By Widget Finn (Telegraph.co.uk)

John and Elaine Ryan saw the stand for kitchen facelift company Dream Doors while having a cup of coffee at the International Franchise Exhibition at Olympia, London. They ended up with a new kitchen and a new business.

Mr Ryan had been in the printing industry for 27 years. "I was fed up with the unsocial hours and tremendous pressure, but was nervous about starting on my own, so franchising, with a proven system and support, appealed to me."

He looked at the British Franchise Association's website, researched options and talked to other people with franchises. He didn't want to take on a franchise where he did the manual work, but would concentrate on managing other people and finding new business.

"But when we went round the franchise exhibition, the businesses on offer all seemed very similar, involving cars or signmaking or printing. Then we saw the Dream Doors' exhibit and my wife said: 'I'd definitely have those in my kitchen.' It seemed like a proper business, rather than a tradesman's job."

A month later the Ryans spent a day at Dream Doors' headquarters in Gosport, then bought a kitchen, which Mr Ryan fitted himself. "I wanted to understand what was involved."

Dream Doors had been operating a franchise network for six years. The first franchises were sold for £5,000 but that has now risen to £15,000. "You take on various commitments, such as opening a showroom within a year and having an annual turnover target," says Mr Ryan.

The couple took two months to mull over the idea, then decided to purchase the Dartford franchise with their savings and a one-third loan from the bank.

"We order all the doors from Dream Doors which takes 8pc of the sale, and appliances are ordered through the company. The percentage partly goes towards the support we receive. We were given a lot of advice on advertising and how to conduct appointments and sales interviews, and we had a four-day training programme."

They started trading in September 2005. "The first month was scary and we made just one sale, then the second month it came good. In one day I sold three, then a couple more made the balance sheet look healthy.

"Our market is the 50-plus age group who are retired and want to spend money on their homes."

The first customers came through advertising in free newspapers and leaflets and national advertising by the parent company, through Saga magazine.