After twenty years working in the City for a variety of financial institutions and in roles including investment management, corporate advisory and communications consultant for blue chip clients, I left to investigate other career opportunities that would sit better with my desire for a better work-life balance.

I spent nine months investigating a number of business opportunities before finding the ORCA franchise offering. I did some research into the proposition and travelled to the head office in Leeds where I spent a day meeting with the team and learning about the Franchise. After undertaking some due diligence and further research I purchased the franchise in November 2008.

I have found the Franchise Manual extremely comprehensive and it contains the answers to almost all of my early questions. The team at HO have been very supportive and encouraging with lots of positive feedback and fantastic motivational input. There is a steady stream of marketing ideas and supportive market research data and the blog has been an excellent way for me to be able to keep in touch with the national network of franchisees – an important point since geography is an issue for me being based in the South East. There is a wealth of support and talented people at the HO and the constant stream of new ideas and dynamic development of the firm underpins my belief that the brand will grow and grow and that new ideas will provide me with further growth streams to the original ORCA business model. 

Suffice to say, the business model works and I only do 5 hours, four days a week (in term time only as have 3 kids at home in the school holidays!). I follow the franchise manual (The Route To Success) and learn from the guys in Head Office - they are such a great team.

I only wish I had more time to throw at this as I'd be sunning myself in the caribbean!!

Added by Amanda on the 20/09/09

Just wanted to email you and say I've sold another website (last week). The guy LOVED the deisgn, it was absolutely spot on. On the back of one sale I've now had four referrals, seeing the other two this week and the other, the next. One of the guys who's referred me works at an ad agency in London and got his team to have a really good look over the site (in this instance www.kitchensbespoke.co.uk), he said they were amazed that for the money, they could just find nothing wrong with it and were amazed at how professional it not only looked, but performed on the search engines for the price. I bumped into this guy today at Hockey training with my boys and he's now given my details to yet another 'hot' lead whom I'm pursuing now.

Feeling very upbeat about this business a year on, its exceeded my expectations (and I am a very cynical woman having worked in London for nearly 20 years).

Your operation is great, slick, efficient and full of wonderful guys who genuinely seem to want to help me out.

The ORCA business model plays to my skills, knowledge and experience, but the main reason why I took franchise was that ORCA have a clear vision both of where the business fits within the competitive landscape and how to address the market. More, the promise of specific and ongoing support was critical as I recognised the difficulties that would occur as I moved from a comfortable corporate job into the real world of small business commerce.

My experience of working with ORCA is that they do exactly what is printed on the tin. As I’ve worked my way into my local market, it is clear that the niche they have aimed for is exactly right for the offer they have developed. It’s a good fit. More, when difficulties occur as they will do in any organisation, there is a quick response and reaction. No prima donnas or blame cultures here – just good people wanting to understand the cause of a problem and many willing hands searching and finding a solution.

The franchisee is at the heart of their model and I have been seamlessly integrated within their team, making me feel very welcome, comfortable and valued. I am amongst a strong and supportive team of head office staff and other franchisees; all keen to help each other to be successful. After a lifetime in the corporate world, I’m delighted to say it’s finally a joy to go to work.

After spending 12 years as a self-employed business adviser, including working with Business Link, I found that more and more business owners needed specialist online marketing help. 

Many businesses had a website but it wasn’t working for them and they weren’t making the most of the internet. So when I found the ORCA franchise I knew there was a lot of potential. 

I love going out to visit businesses and showing them what can be done. The training was very good and the Head Office team are very supportive. 

And to cap it all, I sold my first website after just six weeks!

Why did I chose ORCA? Firstly, probably like you, I did a bit of research looking at various franchise organisations in this and other markets. I wanted a franchise where I felt I could utilise the skills I had gained over the years in my career. ORCA offered me a model that seemed to fit neatly, but would also allow me to develop new skills. Life is about learning after all. 

Cost was also a factor. I'd looked at franchises where the set up costs alone ran into over £100K. I just don't have that kind of money. In my opinion ORCA offers good value for money, with low set up costs. I just had to paint the bedroom to make it an office and buy a few bits and pieces! One company I looked at wanted over £35K for a similar model and no exclusivity! 

Don't expect overnight success. It takes time to build a portfolio of customers and good prospects. Don't expect to become an expert overnight. Use the training ORCA provide and you will get there. I'm still learning something pretty much every day and the team in Head Office have been fantastic with providing advice, even if I didn't like it at the time! Remember, you are buying a business model - if it ain't broken, don't try and fix it!

There is a great community spirit amongst the franchisees and there is always a bit of banter and support on the blog. If you're having a bad day, somebody will have some ideas to help. 

Are there any negatives? Nothing in life is perfect, but ORCA do work hard for you and it it beats working for a living any day!

Matthew Bartlett.

I completed my initial training in december 2008, however, because of timing (Christmas and New Year), I did not actively begin to work on the business until mid-January of this year, so I am still very much the 'new boy'! Already I have developed a potential list of 29 clients, of which, 2 have already ordered websites, and I've had successful first meetings with a further 3, with 4 more planned in for the next 2 weeks. My honest expectation is that by the end of March I will have at least 4 clients who have either purchased sites, or have paid deposits.

Despite having absolutely no experience of web design or of marketing the benefits of the web, I am likely to over achieve my own plan for the business so far. All of my appointments have been made by the ORCA business development team who are working their collective socks off to really good effect. They canvas prospective customers generated by me. So far I have seen four creative’s produced by the design team. Without exception these creative’s were produced in a timely fashion. Without exception the creative’s blew my socks off, and had the same effect on the clients that I have shared them with so far.

I bought an ORCA franchise because it is a proven business model. It seems to be working for me! A complete novice. Why? Because I am working as hard as I have ever worked in my life, I kid you not, because I am following the ORCA Route To Success Guide, and because I have enjoyed a great deal of support from all at ORCA Towers.

I know that I am going on a bit, but when I was preparing for my first proposal, Dean Watmough, MD of ORCA, insisted that I use PowerPoint. Unfortunately I had never used PowerPoint before in my life. Dean said "don’t worry I will help you". This help consisted of him doing the PowerPoint presentation for me while he was at home in the evening. When I woke the next day the completed PowerPoint presentation was waiting in my inbox. I defy you to find another MD that would match this? This pretty much personifies the support from all at ORCA.

Having now bagged my fourth customer (in as many weeks), I was asked to reveal the secrets of my success. But, really I don't think there are any secrets. It's just been common sense and following closely what I learned in the training and picking up the tips on the blogs. Remember that the training was based on a business model that has been proven to work, so use it! Sure, it may need to be tweaked for your local area, but I've now got 3 customers in the small town (population of just 6000) in which I live.