James's Gardening Franchise Business

Living the dream

London (North) and surrounding area.

Life has changed a lot in recent months as I have become a new dad, which is fabulous although exhausting! I consider myself very lucky that I am booked up weeks ahead and safely working full throttle through this pandemic. It is so reassuring to have that peace of mind with my new family responsibilities.

I can hardly believe that I've been running my Ed's business for almost eight years now. I'm delighted with how successful it has been financially but, more importantly, I still absolutely love doing what I do. Ed's has been so rewarding at many different levels. I love the freedom but being part of a happy team too. My wife and I have just got back from a winter break in Thailand and I'm refreshed and really looking forward to the year ahead. I don't meet many people in other lines of work who are as happy in their jobs as I am.

My decision to join Ed's was really a lifestyle choice – a healthy outdoors life and the flexibility of running my own business really appealed to me. I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably earn less money but that it would be worth it for the lifestyle. However the reality has been somewhat different - I do have a great outdoors lifestyle which I love but I am also earning significantly more money that I did in my previous job. Now that's what I call really living the dream! After university, I started working as a manager for a roofing supplies company. When I decided to leave, I looked at several business opportunities and considered going it alone. But having a mortgage and other financial commitments I was a bit worried about the risks and this made franchising the best option for me. Joining Ed’s Garden Maintenance appealed to me because it is a growing business and has a strong brand. I set up my business in June 2011. I put together my business and marketing plans during my training and as soon as I was up and running I started building a regular customer base around my area of North London. It’s been hard work but enjoyable and worth it – especially when I saw that I was not only meeting, but exceeding my business targets. (In my first 2½ months I paid off over 30% of my initial investment – as well as maintaining my previous standard of living!) With one-off jobs from the office, as well as repeat business from my regular customers, I have a strong stable business. The great thing about working with Ed’s is the support I receive. Ed and the rest of the team are always there to help and I know if I need any advice, need to talk something over, I can just pick up the phone. You’re not left out on your own!