An Australian Franchisee Case Study
Siwei “Cindy” Chen
Donut King
Chullora
Why did you go down the franchise route? And why did you choose Donut King franchise?
I always knew that Donut King was a strong and reliable brand and this is why I wanted to be a part of the business. I also worked at Donut King for 5 years prior where I worked my way up to a Manager role. I really wanted to keep the journey going and become a franchisee. My family supported me and assisted in the finance and since then I’ve never looked back!
What training and support did you receive initially and ongoing?
I went to the Retail Food Group training academy for a 6 week course which helped fine-tune my skills and become more confident in working as a franchisee. It was all about improving what I’d already known and learning new and important things for the business.
Describe a typical day for you as a Donut King franchisee?
A typical day for me is working at the store and serving the customers that I’ve come to know very well. I also work with a great team who love what they do!
What challenges have you faced?
With anything there will always be challenges that you must face. For me it was training my staff and teaching them what I know. Not only this but working as a team was another challenge that I’ve faced. This is so important in any business and it took a while to get it right. Challenges aside, I believe that through them we’ve become a stronger company where we have become more comfortable in the environment. It was all worth it because now we have a strong team who are very keen learners.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of buying their first franchise?
I found it very helpful to work in the business prior to owning one. Not only did I learn valuable skills, but I got to have a “test-run” to see if it was something I wanted to pursue. Another piece of advice is to know that, even though a Donut King franchise may seem small, there are a lot of things to it and a lot of things to learn.
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