FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2006

Young Owners Thrive in FASTSIGNS® Franchise System

CARROLLTON, Texas - For Jon and Crystal Toy, the goal to have their own business came from a desire to be accountable to themselves and to have freedom and flexibility. For Branden Keast, the entrepreneurial drive running through his family made him realize that working for someone else was not part of his life plan.

While their motivation, personalities and locations are different, the Toys and Keast have two things in common ­ they own FASTSIGNS® sign and graphics centers and they are younger than 30 years old. While under-30 owners who open or buy existing FASTSIGNS® centers represent a minority of the nearly 500 locations worldwide, these younger owners benefit from having more established owners serve as mentors and from the operations, marketing, sales and general support that FASTSIGNS International, Inc. offers to its franchisees.

Explaining why he opened a FASTSIGNS® in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in March 2005, 25-year-old Keast said, “I have worked for someone else in the past, and it’s not for me. I like the risk of owning my own business. Yes, there’s a lot put on you, but you’re not restricted by someone else. The harder you work, the more money you can make.”

Keast’s father, Barry, has owned a wholesale sporting goods company for years. While in high school and college, Branden worked for his father’s company during the summers, which taught him how to sell and how to make cold calls on prospective customers -- experience he put to work when he opened his own business. “It was unbelievable how many jobs I got by knocking on doors or making cold calls the first couple of months that we were open. I ordered brochures from FASTSIGNS International, Inc. about signs and graphics, and walked into stores, in industrial parks, into any type of business with the right kind of target customer. I said, ‘If you ever need signs, remember us.’”

Nearly a year later, Branden’s cold-calling efforts have paid off. The center is now getting larger orders and repeat business from customers who are happy with the service they receive, said Keast.

Jon and Crystal Toy, who are both in their 20s, left stable jobs and a home in Texas to relocate to York, Pa., to open their FASTSIGNS® center in fall 2004. Jon was a certified public accountant with one of the Big Four accounting firms, while Crystal was an elementary school teacher. While the couple said they both enjoyed their jobs, they were ready for a change. Toy said, “When you have a corporate job, the stress comes from other people, not you. Now for the most part, we answer to ourselves. We work hard and see results, but we can have freedom and flexibility when we want or need it.”

Both the Toys and Keast found the sign and graphics industry to be an appealing one where their youth was not a disadvantage. “The sign business is a great business,” said Keast. “Everybody needs signs and graphics. With a little common sense, we can get their business.”

Jon Toy said he liked the idea of owning a sign and graphics center because it gave him an opportunity to work with many different sizes and types of companies, from a new landscaping business to a major corporation. “I liked the diversity of people we get to work with,” he said. “When I’m calling on a customer, I try to learn as much as possible about their business to see how our products can truly add value to their company and the bottom line.”

Keast and the Toys said their age has not been a detriment to success. “When I’ve gone out and quoted jobs for people, there may be customers who won’t take me seriously because I’m young,” said Keast. “But I find that age isn’t really an issue if you know what you are talking about. I know what I’m talking about now. A lot of people tell me they think it’s fantastic; they like seeing younger people in business.”

Jon Toy said that while he felt a little intimidated at first selling to people much older than him, “I’ve found that my energy and enthusiasm far outweigh my youth. I go in there and treat people they way they want to be treated. People like to do business with people they like.”

He noted that the couple’s youth also was an advantage when they made the entrepreneurial jump. “Not only do we have energy, we have a lack of other commitments like having a large mortgage or a family, which established people usually have. Our ages give us more time to see the rewards of owning the business long term.”

The young FASTSIGNS® owners had this advice for under-30 would-be entrepreneurs:

• Make sure the business is properly capitalized. Keast said, “If you are capitalized, you can buy the best equipment and hire extra people when you need to. It’s one less thing to worry about. Make sure you have enough money to grow the business.” He also suggested that entrepreneurs have alternative sources of capital lined up in case obtaining a bank loan proves not to be feasible.
• Do as much research about the business endeavor as possible before making the leap. “For example, if you want to open a sign center, find out the people and their positions at your current company who order signs before you give notice so you know who to call on in that industry,” said Toy.
• If possible, work in the business or a similar operation before opening or buying the business. Keast suggested that under-30 prospective FASTSIGNS® franchisees work in an existing center for as long as possible to make sure the business is one they like. For example, Mark Hull, a good friend of Keast’s, just completed two months of working in the Winnipeg center in preparation for opening his own center in Edmonton, Canada. For two months, Jon Toy worked for the FASTSIGNS® center in Lancaster, Pa. owned by his wife’s aunt and uncle, Ann Marie and Al Hall. “The experience of working in a very successful center was extremely helpful, and contributed to our center’s early success.”
• Find ­ and use ­ a mentor. All new FASTSIGNS® center owners are assigned a mentor, which Keast said was extremely helpful, as was the ongoing email support he gets from more established owners. For the Toys, it has been beneficial that the Halls’ center is just a half hour’s drive away. “A mentor is a critical part in your center’s first-year development,” said Toy.
• Be prepared for challenges, doubts and ups and downs. “The hardest part of the last year for me has been our ups and downs in sales,” said Keast. For Jon Toy, the biggest challenge was unexpected. “For me, it was that my lack of industry experience meant I didn’t know who to contact at target customers. The diversity of the jobs of people who buy signs amazed me. I’ve also learned from many other franchisees and my current customers that I need to continue to dig deeper for contacts in existing customers,” he said.
• Ask people for advice and then take it. While Branden Keast’s father is a partner in the business, the older Keast is not involved in the center’s day-to-day operations. The younger Keast said that he asks his father and the other business partner for advice on any range of issues, from sales to operations. “There’s no substitute for their experience,” he said.
• Have enthusiasm for whatever the business operation is. “Whatever you do, be passionate about it and show that to people,” said Toy.