June 4, 2005 - Young entrepreneurs Nick Avgerinos, Kushal Joshi, and Shailendra Shukla are proof that entrepreneurialism is alive and well in England. Aged 31, 28, and 24 respectively, these men are the youngest National and Regional Franchisees at Fastway Couriers – the world’s largest courier franchise system.

Brothers-in-law Shukla (his preferred name) and Kushal have teamed up to become the one of the newest Regional Franchisees to be opened by Fastway Couriers England. “Look, our names are even anagrams of each other, we must have been destined for this partnership,” Kushal quips.

Their enthusiasm and youthful energy is backed up by a serious and considered approach to their new business venture.

Displaying a maturity beyond his years, Shukla explains how he came to purchase the Fastway Regional Franchise for the Coventry and Warwickshire area.

“Initially I considered a franchised sandwich chain, but I decided against it because I didn’t fancy spending my days in a retail environment and I felt that the potential for growth would reach a cap. This is a total business management role, which is more suited to my skills, and the potential for ongoing growth is enormous.”

Shukla previously ran a small e-commerce business and used Fastway Couriers to deliver his goods. “I liked my courier service so much I bought the company!” he jokes. “Seriously though,” he says, “I was very impressed with the service, and especially impressed with the price. Despite being a small business I could enjoy extremely competitive prices and I was treated like a large customer. I was always telling my friends about the service and then one day I got into a conversation with the local Fastway franchisee and found out how I could be involved.”

Kushal and Shukla made their final decision to purchase the franchise when they met Nick Avgerinos, Fastway’s new National Master Franchisee for England. Coming from a legal, accounting, and operations background in Fastway Australia, Nick was bringing his own brand of youthful ambition to the Fastway team in England, and Kushal and Shukla wanted to be part of it.

“Knowing that Nick had invested his own money gave us the confidence to do so ourselves,” Kushal said. “It was the final assurance we needed. We knew that his success would stem from ours.”

Fastway is franchised at three levels. The overall National Master Franchisee gives guidance and support to the Regional Franchisees throughout the country, who in turn recruit Courier Franchisees in their area.

Finding other ambitious outgoing individuals to join them in their business is now the aim of Mr. Avgerinos. “All of our Regional Franchisees have openings for Courier Franchisees and we’re ready for them now! The Courier Franchise opportunity is considered to be a low entry level franchise (£11,500) and we guarantee a minimum weekly income of £500 per week for the first 21 weeks to help get them started. No special skills are required; we just need people with enthusiasm and the desire to build their own successful business under the umbrella of the Fastway brand.”

Regional Franchises are also available, in selected areas. “One of the attractions of the franchise,” Shukla says, “is that the business model is based on a proven system. By ensuring the system is well established and adhered to, I can see the potential for it to be run by a manager in later years. I’m keeping my sights set on my ambition of ‘work hard now and take time for myself and family later’. I would like to be in a position to retire in 10 years time.”

“I’m prepared to work very hard to realise my goals,” he said, “and I’m looking forward to working with our couriers to help them reach theirs.”

More details on the Regional and Courier Franchise opportunities can be got from the website: www.fastwaycouriers.co.uk or by phoning 0161 929 8815.

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