John Heslop started his career as a mining engineering apprentice in the early 70s and worked his way up to senior position with British Coal by the 1980s. Hard work and study had given him a bright future in an industry that by then was going nowhere.

“My wife has a successful printing business and like a lot of people I knew I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore. Self-employment was the only way to do that, but I didn’t have a trade or a bright idea that was going to make my fortune so I started looking at franchising. I didn’t particularly want to retrain in a completely new industry so I started looking at some of the hydraulics and engineering franchises. What put me off those was they involved 24 hour callout. I had had enough of all that over the years and wanted something different.”

I started talking to Chemex in early 2000 and spent as much time as I could talking to existing franchisees. I was surprised at how open everyone was: they all believed in the product and the system, and they were always welcomed by their customers.” 

“I finally took the plunge in late 2000, working a virgin area with products I knew little about in an industry in which I was clueless, doing the one thing I had never done before. Selling. So much for sticking to an industry that I was familiar with. One thing I have always been good at is motivating myself and grafting. I set myself targets – fairly simple ones at first like ‘you’re not going home until you’ve sold something’, so I worked some long hours. You need to do that or you will fail.” 

“I really enjoy spending time with new franchisees. It reminds me of the learning curve I went through in the early days and I think it helps them to be with someone who’s been through the same pain. There is light at the end of the tunnel, though. I’ve worked hard and built a successful business that is still growing.” 

“I learnt the hard way that it is all about, planning, persistence and knocking doors. Lorraine was incredibly supportive. Now when I get potential or new franchisees spending a day with me, I ask them if they can spend six months working sixteen hours a day. When they say yes, I ask if they can then spend a further six months doing the same all over again, because if they can’t, they won’t make it. Although I know that the business works and they’ll get out what they put in, I think anyone getting in to franchising needs to know it isn’t an easy ride.”