- +1 (407) 766-4585
- rak@TheFranchiseConsultingCompany.com
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Rak has quite an international personal and business background. He was born in Nairobi, Kenya to east Indian parents. He grew up in around London, England where his entrepreneurial skills were honed at the tender age of 10. He recognized his love of business ownership by starting work for an older lady newspaper shop owner by delivering papers to homes, all before going to school at 8.30 am. And then delivering the evening newspapers after school. Next, he delivered milk door to door, again before and after school. His love for sports, especially soccer and cricket, allowed him to be able to purchase his own soccer boots and cricket equipment without adding any additional financial burden to his hard- working immigrant parents.
He gained the equivalent of an Associates Degree in Business Studies and soon started working for an International Consumer Goods company as a junior salesman. He worked his way up the ladder rapidly and was appointed to a senior sales position at the age of 23. Despite his rapid success in Sales and Marketing with the option to grow to even more prestigious position in a major company, his passion for business ownership could not be subdued!
With the full backing of his parents and brother, he negotiated the opening of one of the very first specialist greetings card Hallmark Cards retail stores in the south-east of England. The success of this store propelled the number of stores to 3 in only 3 short years. In fact, for nearly 10 years, 2 of our stores were always ranked as the highest performing in the entire Hallmark Cards portfolio of nearly 300 stores.
Due to the changing retail climate, Rak decided it was time to move on to the next challenge. This involved not only a change of business type but also a change of country. In 2005, Rak and his family moved to sunny Orlando, Florida and immediately bought an existing Homeowners Association management company. Some 10 years later, and having grown the business by some 40%, it was time to move on. This led to the purchase of a franchise with Budget Blinds, the No.1 custom window treatments company in the USA and Canada.
So, with my extensive business background it was an obvious decision for me when a friend suggested that I should look at Franchise Consulting as a career. I immediately took to the idea because not only did it allow me to learn about new brands and industries, it also allowed me to share my knowledge and experiences with new-starts that would enable them to avoid pitfalls that I had encountered along the way. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see a client succeed in their new venture after much blood, sweat and tears on their parts. This makes their success even sweeter!
My spare time is taken up with supporting the progress of our soccer-loving son by transporting him all over the state of Florida to help him realize his dream of playing at the highest level one day. My wife is fully involved in supporting me in the Budget Blinds business. Our daughter is an incredibly talented and creative young lady that loves all things Disney and is training to be a registered nurse at the same time. I hope to speak or meet with you soon.
