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Colin Mackie is the C.E.O. of Enterprise 21 and has held this position since the inception of the business some 18 years ago. Colin was born and spent the first 30 years of his life in Scotland where he owned and operated a range of successful businesses from the age of 19 including; Restaurateur, Antiques, Fallen Stock Contracting and Mink Farming, to name but a few. He discovered that he had a latent talent for seeing what was wrong with a business. He would buy it, introduce some new marketing techniques, build up both the turn-over and profit and then re-sell it as a profitable enterprise at a healthy profit. |  |
When Colin came to Australia some 30 years ago on a holiday, he was surprised at the fantastic opportunities that were available in this fantastic country. He took employment with a national clothing manufacturer as a Senior Sales Representative and, in less than 10 months, he was promoted within the group to State Manager for a sister company. In this role he utilized his marketing talents and brought his state figures from a small $2.5 million to $10.5 million in just over two and a half years. In fact, his state, Victoria, was doing just short of half of the turnover of the whole company. Chaffing at the bit to get back to running his own enterprises, Colin and his wife moved to Cairns where he successfully built up one business in the fast food area and on-sold it at a profit. He then opened the first Video Wholesale and Retail warehouse out side of a capital city. This was sold 3 years later and the profit was used to take Colin and his new family on a 7 month world trip which allowed him to study franchising in other countries. On returning to Australia, Colin started work with a franchise company as Franchisee Sales Manager where he learned a plethora of useful information both on some positive aspects and also some of the ‘no-no’s’ in franchising. “Franchising is not necessarily for everyone,” explains Colin, “as either a Franchisee or a Franchisor. Some people may be in a particular business making and selling 'Geejo’s' and start franchising only to discover that they are no longer in the sales and manufacturing business, but are now business administrators and mentors who are inundated with the problems of their Franchisees”. After one year in this position Colin purchased a franchise in Personal and Business Development Coaching helping both individuals and small business owners systemize and clarify their goals. After learning as much as he could in this exciting and extremely interesting enterprise, he sold the business and moved to Brisbane where he set up the Enterprise 21 business that we know today. Over the last 10-15 years, Colin and Enterprise 21 have consulted to, and acted as Franchisee Selection Agents for a wide range of franchise systems. The knowledge gained has been tremendous and priceless. Colin’s last major involvement saw a service franchise system go from a struggling 37 Franchisees to a market leading 202 profitable Franchisees in just over 3 years. Colin’s understanding of business principles, basic human psychology, marketing and sales has made him a very valuable commodity for those who are contemplating becoming involved in franchising either as a Franchisee of Franchisor. “You should never be tempted to ‘sell’ anyone a franchise business under any circumstances.” extols Colin. “Sell a person a business they are not suited to, or you KNOW they will not be successful in, is creating a major problem both to the Franchisee and the Franchisor. While no one really knows whether a person will succeed in a particular business, it is a lot easier to spot those who would be less likely to make a determined effort to become successful... You have to tell these people that, unfortunately, they are not likely to make a go of this business and let them find something more suitable for their skills and attitude.” Contact Us now to for a confidential ‘obligation-free’ discussion of your franchising requirements. | |