Autosmart business owner, Josh Jillians talks about his first 2 years as a franchisee

Josh Jillians, Autosmart business owner joined the network of franchisees when he was just 24. Josh had an desk job in IT based in the City and was tired of the regular commute. He was on the look-out for a business opportunity close to home. Ideally, one that would combine his interest in cleaning and detailing cars, but also provide him with a good income.

He is now nearly 2 years into running his franchise in Maidstone and chats to us about this first major milestone.

“Taking on an established business from a franchisee of over 10 years was quite a daunting experience to begin with. The previous franchisee’s experience lay in the haulage industry and he had focussed mainly on this sector. It took me time to branch out into different areas, such as workshop, coach and bus companies and funeral directors.

“My biggest challenge at the start was thinking I needed to understanding of every single product in the 200 plus range and how to pitch the prices. By spending time talking to each of my customers about their cleaning requirements and gaining knowledge from them, my confidence grew.

“The 2019 conference was amazing and inspirational; to see other franchisees absolutely smash their targets and be rewarded for it has spurred me on for even more growth. I’ve also received 1st class support from my Regional Business Manager in helping me to oust out the competition in the area and finding and winning new customers.

“The first 18 months is a steep learning curve, but in learning something new every single day, I have reached a whole new level of confidence and ability which has now all clicked into place.

Big challenges faced

“Post lockdown, my sales are 95% of usual and there are definitely more opportunities out there than ever before. In the last month I’ve won new accounts with funeral directors and quarries. Rather than going in with a hard sell I am simply letting businesses know that I am open and available. The selling is made even easier when businesses find out that we also offer a hygiene range of products. Now that I have been through the lockdown once and seen how there is still demand for the cleaning and hygiene products, I am more than prepared for a second wave.

“Once my sales are back to pre-lockdown figures, I’m planning to take my business growth to the next level. Then I will reinvest my profits into a second showroom to help with national account deliveries. Freeing me up to grow my business to monthly sales of £30K and beyond.

“I joined Autosmart for their fantastic business model and world-class cleaning products. From my experience, if you do what the system tells you to do and follow the model you’ll be successful.”

Autosmart have other established franchise opportunities in the South East. Click here to find out more