Alexandre Belkowski, Vie & Veranda marketing and digital manager, was present at Forum Franchise Lyon 2022. For Whole Franchise, he agreed to take part in the video game Q&A. In particular, he explains the strengths of his network, the skills needed to open a dealership alongside him and his development prospects for the months to come.
LIFE AND VERANDA
Sale and installation of verandas and premium home extension
Vie & Véranda is a family-run SME specializing in the 100% French design and manufacture of verandas, extendable verandas and pergolas, in wood or aluminum, made to measure, premium, customized and ready to install.
Can you tell us about the Vie & Véranda network?
Vie & Véranda is a company that sells 100% made-to-measure verandas, extensions and pergolas throughout France with a high-end positioning. We work with aluminum and wood to offer products in one of these two materials or in a combination of aluminum and wood. We produce all our products in Feyzin, in the Lyon region. They are 3D designed by our design studio and are then delivered by our trucks and installed at our customers’ sites by our franchisees.
You are open to independent franchise entrepreneurs. What profile are you looking for? What are the essential skills to become a Life & Veranda franchisee?
There is no standard profile. The important thing is to have commercial skills, an entrepreneurial spirit obviously and also the desire to enter the network and be part of the community. The commercial part is also important because we have a rather high-end positioning, products with a high cart and therefore you must have it within you, both to be able to sell yourself and to manage the commercial team. .
Besides that, we must not be afraid of the technical part of our work. It’s a part that’s not huge but it’s still there. I would also say that you need to be willing to offer these products, work in the housing sector and have an appetite for design; this somewhat creative side that we have with our products. And finally, you want to work in retail sales.
Where are you today in your development? What are your prospects and ambitions?
We have covered just over half of the French territory and today we try to cover all of this territory. We are in areas of territorial exclusivity and even today we have many very interesting, very lively and uncovered sectors. For example, we have the entire Gulf of Lions, the southwestern part, the Dax sector in particular. We have the surroundings of Bordeaux, Alsace or many regions in the north. Almost everywhere, many very interesting sectors, with different business models. There are also industries that rely on smaller business models, so it’s according to the potential of each industry.
Don’t have a minimum city size?
Not really ! Our catchment areas are quite large. We generally cover quite large territories. We usually count on an hour’s drive from the point of sale. All our areas are therefore more or less already mapped out, but sometimes we adapt according to the projects that our affiliates can think of. We don’t have a standard zoning scheme. It depends more on the business potential of each area!
Do you want to discover the potential of your area? Go to the personalized page of the Vie & Véranda group! ⇩
