One of Mad Mex’s strongest-performing franchises is the location in Albury. Located right in the heart of the vibrant city, it has become a regular haunt for anyone that loves good, wholesome, and fresh flavour. It’s no exaggeration to say that the restaurant has injected a strong dash of Mexican colour and culture into the town.
It has now reached its fifth year and is going strong. The franchisees are Jim and Linda Ainsworth – locals that are well known around town – and part of what makes their journey with Mad Mex so fascinating is that they’ve successfully managed several other franchises before realising that Mad Mex was the way to go.
“The quality of the food matters so much to a franchise,” Jim said. “Word spreads quickly on that one.
“But location is also so important, and the Mad Mex restaurant looks great. It catches people’s attention and we’ve had plenty of instances of people that were unsure of what they wanted for lunch before they saw the store while out and about.”
Having had such extensive experience in the franchising industry, Jim has learned some basic truths about what drives success.
“You really need great support from the franchisor,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve always been able to maintain a good relationship with our franchisors and their support staff, but some franchises are run very lean and aren’t as contactable. With Mad Mex we’ve always had them on the phone when we’ve needed them.”
Building a business in Albury
By Jim’s own admission, he wasn’t especially familiar with Mexican cuisine when he first encountered Mad Mex. However, the growing interest in Mexican across Australia intrigued him, and after trying Mad Mex and experiencing the quality first-hand, he knew that it would be a winning formula for Albury.
“I would always advise people to do your research on the brand, the people and speak to other franchisees before signing up,” Jim said. “You should always get a clear understanding of how the brand is performing, and I liked what I saw with Mad Mex.
“The first two years when establishing a new store are always challenging, of course, and we rode a rollercoaster with COVID-19 on top of that, but things are looking like they’re clearing up, and there’s a very exciting future for the restaurant.”
Now that the Mad Mex Albury location is humming nicely, Jim said its time to step back from it a bit (but only a bit!) and start to pursue some other passions that he has.
“I intend to back off from the day-to-day bustle a little, and I want to give back,” Jim said. “I’d love to explore doing a podcast in which I speak with others about business, life etc.
“Everybody has a story to tell, and I find that people are always curious to know more about business in particular.”