Following an unfortunate experience with their previous franchise, Jim and Anne Marshall were unsure what the future held, until by chance they came across Hairhouse Warehouse.

The husband and wife team invested in their first franchise in 2002, and they haven’t looked back.

They have successfully turned a struggling store around and won a handful of awards in the process, including Most Improved Store and the Franchisee of the Year title for one to two stores.

The pair recounts their journey…

In the time prior to November 2010 we had been through a particularly difficult period with another franchise and suffered considerable personal losses.

We were disillusioned with the idea of franchising; although we felt that the problems we encountered were out of our control and that we were ultimately good business people who made a couple of bad decisions.

As we were entering our senior years we were wondering where life would take us. Chances of meaningful employment were slim and the future looked a bit bleak.

The big challenge

A chance meeting with Arthur Mitroulas, the general manager of Hairhouse Warehouse changed everything for us.

Arthur, on behalf of Hairhouse Warehouse, offered us the opportunity to purchase a store that was in serious trouble and unless suitable new owners were found the store would probably close.

Our first reaction was definitely ‘no, we would not go there again,’ but then we realised it was an opportunity for us to redeem ourselves and so with some trepidation we decided to go ahead.

Getting there wasn’t easy and when we entered the store as owners for the first time we realised it was in worse shape than we imagined.

The assistance, support and encouragement we received from Hairhouse Warehouse helped us in bringing about significant changes to the culture of the business. We sourced good staff and worked every day to rebuild the reputation of the brand and the store.

Store performance

During our first year of operation we were able increase the turnover of the store by $400,000 over the previous year. Our second year saw an increase of another $300,000 resulting in our first National Most Improved Store award.

Last year we achieved another $200k increase and won our second Most Improved Store Award as well as the award for Franchisee of the Year for one to two stores.

A wealth of skills 

Being a husband and wife team with different skill sets, we have been able to bring many years of experience in customer service, retailing and salon services to the day-to-day operations of the business, and we have financial and business management skills to back it all up.

Our goals are to continue to grow the business with the help of Hairhouse Warehouse and to provide members of our team with the ambition and tools they will need to one day become a franchisee themsleves.