Hayley established her business in 2001 and has never looked back. Prior to setting up DOR-2-DOR Hayley worked in travel marketing. Here Hayley talks to us about her experiences, what she has learnt and her secrets for success.

So, how did you hear about the DOR2DOR franchise?

“I wanted to go into business so I was looking through the Franchise Association Book. I sent off for information packs for businesses that caught my eye, and DOR-2-DOR was one of those.

What attracted you to DOR2DOR?

“Though I had concerns about the marketing literature I liked the concept and I could see it was a growing market. There was a need for the service. Acting on a suggestion from my business advisor, I telephoned some local companies to ask them if they would support such a business. The response was positive. Using my marketing background I researched locally and at the time there was no other company providing a similar service. The low cost of the outlay also helped. I had a set amount to invest and DOR-2-DOR was affordable, carried low risk and looked as if it could be a fun business to run. Plus I was attracted to the fact that it was in its infancy, there was scope for flexibility from the franchisor.”

How has your employment background helped you in your new business?

“I was naïve when I first started out in business; unscrupulous people see you coming and can damage your reputation. My marketing background meant I was comfortable when going out to talk to people and fairly confident with the media and planning campaigns. My experience with database marketing and responsibility for customer retention in my previous role stood me in good stead for creating and maximising databases as powerful marketing tools for my own business.”

Describe your first six months …

“Very dizzy! There were no computer systems then and everything was manually based. I ran the business from home for 6 months and took on a driver at 3 months. My turnover steadily increased month on month and I celebrated by taking on a distribution manager at 7 months. I bought a card box system for my records and dropped leaflets to notify potential customers of our existence. Very soon I started using a computer database. I wrote to people to introduce the company, and I found this very effective. Since then I have continued to write to my customers whenever I have something newsworthy to say or to celebrate. It gives the feel-good factor and has warmed local people to the company. . Networking helped to build the company's reputation. I don't just distribute leaflets but have delivered magazines, booklets and newspapers. I have even hired and driven a small lorry so that we, the company could deliver green bags for the Council. From humble beginnings the company has grown to deliver on average four leaflets to 60,000 households a week, making a total of 750,000 drops a month. We have 95 deliverers, four full-time staff and several part-time, plus a NVQ trainee. All this has been achieved as a result of hard work by all the team and by building brilliant client relationships.

And the future is….?

We now have a broad spectrum of clients; from Councils to Community Magazines, and every business you can think of we want to focus on building up our core business, which is DOR-2-DOR. We are proud of what we have achieved but in some ways we have grown too fast. When we expanded our territory we found it was difficult to operate profitably, and we could not find capable sales people to work the new areas or suitable staff to manage them. My secrets for success are:
·Keep plugging away. (When the going gets tough, don't give up), ·Safeguard your reputation. It is the most valuable asset you own.
Show appreciation towards your deliverers. Involve them where possible and give them feedback.