We talk to Marcos Kallou, who became the franchisee for Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire in June 2006. An experienced business owner, Marcos’ first contact with DOR-2-DOR was as a customer to market his business. He found it added to the success of Heritage, his will-writing business. Now Marcos is utilizing his business network to provide a professional service for other local companies. Here, Marcos talks to us about what skills you need to run your own business, and why he is supremely sales focused...

So, how did you hear about the franchise?

“I heard about it through Jeff first-hand, through the business group that we both attend”.

What attracted you to DOR2DOR?

“At one of our meetings, Jeff did a presentation which showed how easy the franchise was to operate. I was distributing leaflets for my will writing business and saw it primarily as a route to market and a good logistical investment.”

How has your employment background helped you?

“My background is in hotel Management; I managed some of the largest hotels in London and learnt valuable skills in people management, organization, salesmanship and diplomacy. Following this I retrained and operated a will writing franchise. Since then I have set up my own will-writing business. To run your own company you need to have a particular mind-set, and to know the potential pitfalls of self employment. To be successful you need to have good sales skills or employ a good sales person, and be adept at dealing with customers and staff. Having a head for the financial side is a big bonus”.

Describe your business past and present

“To start with the business was tough but enjoyable. I had a slow start although I had some leads from Head Office. I gained two big contracts and really got going and then I found I was busy with my other business. So I took on my colleague Kendra Parrott to help run the office, box up leaflets and support the sales effort. Kendra works part-time and she is great. Our first clients have included Double glazing retailers, plumbers, painters and decorators, electrical suppliers plus the normal restaurants and takeaways”.

And the future is….?

“Primarily sales focused, whether it’s me or someone else. We have good deliverers and have established good day-to-day operations. An advert we placed in Harlow generated a lot of potential deliverers so we are in a strong supply position. I would recommend DOR-2-DOR because of the fairly simple business concept, the product is a soft sell operation and selling business to business is a lot easier than to consumers. I have had good support from Head Office and from my fellow franchisees ‘comrades’.”