Success Story: FASTSIGNS Denver Midtown

As part of our Franchise Success Stories we asked FASTSIGNS franchisee and business owner, Andrea Hair (Denver Midtown location), to share a little bit about how she first became part of this incredible franchise system and what she and her husband have experienced as FASTSIGNS owners over the years.

Please tell us a little bit about your history with FASTSIGNS. How long have you been with the company?

My husband Jerry and I started our first FASTSIGNS location in 1999 in Elk Grove, CA and built that business from the ground up. After five years at that original location, we made a decision to move the business to a different spot in an effort to improve the business.  This was a great move, as we increased our annual sales for signs and printing to over $600,000 as a result of the location change. In 2007 we decided to sell our location and relocate back to the Denver area.  My family lives in the area and I was ready to be back to Denver.  We already had a lead on the FASTSIGNS center on Colorado Boulevard and were able to purchase this from another owner.  We officially took over our current franchise location on July 2, 2007.

What first attracted you to becoming a business owner with FASTSIGNS?

My husband originally was the driving force behind opening our own business.  He looked at many options and he liked the FASTSIGNS franchise model. FASTSIGNS has the best support and the best network of other franchisees.

What are some of the challenges you’ve encountered along the way?

This center had been through many owners and was in a distressed location when we took over, with sales barely reaching $20,000 per month. With a great deal of hard work and hiring new staff, we have turned this location around and are currently generating over $1.5 million in sales. One of our biggest challenges over the past few years has involved staffing. It can be very difficult to fill our sales positions in the Denver market right now, as it has been tough finding the right people who want want to work hard to achieve our goals.

As you look forward, what are you most focused on when it comes to growing your business?

There is a great deal of opportunity for our business in industry verticals like construction, property management and healthcare, so we plan continue to build on our success in these areas.