Cathy Battreall was the first InXpress franchisee globally, to reach the huge milestone of one million USD of annual margin (profit) within her Florida based franchise. Cathy then became a multi-unit owner, buying two more franchises in the network. When asked what’s the secret to her success, Cathy says she’s not afraid to grow and here, she tells us about her incredible journey with the brand so far…
“I bought my InXpress franchise in 2011. I already owned a business in the healthcare industry, but revenues were declining, and I was looking for something new and exciting. My business partner at the time, had a burning desire to own a franchise – he liked the cookie cutter approach, so we started investigating what was available.
I was introduced to InXpress by an existing franchisee. This was the only business model out there which suited us both as its scalable and flexible. I was able to utilize the capital from my other business, which meant I could bring on a customer service and a sales representative early on. I believe this decision was key to the fast growth of my franchise. I am proud to have been the first franchisee to reach the milestone of reaching an annual profit of one million USD. I think this really helped the network see what was possible.
To achieve even faster growth, in 2016, I took the strategic decision to become a multi-unit owner and bought two more InXpress franchises – one in Arizona and one in California. Even though geographically the three franchises were miles apart this wasn’t a problem as the business model means working virtually is easy.
Less than 2 years later I sold these additional units for a healthy profit based on the growth we were able to achieve in the short time frame. So now, I am back down to the original franchise in Jacksonville, Florida. I’m fully focused on achieving further growth within this unit. Even though it’s a top performing franchise globally, I still have huge ambitions to keep growing it. I’ll do this by going back to the basics of the business model which I was taught during my early days at Boot Camp training and is continually drilled into the network, because it’s proven.
One of my favourite things to do is to build a new business. I love the learning process, starting something new and watching it grow. For me, one of the most appealing aspects of an InXpress franchise is that there are no restrictions to growth – customers are everywhere, and sometimes in places you might consider unlikely shippers which means that the possibilities are endless. For example, attorneys in various fields, businesses that attend and exhibit at trade shows, almost everyone ships something!