Manish Sharma joined the InXpress network in Delhi, in 2013 and, his franchise is currently the largest in the country. Manish had always dreamt of running his own business and here he tells us how he finally found the courage to fulfil this ambition.
I had been working in a sales role for 17 years before I bought my franchise. I had always dreamt of being my own boss, and when I discovered the InXpress opportunity, I finally decided to make the leap into business ownership.
What appealed most about working for myself, was the freedom that you don’t get as an employee. I can work on my own terms and earn an income I could only have dreamt of previously and the beauty of the InXpress model is that it is focused on sales and customer service, rather than the physical side of courier services such as managing pickups.
That isn’t to say that it was easy at the start. As with anything that is worth doing, there was some tough times for the first six months. It was just me in the business and I had to manage everything, so it was a very busy time. However, I had the support of the rest of the network and the success stories of fellow franchisees which motivated me to push on. So it was also an exciting time! I now have two employees - one is a tele sales rep and the other is out in the field.
Even though I am the top franchise in India – and have been for five years! – I still have big ambitions and I want to at least double my margin in the next two years.
Owning an InXpress franchise has made a huge difference to my life! When I was an employee myself I rarely had any spare time for either myself or my family but now I get to pursue my interests including going to the gym and exploring new places and I have my evenings free to spend with my family. Looking back, my only regret is that it took me so long to make the decision to have my own business - I wish I had done this sooner!