It was the opportunity to build a scalable business in logistics that drew former corporate William Cowlishaw to InXpress.
The freight-focused InXpress model provides fast, reliable, and competitive business shipping solutions facilitated by industry-leading technology.
And for William, it perfectly matches his skillset. His varied experience in roles from sales to account management to replenishment planner and marketing has proved ideal for the business.
With experience in brands like Colgate and Newscorp, William understands the importance of processes as a good foundation for business.
A good business foundation
“I was looking for a scaleable business where I could leverage my eCommerce experience.
“I came across InXpress. It’s an online platform, there’s a lot of account management and it brought together my skills in one place.”
InXpress has a breakthrough online portal, webship+, which has been built on more than 23-years of customer insights. This powerful proprietary software combines an automated shipping platform, a franchisee business management program and a franchise performance tool.
This means InXpress customers save time on their shipping and the system delivers franchisees with business performance insights.
“The platform is scalable and it’s a clear point of difference,” says William. “It’s better than individual carrier platforms because it gives customers access to multiple carriers. The platform, like Webjet, offers comparative pricing. This is self-service for customers.”
William admits the volume of the incoming business demands a self-service solution to allow clients to book their shipments with real time information and around the clock. The webship+ platform allows this to occur and frees Will up for ongoing consulting and customer service.
“The amount of orders coming in we couldn’t handle ourselves without the support of the InXpress framework and technology. We take a pro-active approach to freight. What we do as a team is support from a customer service perspective.”
The scale of the InXpress business also allows for customers to benefit from its buying power.
“They are paying less for better service,” he says.
Scaling the business
As an executive, William took the leap into business ownership confident the model would deliver high growth.
“When you leave corporate, people say ‘you’ll be back’. A lot of people think it’s high risk, leaving a good position. Some people say’ I wish I could do that’.”
He invested in his Alexandria, Sydney franchise almost a year ago and within two months was employing staff. Now he is a million dollar business and has two customer service representatives and one salesperson.
“It’s been rapid growth. I’ve just bought a second business and it will be absorbed into us with current staff.”
The business is performing ahead of forecast.
Within the next 12 months William expects his income to match that of his last role in the private sector. He is also on track to reach his initial goal: getting into the top 20 InXpress franchises in Australia.
Enjoying the benefits of an InXpress franchise
William is working towards a flexible future that will allow him to spend more time with his family.
“I’m putting in processes I learned before, and more and more handing over to staff. The goal is to become hands-off with the business.”
He has leveraged the support available from InXpress and values the level of independence he is given as a business owner.
“It’s not just a cookie-cutter model. InXpress gives support through business coaching, and the platform and training. But I can train my staff how I want. I follow the brand guidelines but I don’t have a whole set of stringent rules. It’s like an independent business,” he says.
“The biggest benefit is that I have something to sell. If you have a sales background you can sell something you believe in; I believe in the model and service.”