Kiwi wins Young Entrepreneurs trip
to US franchise conference

21-year-old Jessica Linnell is one of just 50 people worldwide to have won a place in the Young Entrepreneurs in Franchising competition sponsored by the US-based International Franchise Association Education Foundation.

The prize means Jessica, who works for window and door maintenance company Exceed in Tauranga, will fly to Las Vegas to attend the IFA’s annual conference in February and meet the other winners, as well as some of the biggest companies and most successful entrepreneurs in the world.

The Next-Gen Young Entrepreneurs in Franchising competition was launched last year to find, recognise and celebrate a new generation of leaders in the franchise sector. Jessica was encouraged to enter by her employers, David and Karen Dovey of Exceed , who had read about it in the Franchise New Zealand newsletter. 

‘Jess started with us a year-and-a-half ago as a PA when she was just 20,’ says Karen. ‘In a small office you do everything, though, and she soon took on the social media and internet side of the business as it came naturally to her. She was also creative – in a quiet hour one day, she developed Exceed’s first-ever app. Since that time, she has developed it considerably, grown our online engagement by 600 percent and put together a full social media calendar for 2015.’

The Young Entrepreneurs in Franchising organisers asked young entrepreneurs to submit a brief application in one of two categories: an idea for a new franchise concept, or an innovation for an existing franchise brand.

Jessica explains: ‘My entry into the competition was an innovation for an existing franchise brand; Exceed. My idea took the outdated and redundant marketing techniques that had once been thriving platforms and redirected efforts to fresh and current platforms, such as social media and personalised business apps.’

Jessica’s social media approach was based on considerable research, identifying the need for the Exceed brand to appear helpful and insightful to a predominantly female target market and establishing a suite of topics for regular postings according to a set calendar.

‘Along with the executive summary of my 2014 marketing plan, I submitted the Exceed app and a 30 second promotional video showcasing the app’s features,’ Jessica says. ‘Then Karen called me over the summer holidays to ask if I could make lunch with David and herself. That's when they told me I had been chosen as one of the 50 winners and invited to Las Vegas. I was speechless!’

The IFA conference is held from 15^th-18th February and is an unprecedented networking event which is the biggest gathering of franchisors, franchisees, suppliers and consultants on the planet. As well as the conference itself, which is packed with panel and round table discussions about the hottest trends and best practices in social entrepreneurship, micro franchising, crowd funding and international expansion, the 50 young winners will also attend the first ever NextGen in Franchising Summit.

If you’re good enough, you’re old enough

Franchisor Karen Dovey is delighted with Jessica’s success. ‘As a company, Exceed endeavours to provide opportunities and education to extend the knowledge of all our staff and franchisees. David and I are currently spending two weeks per month in Australia as we explore opportunities there. It’s therefore important that we have key staff with the knowledge and skill to take on challenges, and the technology to keep the business expanding. Jess is one of two 21-year-olds in our office, with our son Matt running the distribution arm, and both are managing staff as well.’

‘Our role as franchisors is developing business skills in others so we apply that to our own team too. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough!’