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Continuation... The same story happened here in the office. My sales manager/ contractor was cheating. When there's an inquiry (we're advertised in the yellow pages), he'll just discourage the potential clients, telling them of high franchise fees. Instead, he'll sell to them personally, direct from the supplier, and then just give the office a commission. When we discovered this activity, we let him go. One of our former sales agents who once visited confirmed the unethical transactions. I had to do several batches of cleaning up, and no one was spared - from the general manager down to the technicians. Even my secretary who reported such activities and whom I thought was trustworthy, was operating the same way apparently corrupted by one of the technicians who turned out to be her lover. The operation manager was guilty, too. He always insisted on hiring a particular contractor who quoted exhorbitant prices, because he was promised commissions on the side.
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From the time he took over in 2001 until 2004, Carson had to clean the ranks of dishonest employees, while trying to get the company back on its feet. He worked for a non-salary per diem of P600.00 per week, but eventually his efforts and faith paid off, as 2005 was a tremendous year for Aquabest.
Right now Carson has over 250 franchisees in the Aquabest network. Their approach to franchising is slightly different as they do not collect franchise fees or royalty fees, but rather a flat and minimal monthly due which include free marketing and tri-media exposure, uniforms, streamers, and filters. Aquabest is proud to provide its franchisees with top quality machines and consumables for the water-refilling business at a very low markup.
Aquabest, under Carson's leadership, was also able to salvage the strained relationship between mother company and franchisees. There was a time the franchisees did not want to pay fees during the period the company was mismanaged. Today, the relationship of the franchisees and Aquabest is very much improved, although some of the old-time franchisees decided to just continue on their own.
Most franchisees however decided to stick it out with Aquabest because of the services it provides, such as check ups and free membrane cleaning. Franchisees also benefit from the affordable consumables and the very active marketing and advertising position the company has taken in recent years.
The Aquabest brand has indeed made a stronger impression with its marketing drive. From caps and shirts to colored flyers, the company has made it a point to become more recognizable as the name to beat in water refilling.
Franchisees also benefit from the company's comprehensive operations manual, which clearly outlines the do's and don'ts of the business. Everything a franchisee needs to know about how to operate the business is touched on, including proposal letters to companies.
Since Aquabest is growing, Carson now has moved from a small fiftysquare-meter crowded office to a 330-square-meter spacious office located at the primie vicinity of Quezon Avenue. He encourages his thirty four employees to multitask, often overlapping functions so that everyone is well-versed in the business.
At this point in Aquabest's timeline, Carson does not think of whether or not it is a success, but one thing is for sure, he acknowledges how God has blessed the company. This is why Carson continues to entrust the business to God while doing his best in his job.
The Lord is so generous to us. He is so faithful that if we entrust Him everything, His blessings abound, sometimes in disguise. I just do my job. I believe the Lord is guiding me. He gives me a lot of ideas and inspiration.
(To be continued...)
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