Looking for a new direction after a career spent growing and selling training and recruitment companies, serial entrepreneur Liam McBride decided the best way to kick-start his next business venture was to buy a top ten franchise.
And he’s proved himself right! In only his first year of trading, the owner of Revive! Bolton has smashed the Revive! records for first month’s trading and retail sales conversion rate. He also scooped two awards at the 2025 Revive! conference; Best Newcomer and Marketeer of the Year.
Liam explained: “By buying a Revive! franchise I’ve got at least a two-year head-start. I don’t need to worry about a website, where the market is, branding or reputation as that’s already there. I’ve been given a blueprint, I’ve been told the areas that work, so I can focus my skill set on them. If you follow that plan, if you put 100% in, if you genuinely give it everything, your risk in a startup business is dramatically reduced.
“I’m not saying it’s a guarantee. I don’t think anyone could tell you that, but from my experience of going into it, getting to that launch date, and then doing exactly what I’ve been told with maximum effort, I realised very quickly that my risk in this wasn’t like any other business I’d been in.”
Liam launched Revive! Bolton with his eyes wide open: “It might be a franchise business, but ultimately, it’s yours and in a brand-new territory. It’s a new-start business, and you’ve got to get it off the ground. Your sleeves have to be well and truly rolled up.
“I’ve worked for myself since my early twenties and had several businesses before. I know what it’s like to be self-employed, and I know what’s required and the commitment.
“I joked with my missus at the time and said, you know what’s coming – two years of hard work forget holidays, nothing. And I genuinely think you’ve got to go into that mindset, it’s going to be hard work, it’s going to be a lot of effort, but I always think, if you do it right in the first two years, you’ll see the benefit longer term.”
His hard work and dedication has led him to be invited to join the elite group of franchisees in the Revive Executive Leadership Programme (ELP). In addition to events, lectures and training, the group members mentor each other as well as enjoying a bit of competition. Said Liam: “They’ve been really open, and I think that’s really refreshing. There’s a healthy competition in the sense of, how’s everyone doing? But it’s not competitive to the point that it’s close guarded, so there’s that opportunity to really benefit and learn from other people.”
Liam has focused heavily on building relationships: “If you build the right relationships in all areas of your business, then, generally speaking, you have a bit of strength and depth. I spent quite a lot of time in the early days and throughout the year, really investing time and effort in relationships with head office. And they’ve been fantastic. One thing that stands out compared to other experiences and businesses I’ve had, is that level of support and help, not being on your own. As I’ve not run a business like this before, there are things that come up so it’s really nice to have that.”
By the end of his first trading year Liam has built a team of three technicians and employed a part-time sales administrator. He’s put a scalable management structure in place, appointing his senior technician as team leader. In month 12 he hit another best ever sales month and finished the year having turned over nearly a quarter of a million pounds. Over the next two years he plans to add two or three more vans to maintain the ambitious growth momentum he strives for.
Reflecting on his Revive! journey so far Liam said: “I’ve enjoyed my first year. I’m buzzing! I like the hustle and bustle and the pace. I think it keeps it interesting. Every day is quite different. Admittedly, problems come up – you have challenges. But if you stay positive and focus on the solution you can put a solution in place. You can see the outcome of your effort really quickly in this business, and that drives both motivation and reward. We’ve built a nice little team. We’ve got a good infrastructure. We’ve had a lot of support from head office. In all, a great year!
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