This can come in many forms – seminars, online tutorials, or maybe the most captivating stat-filled, jargon-heavy PowerPoint presentation you’ve ever witnessed (probably).
Ever since our establishment in 2007, when we were but a mere twinkle in our director Liam Hobbs’ ambitious eye, we aimed to do even the most standard practices a little differently. It’s in the DNA of our brand, a core part of our identity. We wanted franchise partners to not just to feel cushioned over any pitfalls, but to develop and grow so that the pitfalls only feel like minor bumps on their journey to success.
With this in mind, we wanted to set the support bar a lot higher. We started the year 2025 on the ground running by establishing the More Than Loft Ladders Academy – best described as training and support with a difference. It’s not a common fixture in our industry, and one that we hope will make it better in decades to come.
New school for the old school
Years of Industry knowledge is one thing (and we certainly possess it) but applying it to each individual unique case can be challenging. As a partner, it’s easy to feel lost amongst your peers, especially as a business expands and grows. Running your own business, even one connected to a franchise, can be a lonely existence. Your goals may be unique compared to your cohorts, or it’s entirely possible that you’re not sure how to define them. Plus, no two franchisees will ever be completely alike and will have a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds.
Enter the More Than Loft Ladders Academy. A monthly, one-hour personal session that helps to define a franchise partner’s goals and ultimately achieve them. Those entering the Academy will gain a new perspective on what’s possible, and in a short space of time our partners have already seen their businesses transformed.
But how is this achieved? By offering personal one-to-one coaching, ensuring that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unnecessary – something that can easily creep into any business. The all-encompassing day-to-day decisions that every business owner must make is kept in alignment/perspective with our partner’s overall goals. This format also allows the sound boarding of any ideas they may have to be heard and acknowledged – an office water cooler chat turned up to eleven, if you will.
Added to this, our coaches are independents as opposed to employees. For any franchise partners feeling ‘big brother’ vibes from corporate, this allows a certain degree of trust and impartiality to exist. Concerns over asking so-called ‘silly questions’ evaporate immediately. Instead, it’s replaced with confidence and clarity on what needs to be done to get more quotes out and convert them to paid jobs. In addition, there is a focus on increasing our partner’s average job value.
The coaches also don’t exist in a vacuum, with the ability to bring in experts in sales, marketing, HR, and finance to help the franchisees on their path to inevitable success.
Meet your coaches
An academy is only as good as it’s coaches, and we made sure that our collaborators fit the bill. We are enormously gratified for Kim Lawler and Ben Catley-Richardson’s contributions so far. Our franchise partners not only have the benefit of access to years of industry-specific knowledge, but a wealth of experience and expertise from our mentors in a wide variety of sectors.
With over fifteen years’ worth of experience in direct selling, Kim had previously ran her own sales agency in Australia and represented sports clubs such as the Australian Paralympics Team and Aussie Cricket, where she coached sales teams of thirty plus staff. She then moved into online health and wellness, running her own business and coaching her own network of self-employed consultants – operating in the top 9% of the brand. Kim now coaches business owners who are scaling with a proven method that works. – their sizes range from £250k – £10m.
Joining her is Ben, who brings with him twenty years’ experience in stakeholder management, comms and marketing across the construction, government, education and infrastructure sectors. He’s been coaching business owners since 2018 with a focus on marketing and accountability and has recently begun specialising in cold calling and appointment setting for tech startups to help founders hand-off outreach.
Armed with proven blueprints mapping their route, it’s expected that the franchises’ turnover will grow within one year of using the academy – although, from their experience, the coach’s clients typically see growth results in their first three months.
Lasting impact
Whilst the concept of the More Than Loft Ladders Academy is not a new one by any means, it is important to consider how impactful it can be to businesses in any sector – not just ours.
Franchise partner support is not a luxury; we’ve taken these steps to ensure that it’s a priority. This is especially important for partners with such a diverse backgrounds and experiences as ours. A one-size-fits all approach might be easier and more cost effective, but you must seriously consider if its right for long term growth and development.
This article comes courtesy of More Than Loft Ladders, the UK’s longest established franchise in the loft access industry.
