Posted:13-January-2021
Life after retirement with Mr Electric
Mark had spent 20 years with BT before joining Mr Electric. He decided to take early retirement so that he could run his own company which was when he started looking for a franchise.
“I had known about the concept of franchising for quite a while and I found Mr Electric at a franchise show I attended. I did look at other concepts but Mr Electric are really the only electrical contracting franchise out there and have been for quite a while.”
Mr Electric is the biggest name in the sector. Since 1994, Mr Electric has established itself as the go-to outfit for all areas of electrical contracting – appealing to domestic and commercial customers.
“I’m an owner operator franchisee which means I own the business and also go out and do some of the electrical work myself. However, this is developing to a management franchise as I also have a team of electricians that I can send out to do the contracted work too. Usually my role involves going out and doing the quotes for the work that myself and my electricians will do but, when we’re really busy, I’ll go out and do more of the work myself too. I have four members of staff at the moment so, including me, there are five of us going out to do the work. We’re also in the process of recruiting more electricians as during our busiest times we’ve peaked at seven. The number of staff we have is dependent on the volume of the contracted work that we have coming in but the great thing about using this franchise system is that I can take time out of the day-to-day work to build the business like this.”
In the UK, Mr Electric is an established and much sought after brand, franchisees supply electricians for all aspects of commercial and domestic electrical servicing and maintenance work; from basic repairs to rewiring – through all manner of installations, upgrades, tests and inspections – right up to complete support services for large scale corporate accounts.
“I chose Mr Electric because I had wanted to run my own business but I didn’t know anything about running a small business despite having worked in the corporate world for a number of years. I knew that I would need the support that is offered by a franchise. If I had my own business I would have to invest in a Business Development Manager and employ someone and both of those things would have cost me more than I pay in franchise fees now.”
“The initial training I received from Mr Electric was very good. We spent time with the company secretary who ran through everything we needed to know about the business. We then had a week-long induction at head office which was all about how to run a small business. I’m in my tenth year of trading now so I don’t tend to need as much support but we do have a Franchise Support Manager. I also tend to turn to Nick Harold, another franchisee, for advice and support because I have a good relationship with him. He used to work within a support role and I like dealing with him so when I do need advice, I can always ask him. There’s always other franchisees to ask too. I’ve learnt just as much about owning a small business from other franchisees as I have from Mr Electric!”
“Owning a Mr Electric franchise has allowed my wife and I to make a good living out of the business. We have been able to afford the lifestyle we have always wanted. Our two sons are now both in the trade so we’re hoping to pass the business on to them when we retire in another nine years. The great thing about the business is, it’s based on a set model so it will be easy for them to follow when they take over. For the next nine years, our growth strategy is simple. We want to take on one new electrician and one new van each year. We’ve managed this so far so we’re confident that we can continue this success. Having more electricians doing the contracted work will mean that I will have more free time to build my business and find more electricians.”
