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But you need money to get you started. With
McDonald's, for example, you're talking about
at least £40,000.
This
week we tell the story of a couple who started
with nothing.
A
Christmas card from a former colleague with
the message "Give us a call sometime",
changed the lives of Roy and Margaret Japp.
Their
business selling perfume and health foods had
just gone busy leaving them £43,000 in
debt.
They
called their friend, who told them how well
he was doing selling for the Kleeneze
home-wares company.
"At
first we thought poor guy, he must be desperate
to be selling mops and brushes door-to-door".
"We
soon found it was nothing like that," Roy
says. "When he provided evidence of his
earnings, we decided to give it a closer look.
We had nothing left to lose so we thought we'd
give it a try".
They
paid £35 for a business starter kit and
became Kleeneze
sales representatives.
"It
is similar to joining a franchise operation
but without the heavy start-up costs."
Just
as well. The couple were so broke they had to
turn the sofa upside down to find enough change
to put petrol in their car and get on the road.
They
began their venture by putting 300 catalogues
through letterboxes each day. In eight days
they had made £300 and in seven months
had raised enough to clear their debts.
Three
years on they are among Kleeneze's award-winning
agents having clocked up sales with £6.5
million in three hectic years.
They
made £51,000 in their first year and expect
to earn £120,000 this year from direct
selling and from training and advising several
thousand agents in Britain and Ireland.
Says
Roy: "The business is very simple. It's
like being a postman - you deliver catalogues
to people's homes, then call back two days later
to collect their orders. On average two homes
out of ten produce orders usually about £10
a time."
"The
secret is to establish a core base of 200 customers
who buy regularly. That gives you a steady income
on which you can build."
"But
it is entirely up to you how much you want to
earn. Many successful agents can earn £2000
to £5000 a month full time."
"Business
is expanding rapidly and we have an exciting
new catalogue with about 600 different products.
One of our best sellers, would you believe,
is an orthopaedic toenail clipper."
Kleeneze
started in Britain in 1923 and is now part of
the Farepak food processing and mail-order giant.
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