Sarah Ordover & Jay Stolba: An Early Success
that Just Keeps on Growing
Cedar Rapids and Davenport, IA Franchises
Husband and wife team Jay and Sarah had a lot of experience in the corporate world before they became Unishippers franchise owners. In fact, they’d experienced enough corporate restructures and takeovers to know that they wanted to control their own destiny. That’s when they started looking at franchise opportunities.
Unishippers appealed to them because there was minimal need for a staff and equipment. Neither one of them knew anything about shipping, but Sarah had been working for a long distance reseller, and she could see similarities in the two models. And since both of them had sales backgrounds, they were comfortable they could sell such a logical product to business people.
Another thing that attracted them was the lifestyle Unishippers offered. Sarah had just had a baby, and she was eager to work at home. So Sarah and Jay took the plunge, even though they were cautioned by a Unishippers executive that one of them would probably have to continue working at an outside job to support the family. But when their franchise became profitable in the first year of business, they proved him wrong.
Jay says they relied on cold calling to find customer prospects in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa market. It worked. “During the first four years, there were very few weeks where we didn’t have 18 to 20 new appointments solely from cold calling. Our business grew by leaps and bounds,” remembers Jay.
As early franchise owners, Sarah and Jay contributed a lot of insight into making Unishippers a more successful organization. In fact, Sarah has chaired the Marketing Advisory Council within the organization since it was created. That has given her the opportunity to lend her experience and expertise to help build more efficient systems within Unishippers. Countless other franchise owners have benefited from her contributions. But Sarah also says that the executive team works really hard for the system. She adds, “It makes a big difference that some of them are franchise owners as well. I have a lot of faith in their ability, and know that their interests are in leading the system to greater levels.”
Today, Sarah and Jay have expanded their franchise ownership to include Davenport and East Iowa. Jay works on the finance side, and Sarah focuses on managing sales and franchise operations. They keep their staff small – just four dedicated and efficient employees. That allows them build an atmosphere of trust and teamwork, where everybody gets along and contributes to the success of the company.
And the best news of all is that after 15 years, Sarah and Jay still enjoy the challenges and rewards of owning their own business. And, as Sarah says “We have surpassed every expectation we originally had. The freedom, money and opportunities are better than we ever anticipated.”
> Find out how Terrell Barkett is building success with integrity.
