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Bacup based TalkFirst
has taken on its second franchisee just a year after
completing the franchising development process.
The company was set up
by husband and wife team Julie and Matt Ryder in
April 2006 and now has franchisees in Lancashire and
Wiltshire.
The pair already had a
successful business HearFirst, offering disability
awareness training, when they decided to launch
TalkFirst.
But Julie, who has been
deaf since the age of 21, spotted an opportunity for
developing baby signing when she had her children,
Alfie and Annie (now nine and seven), and was able
to use signing to communicate with them even before
they had started to talk.
So she and Matt worked
to develop Dexter, the baby signing jester, and the
concept behind TalkFirst was born.
“We knew we wanted to
launch the baby signing class, but HearFirst was a
full time commitment for both of us,” said Matt.
“So we set up a pilot
project with a member of our staff and our bank
recommended FDS North to help us create a
business model we could franchise.”
The couple worked with
FDS director Tony Urwin to develop the franchise
offer, beginning with creating the manual, a process
which Matt said was invaluable.
“When you run your own
business you don’t realise how much information you
have scribbled on a piece of paper or kept in your
head,” he said.
“But Tony helped us
gather that knowledge together and made us realise
everything we did would have to be repeated by
someone else.
“The whole process
demonstrated why it is better working with an expert
than trying to do it by yourself – from developing
the manual to putting together the contracts.
“Tony and his team made
it easy for us – and our investment in him is now
delivering results for us.”
“Matt and Julie knew
they had a good product and recognised their
commitment to their existing business meant they
couldn’t grow TalkFirst through traditional
methods,” said Tony.
“But they invested in
the franchising process and now have a robust
product which they are on the way to launching
nationally. I wish them the best of luck.”
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Franchise Consultants based in the North West
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