How lan Fuhr built Sorbet-The Beautiful Business Empire Here's how Ian Fuhr entered the beauty Industry for the first time in his 50s, and has created a

recession-proof brand that everyone loves to love. This is the story of Sorbet.

Sorbet receives 40 franchise applications per week. Demand is so high that new locations are

the biggest challenge for the ten-year-old bus1ness

It's hard to imagine that just a few short years ago, Ian Fuhr and his business partner, Rud

Rudolph were unable to sell a single franchise, "We call them the 'dark days'," says Fuhr,

referring to the first four years of the business. when several attempts at franchising failed "It

forced us to continue to open company stores while we built that most elusive of traits

Credibility•

Both Fuhr and Rudolph were seasoned businessmen, and Fuhr had several successful

businesses under his belt, most recently. He certainly wasn't new to entrepreneurship. He was

new to the beauty Industry though, and to franchising in particular "In hindsight, our slow start was

the best thing that could have happened to us. It gave us time to build the credibility we needed to

make the franchise modelwork, and to get the franchise portion of the business right "

"From the begging we knew we wanted to franchise," says Fuhr. "People, personal wellness and

hygiene are all things that require a personal touch to get right, one we knew an owner would

do better than a manager, simply because they had more invested in the brand and the business

"

"We needed to build a brand that customers loved and create a real sense of brand loyalty " In

everything he's ever done or pursued, Fuhr's core focus has always been on people. With h

Sorbet, this became more important than ever before.

"The culture of our orgamsat1on has always been a focus on people and service rather than

money. Once you get that right, the money comes. It seems so obvious, and yet often the focus

on results persists and people get lost i n the wash. The most important group of people in

Sorbet are our staff. Withoutthem, we can't be successful. Our core value is 'servant leadership',

which basically means always putting our customers first. But to do that, we need to put our put

our staff first, and then they pay it forward "

"My focus isn't on what you do or how you do it, but rather why you do it. Our staff need

to believe that we're not selling treatments and products. We're selling a feeling. People

want to feel good about themselves, and that's what we give them "

And that's when the magic happened, "Today, most of our franchisees start out as guests

in our stores," explains Fuhr. "They already love the brand and buy into the value, and now

they want to be a part of the community". To create that level of engaged franchisee,

the brand needed to be strong first, which IS why the franchising model ultimately took time to

put in place.

The second b i g obstacle was integrity "Franchisees need to know the franchise will

make money," says Fuhr, "and that takes time, a track record, and a culture of

transparency"

QUESTIONS

2.1. Ian Fuhr displays many characteristics of an entrepreneur. With examples from the

case study, discuss any five of these characteristics. (10)

I

2.2. Entrepreneurial leadership IS a combination of both management and leadership. Ian

Furh may be considered an Entrepreneurial leader. With reference to this, describe the

three (3) fundamental issues entrepreneurial leaders are concerned with. (9)

2.3. lan Fuhr explains that demand is so high that new locations are the biggest challenge for

their ten-year-old business. Advise him on any five (5) location factors he needs to consider.

(10)

2.4. One cannot think of goal achievement without vision and mission. In light of this, explain

the relationship between these two terms. (8)

3. Briefly distinguish between the following:

3.1. CEO and CFO.

3.2. DTI and SEDA.

3.3. DTI and SEFA.

3.4. SEDA and SEFA.

3.5. IDC and NEF. (15)

4. Barriers to creativity in entrepreneurship exists when individuals apply a constrained

approach to idea-generation and problem solving. With reference to this statement,

describe any four (4) barriers to creative thinking. (8)​