Tried & True Pays Off for Sharon & Mark

Sharon and Mark McFadyen are another duo who realised a franchise would guide them into their own business rather than their learning through costly mistakes.

‘By good fortune, our local Streetwise Coffee cart in Kapiti was up for sale,’ says Sharon. ‘Good friends have owned another outlet in Tawa for some years so we had plenty of inside information and advice. We did a lot of homework, had many meetings with our friends and the franchisors, then decided to put our savings into the business.’

Sharon took over the business in January 2018 and has already built up the business ‘very satisfactorily’ using her retail skills from previous jobs to engage customers under the cart’s built-in awning and the barista skills she learned during training from Streetwise.

‘Comparing figures with last year, we are clearly showing good growth,’ she says. ‘Frankly, the franchisors have been brilliant and I’m clear now I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their help and support. Yes, it was scary when I started because all those little details of business seemed to be a bit overwhelming but the Streetwise team stayed with me until I was comfortable.’