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I have never been happier in my working life, since I made the decision to own a Cafe2U franchise. My background was in retail management and I needed a change from the daily grind of working long hours for someone else. I needed something that would suit the lifestyle of a young growing family and was also financially rewarding as well as being enjoyable to do.
Since starting Cafe2U, my life has changed dramatically. I love the daily challenge of running my own business and let's not forget, being my own boss. The brand is second to none; the product is fantastic; the training and support is superb and very reassuring. There is no stone left unturned from an operational perspective with a manual for everything. They have made all the mistakes so that I don't have to. Let's not forget the people though. Everyone is so friendly and approachable; they are also very professional and thorough.
My own franchise has been up and trading now for 4 months and has exceeded all expectations, so much so that I should have another van on the road within the next few months, and a third before my Cafe2U 1st anniversary. All of this will be achieved without losing sight of the fact that I joined Cafe2U for a lifestyle change.
Cafe2U ticks all the boxes and more. My van is now part of the family.
Jeff - Cafe2U Belfast Harbour, Northern Ireland
Having worked for 16 years as an office manager, and then spent the last 3 years at home looking after my children, I decided I wanted to go back to work and do something for myself. Cafe2U offers me the opportunity to work, but not in a stifling environment, build my own business, yet still balance this with my young family commitments. I am thoroughly enjoying serving a product everyone loves, working outside, meeting new friends, and of course driving a Mercedes!
The support, training, and sense of belonging I have received from the Cafe2U team have been fantastic. Winning the inaugural Cafe2U Franchisee of the Year award only enhanced this further and now with a second franchised operation I know that I have made the right choice for my future.
Tracey – Cafe2U Thorpe Park, Leeds
I was looking for a career change, something completely different to what I’d been doing - I was a printer for twenty years. Being obsessed with coffee, I was looking for something like Cafe2U.
Working for myself is like a breath of fresh air. The pressures and stresses are different to my old job. Now I get out of bed for me, not someone else that didn’t care less about whether I was happy or not. I’m Ian Holmes from Cafe2U now. Not clock number 097. When I work hard now, it’s me that benefits. This has been reflected by winning three awards in two years – the proudest has to be Cafe2U Franchisee of the Year 2007.
The feeling I get from Cafe2U is that it’s more of a family than a franchise. I can pick up the phone at any time, chat about any problems I’m having. And any that I do are quickly dealt with. I never feel alone. It’s also good to know that all the guys at Cafe2U are as passionate about coffee as me.
Ian – Cafe2U Granary Wharf, Leeds
Working as a journalist in the centre of London for the last eight years I saw the rapid growth in the popularity of quality coffee. When my old company moved to the outskirts of town I had to walk half a mile to reach the nearest coffee shop. The concept of Cafe2U was staring me in the face. I decided to change careers and start a round in Ealing, which is where I live.
The benefits are obvious - no more trudging to work on the Tube, no more late nights in the office, no more wishing I was somewhere else. I now have the sky over my head rather than a fluorescent tube and I am greeted by grateful customers rather than miserable managers. I'm my own boss at last and it feels good to be in control of my destiny.
Darren – Cafe2U Ealing, London
We’ve always wanted to run our own business. Our initial thoughts were to set up a coffee shop in our home town of Brighouse, Yorkshire. Realising there was a definite gap in the market; we searched for the right location but had no luck and found the costs prohibitive. Cafe2U caught our attention and immediately the benefits of being mobile and having lower overheads encouraged us to go for it. We came from different backgrounds but we knew we could conquer the art of making great coffee. Being mobile means we can work when we want and where we want, and being our own boss at the same time.
We are known as the Barista sisters!
Stephanie and Suzanne – Cafe2U Halifax
Running my own logistics company for 15 years seems a million years ago.
It was actually only about three years ago that I sold the company and started looking for a new challenge. Angela also felt it was time to get back to work after bringing up our three children so we decided to do something together. We were looking for a business that ticked three very important boxes.
A franchise business with a proven success record, this would guarantee that with hard work we would make a solid profit, after several years working in the Up & Down transport Industry I needed this security.
A business with a reasonably low entry level, ensuring that costs are kept low & that we would be working with minimal credit from day one.
A business that is fairly early in its evolution, the UK coffee culture is in its infancy providing us with a long term business, excellent growth potential & minimal competition.
With these things in mind it was not long before we came to the conclusion that Cafe2U was the perfect fit, what we didn't reckon on was that we could be working with great people, selling (and drinking) a great product, working out in the fresh air, working great hours & making people happy.
We are now a year and a half in & our first van has exceeded all expectations, to the point that we are considering options for expansion.
We are not trying to tell you all that it's all a bed of roses, nothing is! But what we will say that its better than a lot of jobs we could be doing, its mostly enjoyable & with a decent amount of effort it is very rewarding.
Brian & Angela – Cafe2U Basingstoke
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