great deal and therefore won't fail. Q. Are you happy with your franchise business choice? A. Yes. provender® looks after me and my business which inturn looks after my family. We have our moments but this working lifestyle works best for me. Things always balance out. I meet lots of new people on the job which is ideal for an extraverted person like me who loves a great chat. Every time I think of leaving to take up something new I stay. Q. How does the franchise business differ or compare to your past jobs or career paths? A. I was an Insurance Broker in my previous position where I had to work long hours and spend time away from my family which I had no control over. Now I am far more independent and have control over the hours that I work. provender® offers an unstructured working environment that gives me flexibility to make room for the other important things in my life. My work is my own choice and I know that if I choose not to work seriously I will have to suffer the consequences but on the other hand will reap great rewards if I put in the extra effort. As a Franchise Owner you can determine your level of success. Q. Tell us who your favourite customer is and why they are your favourite? A. School Support. The staff members are very lovely and honest people which are very important qualities when you have refreshment centres (snack boxes). Q. Describe your average weekend as Franchise Owner? A. Being family orientated I spend most of my weekend with my family. My kids have sports which is a big part of our weekends. Then there's housework and relaxing with a book. We also make time to catching up with friends and family.  Q. Do you feel the need to employ someone to help run your vending franchise business? A. No. I am almost at the point where I could employ someone but won't. I prefer the hands on approach and having contact with my clients to build and maintain a good relationship. Employees don't always go that extra mile that you do being the owner of the business. Contact with customers is very important because depending on how you communicate with them and the type of relationship you develop this can determine the success of your business. I ask them what they prefer to have as their snacks and tailor my refreshment centres (snack boxes) to this which increases my profits. Q. Is there any advice you would like to give to potential Franchise Owners? A. Don't give up. Be friendly and be prepared to work for success, it gets easier and it works. I am proof that it works and you will enjoy it. Use all the help that you need.    Create your own lifestyle like Deborah Williams. Join New Zealand's No. 1 Vending Franchise.

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Meet Deborah Williams ... The Mum!