Franchising a business a recipe for success for Jasper's

He was working in Birmingham as a salesperson for a catering equipment company when he developed meningococcal septicaemia.

“It was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Nathan explains.

He was taking some time out abroad to recuperate from the illness when the idea struck. “I was on the beach in Greece for a week, and I chalked out a business plan.”

With a business partner, Nathan founded Jasper’s with the aim of serving good-quality buffet-style food and drink for business meetings, conferences, events, training days and the like.

In the business’ early days, administrative duties such as taking orders, invoicing, ordering stock, creating delivery schedules and production plans were eating up huge amounts of time that should have been spent preparing the food, winning new business and but most importantly looking after customers.

So, Jasper’s became more streamlined. They took their administration processes and automated them, approached a development company with a wish-list, and created the Jasper’s award winning business management system from scratch. With the new system, customers could order online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and all of the other administration processes would also be taken care of automatically.

Their system has even won Jasper’s the Chamber Online Trade Award by Royal Appointment. “And, we were a catering company – up against internet companies!” Nathan says incredulously, but not without a hint of pride.

With the system in place and the customer base expanding, Jasper’s was in a position to grow. “So, we began to explore the world of franchising,” Nathan explains. He knew they had a winning concept in Jasper’s which could easily be replicated as a franchise opportunity. “The system and our other internal processes were just too good not to franchise."

Other benefits of going down this route were not having to find the capital for more outlets themselves, and most importantly, the reassurance that franchisees have a vested interest in a business’ success so they will put more passion into looking after Jasper’s customers and upholding the brand’s values.

There are currently seven Jasper’s franchises trading, with another two about to start. The UK is mapped out for at least 67. Each ‘unit’ is designed to allow a franchisee to build a turnover of £1 million. With 65 per cent gross margins and an expanding market the future looks bright for Jasper’s franchisees.

The Franchise business’ target is to sign up another four franchisees this year, and a further 10 next year. “Demand for Jasper’s services is huge,” Nathan says. “We get too many enquiries to service. We need good quality franchisees who are passionate about food and service whilst wanting to be rewarded for it”.”

Jasper’s is now feeding around 20,000 people a week. And this is on the rise.

What’s next for Jasper’s? Well the latest franchisee made a NET profit of over £30,000 in their first full year with a target to double that next year. Nathan says this could only be done with the Jasper’s systems and efficiency processes. The business is now even looking into technology that will allow employees to ‘clock on’ and off with their fingerprints – as a more efficient method than the traditional means.

“As a franchisor, it is my job to continually improve the systems for franchisees," Nathan explains. "Jasper’s is far more than just a sandwich!” he jokes. “I have to be more efficient than ever now we have been blessed with our little boy, Kasper, being a dad and director of such a great business fills me with excitement everyday – even with the sleepless nights.”