PROFESSIONAL TRUST. PERSONAL TOUCH.
Testimonials
LAUREEN TUNNELL, FOOTLOOSE, WANGANUI
Franchise Shoe Retailer
"Having someone who could help me steer the business through the crisis of losing my husband was a huge help"
"I have been dealing with Venter & Hull since February 2006 when my husband and I purchased the Wanganui Footloose Shoes Franchise.
Darren was recommended to us by friends, as our then accountants were fairly negative about opening such a business in Wanganui. We knew then that they were possibly very wrong about this and were about to give up on a dream, until having a meeting with Darren.
He looked into the Franchise Agreement, facts and figures and weighed up everything that good accountants do, and could only see this as being a positive move for ourselves and Wanganui.
When my husband passed away, we were just a few months into having bought the franchise. I was quietly terrified at operating a business by myself. Although I had been a retail manager for 19 years I knew very little about accounting and growing a business. Darren and his team led the way with their expertise.
Darren had already been involved in our purchasing of the business, so he understood how it worked and how the numbers stacked up. He stepped up to the task of monitoring business costs, and provided us with financial statements every two months coupled with regular face to face meetings so we could monitor our progress.
When the Recession hit, I started to focus on discounting in an effort to keep people coming through the doors but unfortunately this had a negative impact on profitability.
Darren then worked with me to address this. We took a good look at pricing and Darren's marketing knowledge helped us get things back to where they should be. We started to see the results in next financial year – achieving a significant increase in profit with turnover actually up despite the change.
I consider myself a pretty hands-on retailer, and I want the business to keep on pushing ahead and be trying out new things. Having someone like Darren who can help me steer the business is a huge help. The business is strong and has a great future, and I still meet Darren every four months to sit down and review performance and plan ahead."