WHENEVER Heather Frankham has to make a big decision, she always takes a solitary walk round the Downs in Bristol. “I identify the issue, but I don’t make a decision until I get to a certain lamp post,” said Frankham, whose business in fitness and customer-service training is expected to turn over more than £20m this year.
“Until I get to the lamp post I look at all the different options — the logical bit, the emotional bit and everything else. Then, once I get to that lamp post, I pull it all together and either make a decision, or realise I lack enough information to be able to make one.
“It is about creating the space to make a decision and not just going on gut reaction.”
Her walks do not take her far from her roots. Frankham was born and brought up in Bristol, where her father was an engineer with British Aerospace. As a child she wanted to be a doctor, but by 18 she had decided to become a teacher — to the disappointment of her parents.
She went to Exeter University to take a degree in teaching physical education and maths, but after six months she transferred to Bristol University to be closer to her boyfriend. In her spare time she ran a gym club at a sports centre.
On graduating in 2001, Frankham became a primary-school teacher and taught aerobics at Redwood Lodge, a country club and hotel outside Bristol. After three years, though, she realised she did not want to be a teacher for the rest of her life and went part time, enrolling for a master’s degree in health science at her old university.
She also asked Redwood Lodge if she could run an aerobics programme of her own. “It was my first business proposal,” she said. “I told them I would guarantee the money they were getting from people paying for their classes and I would give them a share of any profits I made above this.”
The club agreed and the programme, Lifetime, was launched. The classes went so well that when the club, owned by Whitbread, faced competition from a rival starting up nearby, Frankham was asked to advise on how to retain its members.
She realised the gym instructors needed training so she developed courses to add to the classes she was providing.
The business continued to grow, but at the age of 31 Frankham faced a personal and professional crisis when her mother died.
“When my mum died I just didn’t feel I had the energy to deal with the problems in the business,” she said “I felt completely drained and ready to give up.”
Her mother had left her £10,000 in her will and so Frankham decided to spend £2,000 of it going away to think things over. She flew to St Lucia in the Caribbean and did nothing for a week except lie by the pool.
“I decided I was not going to spend my time thinking about the business or about where I was,” she said. “I was going to give myself some space. Then on the flight back I would make a decision as to whether I would take the business forward or whether I would wind it up.”
On the plane Frankham remembered something her mother had told her: “She had said that the business could fail through no fault of your own, so all you can do is your best. I made the decision on the plane that I was going to give it my best and if in three months it hasn’t worked, then at least I won’t look back and regret it. I will have given whatever I can.”
Frankham came back with a renewed sense of purpose. “The biggest change was that I didn’t think about failure. I had accepted the fact that this might happen, but I was determined to take positive steps for the business.”
She added: “When I look back it could so easily have been a different decision. If I hadn’t invested that money and taken that time, I probably would have wound up the business.”
She started by expanding the courses offered by her company to include customer-service training. She also found a mentor in Bob Paton, a businessman from the fitness industry who subsequently invested in her firm.
Now Lifetime has 200 employees, and of its £20m expected turnover this year, half will come from fitness training and half from customer-service training. Its customers include Virgin Active and Marriott Hotels.
Frankham, 41, who has a child she brought up on her own, thinks the secret of her success is simple. “I am a perfectionist. When I give someone a promise, I want to make sure it is delivered.”
She has this advice to give budding entrepreneurs. “Don’t do things just for the money and don’t go for the short-term gain. Quick wins don’t work.
“Success is about building long-term relationships and about creating contracts with people that really are win-win. If you can’t go into a contract where both parties win, it is probably not going to work out in the long run.”
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