Clyde Boyer is a seasoned franchisee, having worked with three major brands in his lifetime. He is both a sole and joint-franchisee and splits his time between the Chadstone, Eastland and Monash University Boost Juice stores.

Clyde has been a franchisee since 1991, and he bought into the Boost Juice brand in March 2005 when he took over an already existing site at Knox City. He has since gone on to open four new stores.

He is clearly a big supporter of the franchise model, so what is it that keeps Clyde coming back?

Firstly, he says “I couldn’t possibly create such brand awareness as a single operator. I wouldn’t have the funds to achieve this nor the skills so I prefer to attach myself to an already market leading brand.

“The overall package of marketing, operations, finance and training within the franchisors support centre is extremely attractive to me. I think I have reasonable operational and finance skills but I am lacking in other areas, and the franchisor helps fill that void for me,” he explains.

Lastly, he says “the franchise groups I have been involved with have allowed me to make a good return on funds invested and at the end of the day that’s a pretty critical point if you are in business.”

Clyde decided on the Boost Juice brand after young staff members at his previous business began to show up to work with the company’s “now well recognised green cups.”

He says he was intrigued by the hype surrounding Boost Juice.

“I couldn’t quite fathom why this small kiosk attracted so much attention. I used to sit in the caf_ opposite [Boost Juice Knox City], somewhat bemused at the activity levels. At the same time I recognised that something good was happening from a retail sense,” he says.

“When I sold my existing business and the Knox City Boost Juice store came up for sale at the same time I investigated, and with a big push from my daughter the rest is history.”

When he bought into the business, Clyde says he was surprised by how busy he was.

“It is full on but I like the fact that there is never a dull moment. There are always things to work on, customers to serve and tasks to complete to ensure the smooth running of the shop.

“The level of back of house work was also greater than I anticipated having come from a fully serviced franchise model (they did all the invoicing and paying),” he says.

He was also shocked by how loyal customers were to the Boost Juice brand.

“I was surprised by the customer regularity and loyalty, and it has stayed that way the entire time I have been with Boost. I am still serving many of the same 15 year olds I once did but now as 22 year olds,” says Clyde.

When Clyde first signed up with Boost Juice, he managed the Knox City store on a full time basis.

“I worked 40 plus hours per week and then did all the behind the scenes work on top of that.

“As my store numbers grew (in partnership with another Boost Juice franchisee) it was no longer possible to work in an individual store but rather across several stores.”

Clyde says he and his partner share responsibilities for the two stores they jointly own, and they both still manage their own individual stores.

“I do really immerse myself in the business, not only at the shop level but also in the office where I complete a myriad of tasks like payroll, accounts and rosters, but I love it!”

Clyde says the initial training he received was much stronger in some areas than others.

“The initial training I received was good from an operational point of view and very detailed in how to handle many of the day to day issues with staff, but I felt it was very lacking from a back office/accounting point of view,” he explains.

“It is fair to point out that the brand was just over three years old when I joined and was still having massive growth and probably a few growing pains as well.”

He has seen improvements in the company’s training program since he took over the Knox City store, though.

“The training department has changed significantly over the past seven years and now as a partner trainer I have seen firsthand the development of the franchisee training program,” he says.

Clyde explains he has always had two main business goals. The first relates to financial gain, and the other is all about lifestyle.

“The business needs to generate a certain rate of financial return for the significant outlay of funds that is well in excess of what the funds could generate in a risk free environment (bank or similar) to compensate for the risk taken.”

By lifestyle he means, “to operate a successful business that achieves my financial goals and allows my family to enjoy the flexibility that owning a successful business can provide.”

He says franchising has allowed him to achieve these goals, and they “simply would not have been possible as a secondary teacher or as a standalone business operator.”

It is important that franchisees promote their businesses in the local community, and Clyde says he achieves this by “supporting local clubs/schools and community bodies [by providing] vouchers and or financial assistance at fundraising nights, along with doing drink deliveries to special events.”