We have a better car and live in a much larger home

An education in how to run a business by Drain Doctor Oxford franchisees Jon & Lisa Parker!

Jon and Lisa Parker are the husband and wife team behind Drain Doctor Oxford. They started their business in March 2012, after a wake-up call encouraged them to take the plunge into business ownership.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves as you only get one life. After Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2008, we figured this would be the best time for us to give it a shot.”

“We researched many different business opportunities and we always came back to what we knew best. With my drainage background and Lisa’s accounting and office experience we knew we could make it work. We choose Drain Doctor over other drainage companies, as we liked the friendly approach and the overall general set up of the Franchise.”

They now employ 5 people and have achieved a lifestyle that gives them both great satisfaction. “The day to day of running your own business gives you a real buzz. We enjoy the challenges and test we are faced with daily but overall the freedom we have over our own lives. It has enabled us to live much better lifestyle than we could have ever imagined before. We have a better car and live in a much larger home and in a nicer area too.” Jon continues “As we can create our very own spare time we get many opportunities to do or go where we like. I like to play golf, Lisa likes to socialise with her friends, we eat out often in nice restaurants, we spend a lot more time with our two daughters and we love our time with our two French bulldogs Elvis & Ace.”

Despite the rewards that they are now enjoying Jon and Lisa insist that all new franchise owners “Be prepared to work very very hard and keep to the systems. Use the services that Franchising offers to help grow and develop your business and if you get the opportunity to own a Drain Doctor Franchise then just go for it. We have acquired a range of new skills since being in business and have proven to ourselves how affective we can be when we apply ourselves to certain task and situations Once you’ve started, it’s very important that your staff are constantly monitored, trained and motivated. Look after your staff and your staff will look after your business.”

Jon and Lisa do recognise the support that the Drain Doctor franchise network has offered them in the years as franchise owners. They describe the ongoing training as “Important to attend, as you get to reach out to other old and new Franchisees in the network. It’s a good source of information that can be used to introduce in to your own business.” With Jon being a member of the advisory council, he gets the opportunity to speak to Drain Doctor head office about key business changes and advise on best practices. “I find it very useful to be privy of the plans the Franchisor has for the future but also to be able to speak up for my fellow Franchisees with any issues or ideas they may have.”

A culmination of hard work and franchise support has led to great success for Jon and Lisa. When asked what their biggest achievement was so far they said “There have been many over the years but so far it was reaching a turnover of over £500,000 in 2018. Our first major goal was to turnover more money in our second year of trading than it took the previous Franchisee in there 8 years of trading. The target was £280,000 and we did it! To celebrate, we went away for the weekend to stay in a lovely 5-star hotel and ate some amazing food and drank plenty of Champagne.”

Going forward, Jon and Lisa have big plans for their business “We just recently moved into a larger office unit due to growth. We plan to grow 20% year on year and add a new van/technician as and when growth requires it. Once we feel we have exhausted the resources within our territory we may then look at expanding the territory.” But their ambitious go beyond just their business “We are about to move into a new home, so we have a new big garden to develop and landscape. We would like to go on more holidays and we are working toward a mini world cruise. I would like to go the US Masters at Augusta!”