When Charmaine Perry and husband Tony started their First Class franchise it was a challenging time. Their prior business had major complications and stalled their plans. Happily once they got going 'the system' saved them. That was 16 years ago.

Three years into her bookkeeping business, Felicity Menchin still has the occasional day when things feel new and daunting, but in the main she's very happy with how it's going. A person who enjoys variety, she's resisting the lure of the niche and for now is unlikely to change.

Eric Tong has always wanted to start his own small business. With little marketing experience and a country and language that were new to him, it was always going to be a challenge. But rise to the challenge he has!

When he swapped his rubbish removal business for a bookkeeping practice, Gary didn't hesitate to go the franchise route. He realised that having a proven system and the back-up of a successful model would likely serve him well. Nearly 5 years in, he's happy with how it's going.

Calxa helps make reporting easier for bookkeepers and their clients. Their app creates management reporting for small businesses and not-for-profits, generating reports against budgets, cashflow forecasts, KPI reporting and a whole lot more.

Sue Jenkins describes herself as something of a 'gypsy', but for now she's happy to be in one place and build her business. A newcomer to the industry, she's loving the freedom and enjoying the challenge. 

When Joy Liu moved to Australia from China, she wasn't about to make any hasty decisions. Before buying her franchise, she did plenty of research and took advantage of the multicultural nature of the established network.

In this episode we meet Skye Taylor from field service management app, Service M8 and hear how they support the work of our bookkeeping network and make life easier for a key sector of small business.

Now in her ninth year with First Class, Michelle Timperley reckons she gets more and more value from other franchisees as time goes by. Regardless of the challenge or question, she never struggles to find solutions and answers.