It didn’t take the inspirational Terri Vince long to make a splash at Swimtime. She became a franchisee at the tender age of 22 and now, three years later, she’s already running three territories. What’s more, she has just been nominated as a finalist in the ‘Next Generation Franchise Award’ category at the British Franchise Awards 2021.
All this from someone who hated swimming as a young child, something Terri’s parents take great delight in reminding her of at every opportunity. But that phase soon passed and, as a teenager, she went on to become a lifeguard and then qualified as a swim teacher.
Business owner at just 17
At 17, Terri decided to turn what had become a passion into an income generator and went on to run her own swim school. Then, in September 2018, keen to have the support of a successful national brand behind her, she became a Swimtime partner as boss of the Surrey area.
Terri was in the process of building her new business when the pandemic struck and everything came to a sudden halt. Turning this unfathomable challenge into an opportunity, Terri seized the chance to add two further territories, Swimtime Yorkshire and Swimtime East Yorkshire, to her portfolio just as we were all coming out of lockdown.
Class-leading software
With her ambitious nature, Terri certainly wasn’t going to let the small matter of Yorkshire being over five hours drive away from her Surrey base stand in her way! Pioneering Terri had already developed confidence in the class-leading software that facilitated the effective management of the new territories, wherever you happen to be located.
Terri immediately set up online calls with the teachers and venue managers in Yorkshire to establish the initial relationship. She then made the long journey north and spent a few days in the territory familiarising herself with the venues, meeting the teachers face-to-face and getting a better feel for the area and the demographics.
Despite her incredible self-confidence and entrepreneurial spirit, Terri is always keen to seek input from those around her. She engaged enthusiastically with her Swim Teachers, getting them involved and encouraging them to share ideas which increased their own motivation and job satisfaction.
Social media expertise
An interesting side note to the story: during the long, frustrating periods of lockdown, Swimtime ran a series personal development and business development sessions. Being especially skilled in social media, Terri volunteered to set up a series of online sessions for her fellow franchisees, to share social media skills.
For the Franchisees that took part in Terri’s sessions, engagement on Facebook increased by an average of 60%, while the reach of most posts increased by 40%.
This story is only just beginning
Terri is still only 25-years-old, a dynamic business owner who is driven, ambitious and demonstrates a maturity way beyond her years.
As for the future, Terri intends to continue to develop her three territories, and she harbours ambitions to become the most successful partner in the nationwide Swimtime organisation. Knowing her as we do, we certainly wouldn’t bet against that happening one day soon.
