The whole truth about the “Second Passport” franchise
International TOP networker Ekaterina Golub interviewed the head of the immigration consulting center “Second Passport” Alena Laurens to look into the working secrets of the company. Representative offices not only survived and withstood the difficult obstacle of the pandemic, but also exaggerated their turnover. How did it happen that clients are looking for the company themselves?
Alena Laurens: I’ll say right away that the term “luck” does not quite fit here, rather a combination of factors “luck” + “a lot of work”.
Ekaterina Golub: Why did you choose this particular field? I agree that a visa center is a very necessary service, but how did you come up with the idea of opening this kind of business?
A.L.: To be honest, the idea of the business is not mine; at one time I became interested in this activity and saw an advertisement on the Internet. Later she became a franchisee of the large company “Second Passport”. For me, this was a unique opportunity to very quickly launch my business using a ready-made and proven model. At the same time, I also had experience of moving abroad, which was closely related to my activities, so I completely immersed myself in work and began to express myself. The company management noticed me and offered me a position. I think this is an isolated incident in the history of franchising!
E.G.: Judging by the way your eyes light up, are you minding your own business?
A.L.: Of course! First, I took the position of deputy manager and began to implement many business processes that, in my opinion, the company lacked. Subsequently, the company acquired a new meaning and concept.
E.G.: The pandemic has become a huge stress for the business of your segment. How did you manage to survive this, stay afloat and even grow?
A.L.: My transition from deputy manager to senior management positions in the company occurred during the pandemic. At the same time, some franchise locations began to close. Now I simply say to all entrepreneurs interested in our franchise: “They chickened out!”
And at that time, my team and I began to look for loopholes, study and delve into foreign legislation thanks to our partners in different countries. There were more and more open doors and, what is most interesting, our competitors were not aware of them, because not everyone deals with immigration, but only opens visas.
Now we have more than 30 branches in different countries (including the CIS countries, UAE, Europe, etc.), and we work with more than 80 countries around the world. And when many people think why they should contact one company if they can go directly to a lawyer, they don’t even realize that our prices will be lower. We also provide a full range of services: from obtaining a visa to citizenship in another country.
E.G.: You have a new product, a franchise with an exclusive. What it is?
A.L.: I know exactly what needs to be given to the franchisee for successful work, because I myself have been in this place and still am. One of my offices is still franchised.
Regarding exclusives, we currently have 2 options:
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when a potential franchisee can purchase a franchise located outside the countries where people immigrate (USA, Europe, Canada, etc.), often an office in the CIS that makes sales and transfers clients to a partner.
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location outside the CIS. The unique offer is that by purchasing a franchise, an office becomes both a representative and a partner. He receives all the benefits as a franchisee and additional clients from other offices. Two in one!
This offer is ideal for entrepreneurs who are planning to move, since they will be able to move and become legalized at the expense of the company. By the way, we already have such examples. What the “Second Passport” franchise includes can be seen here (https://vtoroipasport.com/online/kurs-chto-vklyuchaet-v-sebya-franshiza-vtorogo-pasporta-besplatno).
E.G.: Tell us who your franchisee partners are and who is interested in buying the business
A.L.: In fact, we receive quite a lot of applications, but when I took up this position, I began to strictly approach the selection of a representative. I look at business experience, level of motivation and, of course, personal communication during an online or offline meeting. I am interested in people who will enjoy this activity.
I don’t want to pull someone by the ears and give them a kick. A franchise is not about when you buy it and don’t need to do anything else, it’s a business model. Yes, the franchise says HOW to do it, but you have to do it. At the same time, you have support, lead generation (we provide potential clients), but the question remains how the entrepreneur will use this support.
Franchising is a transfer of a brand and I cannot afford for someone to misuse my business model.
E.G.: What prospects await future franchisees?
A.L.: Ideas are born and implemented every day, and the feature of our visa center with expanded capabilities is a large number of industries: training, employment, family immigration, just visas and much more. Everyone can concentrate on one thing or choose several segments for themselves (if multitasking is difficult).
But I, of course, recommend learning how to work in this mode, because it’s interesting. We have a lot of features and various cases. By the way, in company practice there are no identical situations at all and few repetitive actions, so you need to be able to find ways to solve a problem for the client.
E.G.: Despite the fact that there is training in the company and is constantly moving, is it impossible to work according to a template?
A.L.: Personally, I invest a lot of energy and finances in teaching our partners everything, including finding a way out of a maze. This is very important for me and based on this I created my own online school where we monetize training.
E.G.: I envy your partners, because the manager is not just interested in results, but she herself is passionate and wants to make sure that everyone is competent. When communicating with employees, I notice how their eyes light up, and this speaks about the level of the company. I want to join a team like this.
A.L.: I really have great respect for my colleagues and devote a lot of time to entrepreneurs, sharing my experience. And I'm always aware that I always put my franchisees first. I feel some kind of responsibility to them and I want to give them as much as possible. And when I see that a person accepts this information, the tandem becomes the most successful.
