It really was time for a change and John Leith’s mind was made up! He wanted to work with pets – and OSCAR Pet Foods provided all the right ingredients.

It really was time for a change and John Leith’s mind was made up! He wanted to work with pets – and OSCAR Pet Foods provided all the right ingredients.

“It took friends to point out that self-employment might bring me the personal rewards I was searching for,” John says. “After fifteen years on the road as a private-hire driver, I retook my GCSE exams to make a career change into an office environment – which proved to be disappointing.

“Without hesitation, I resigned from my job at the local council and started to make plans. I had everything to gain! In my spare time I’d been working on a property renovation, but reflecting on my deep passion for pets, I was inspired to investigate the options. I went online to discover franchising and OSCAR.” John says, “There was no need to look any further because in OSCAR I recognised passion, commitment, dedication and a fantastic range of products that would speak volumes for anyone wishing to set up their own business.

“I had a reasonably good understanding of my area, which covers many rural miles and remote places. Previous experience helped me to find ways to cover the distance and locate lots of customers who would most certainly benefit from pet food home delivery. OSCAR telesales was a great help towards getting started, but it also prompted me to make the early decision to follow up with the highly recognised nutritional qualification, which is available to all franchisees. To be able to give customers extra confidence through my knowledge of pet care would be a great asset to my business.

“My wife, Alison, works full time but is very much an added enthusiastic supporter, as well as being involved with administration and marketing. We quickly discovered a high volume of country shows in our area as well as specialised weekly markets, which attract a regular following of pet customers. I appreciate that any new business takes time to develop but I’m confident in having all the right information and assistance from the OSCAR team to help me towards success.” John goes on to say, “It’s reassuring to discuss ideas with Head Office and to share points of view at regional meetings with fellow franchisees.

“My advice for anyone wishing to join the OSCAR network would be ‘Know your territory and tailor your knowledge to suit your needs.’ For me, with many isolated areas of distribution, I’m now considered to be a ‘local’ pet food supplier because my customers have the reassurance of never running out of food – with the added benefit of free home delivery – and that means a lot!

“I think things happen for a reason. We already had three Labradors, but I was reassured when our adopted indoor cat and Jack Russell dog, now my OSCAR mascot, have already seen the benefit of being fed OSCAR food! So if asked how I feel my life has changed since setting up my own business, I would say it’s far more relaxed, and I have freedom of choice to never stop planning new ways to achieve great things with OSCAR.”