HUSBAND and wife bakery franchisees Neil and Judy Loveland have been named WA Franchisee of the Year.
The couple own the Bakers Delight franchises in Currambine and Midland.
Mr Loveland came into the franchise world after a twenty year career as an electrical contractor.
He did the electrical fitout for the first Bakers Delight store in WA and subsequently more than twenty others.
“By doing the work for Bakers Delight I got to know a lot of the franchisees and they all seemed happy,” Mr Loveland said.
“Then the Currambine store became available so we took it.”
Mrs Loveland used to work for the National Australia Bank and said she liked the switch to running her own business.
“You have control over your own destiny. You have a direct link,” she said.
Mr Loveland said one of the benefits of being in a franchise was not having to tackle unforeseen problems alone.
“Bakers Delight has 315 stores in Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “If one store has a problem, Bakers Delight works to fix it so other franchises don’t hit the same problem.
Mrs Loveland said it was easier going into a franchise than starting out straight into a small business.
“Neil was good at being an electrician. But usually there was only one big contract to report on so it was easier,” she said.
“Now we’re dealing with 3,500 customers a week.”
Mr Loveland said he had a few ideas on how to improve parts of the system.
“The system is not rigid. The franchisors will change things if it is for the benefit of the group,” he said.
The couple will represent WA in the National Franchisee of the Year awards to be held in Queensland.