Name: Martin Morris
Company Name: Lioncafé Ltd & Jaguarcafé Ltd
Became franchisee: December 2000
Number of outlets: 3
Ainsworth Mall, Blackburn
Church Square Shopping Centre, St Helens
Hardshaw Centre, St Helens - opening April 2007
Developmet Plans: Looking to develop two more cafés in the Liverpool/Wirral area.
Number of Employees: 31 will be employed across the three stores. This includes three managers and three assistant managers. In addition, Martin’s wife, Sharon, joined the business two years ago and oversees the café in Church Square, St Helens.
Serving: 2500 customers a week per store on average.
Most popular muffins: Raspberry & Apple Crumble and Cherry Bakewell.
background
Martin began his working career in catering working for a family-owned restaurant business, where he learned many of his skills and the importance of customer service. He started there washing dishes as he studied for his business course at college and stayed for 13 years. When that business was bought out he became area manager for a chain of Italian restaurants until that was also the subject of a take over.
As a stopgap, he took a manager’s job at BB’s, opening the Telford store in 1997 – and the rest, as they say, is history. After three months he was promoted to Area Manager, looking after 8-9 company cafés in the north-west. He took on the Blackburn store which had been making a loss and returned it to profit.
Realising that he wanted to be his own boss, he left BB’s to become a franchisee and bought the franchise for Blackburn, followed three years later by the new site in St Helens.
Martin’s wife Sharon was in banking for many years before joining the business and swears she will never work in an office again!
why choose BB's?
“Actually I wasn’t really looking but when the opportunity came up to be my own boss with a brand I knew well and trusted to be successful, I couldn’t miss it,” he said. “You have a lot of freedom to run your own business and we make a very comfortable living.”
Martin appreciates the quality products on offer from BB’s and that they can be sold at value for money prices. “The quality of our food and drink is as good, if not better, than anyone else,” he commented.
motivation
Martin is not simply motivated by the money the business makes. “Money is a priority, but not as much as seeing customers leave happy,” he said.
running the business
The Morrises are immersed in the business with Martin focussing on Blackburn and the new St Helens café and Sharon looking after Church Square. “We’re never not involved,” laughed Martin. “Even on holiday I can’t resist checking how things are going …”
St Helens is one of the most successful cafés in the BB’s estate and the business has been built up from scratch. Now in its third year, it continues to make double digit growth each year.
Each of the stores has a manager and/or an assistant manager and the majority of staff have been with the Morrises for three or more years. Most are full-time employees and are multi-skilled, capable of doing all the tasks in the café.
All staff are trained by Martin and Sharon with assistance from BB’s head office and they are taking advantage of the new BB’s training modules on Muffin Excellence to send the store managers for extra training.
To motivate the staff, all are eligible for a cash bonus, paid quarterly, if they hit the sales targets. “Staff ultimately come to work to earn,” said Martin “so our bonus system, plus praising them when things are done right, works well for us.”
The Morrises get most of their feedback about how things are going from their customers. They go out of their way to chat to as many as possible. “That way they are relaxed if anything is wrong, and we can put it right without it being an issue,” said Martin.
The business is largely promoted by word of mouth, with the business participating in the national promotions run by BB’s. The customer loyalty card and bounce back leaflets with a money off coupon are incentives which help to drive the business.
key business philosophies
- Involvement: a hands on approach – however good your staff are, it isn’t their business.
- Service: Think of customers – don’t just focus on the till. It’s about making people happy so they come back for more thus creating more profit.
advice for new franchisees
Listen to the advice of the more experienced and successful franchisees.
Choose the right staff – people who can share your commitment to making the customers happy.
summary
Keeping customers happy is the key to Martin and Sharon’s success in developing their business. Martin believes that four or five cafés is the ideal number for him, so that he can keep control over the business in the way that suits him best.
“At BB’s we offer quality products and give good value for money. We treat our stores like a family business so there is a different feel from most national chains – we encourage our staff to have a chat and a laugh with customers, so they go away happy,” concluded Martin.
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