Successful franchising is built on the teamwork between hardworking, enterprising franchisees and the well-proven business models from established franchisors. However, many franchisees have also built their success on another form of teamwork that’s much closer to home.

“Going into business with a partner or other family member offers immediate benefits, “explains Michael Johnson, managing director of greeting card franchisor Card Connection. “And a large proportion of our most successful franchisees have benefitted from doing this.”

Though sometimes this can involve parents and their grown children, by far the most common business partnership is between couples. “Strong, ready-made relationships, with shared goals in life is a great basis for taking the next step by adding working together into the mix,” continues Michael.

Ten years ago, Card Connection franchisees David and Helen Rabaiotti grasped that opportunity when they purchased the franchise for Bath. “Card Connection had supplied greeting card to the Post Office Helen and I here running, so we knew we were dealing with good company with great product,” said David.

“It is important to agree who is responsible for the various different aspects of the business but as long as the effort, communication and commitment is there, franchising can offer a much more flexible work-life balance that lots of people seem to be seeking nowadays,” adds Helen.

Recognising each other’s strengths is something that’s crucial to running a successful franchise together. Take Dave and Di Tudor who took on Card Connection’s Hereford territory back in 2006. The husband and wife team work seamlessly as a unit, with Di spending most of her time back at HQ, or their Shropshire home, to be exact; whilst Dave hits the road to merchandise all their 275 outlets.

“Dave is an early starter,” explains Di, “So I get him organised the day before, then any changes he feels that need to happen to merchandising plans at store level before the next visit are fed back to me throughout the day.” This regular two-way communication is so vital to the success of their business they typically need at least a dozen calls per day. “My friends laugh at how much I am on the phone with my husband!” adds Di.

Though new to the world of greetings cards when they took on the Chelmsford territory, David & Sherran Patient have always been in business together and for them, it works because they know they can rely on each other.

“When we bought the franchise, we knew that we wanted to make this a family affair, with both our children Lucy and Bradley also helping out,” explains Sherran.

“It’s great knowing that as result of all our hard work, the whole family gets to benefit directly from the success of the business,” smiles David.

Connection is part of UK Greetings, which is a subsidiary of American Greetings Inc., one of the largest greeting card publishers in the world and has limited vacancies for franchisees that are keen to run an expanding business. Since the franchise network in the UK is complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an already-established territory from an existing franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of development but start at £10k  + Stock + Card Connection fee with earnings potential in excess of £50k per annum.

For further information please see: www.card-connection.co.uk