“We grow when you grow.”

Jensen Fleet Solutions have only been in existence for two years, but already they are making a big impact in the motor industry in Ireland. Based in south Dublin, Jensen provide a range of services, from fleet maintenance, car and van rental, vehicle servicing and the sale of ex-lease vehicles. They pride themselves on their customer service, with a 95% retention rate in the last two years speaking volumes for that side of the business. We caught up with one of the owners of the business, Leanne Nolan, to give us some background on the company, the challenges they’ve faced so far and the advice she would offer to anyone thinking of starting a business in Ireland. JOE: Tell us a little bit about the business, your background and how you came to start the business in the first place? Leanne Nolan: Jensen Fleet Solutions opened in January 2013 after myself and the other owner, Ian Hand, decided to share our experience and go it alone. My own background is quite varied; I only got into the motor industry about eight years ago and from there I found myself in a leasing company. I am a qualified ACCA accountant. The business started up through a shared ideal of supplying a fantastic service to SME’s and to be able to give a personalised service to our customers. We deal with customers who have one vehicle right up to customers who have 40. We have purposely positioned ourselves in the medium fleet sector as we feel our experience can come to the fore here and the service we promise is achievable. JOE: What was the key to you setting up a fleet company? Was it that you spotted a gap in the market in Ireland? LN: We had found through our previous employment that giving good service works, that we are not only selling a car, we are selling a long-term agreement, a partnership of sorts. This was the main reason we decided to go it alone; we felt that our guarantee to providing a long-term partnership with an excellent personalised service was what was needed in the industry. JOE: Once the business got up and running, did you find that progress was slow or was there plenty of demand for what you had to offer from an early stage? LN: We have found that year on year we have grown in terms of new lease numbers. We have found that offering a range of items, from leasing to rental to servicing, can help get us in the door with some new companies. In the first year, as the Jensen brand was only new, it was hard to get the phone ringing and to get ourselves noticed among the competition. Since then, with major investment in our website and internal systems, we feel that as 2015 goes into its final quarter that we have really seen great growth across our major departments. JOE: Can you give us an idea of the type of clients that the business attracts? LN: The type of clients we have attracted so far are extremely varied. We feel, however, that the majority of our customers are busy HR Managers or Sales Managers and they are looking for a fleet company to help reduce their workload. With our personalised service we have helped customers reduce their workloads and take some of the pressure off their shoulders and this in turn helps to free up their time to concentrate on other things. JOE: What would you describe as your unique selling point? LN: Our unique selling point is the one-to-one service we provide.

"From the initial quote to when the vehicle goes out on hire you will be dealing with the same person. Having an in-house service department this also helps build rapport with the drivers."

We want to deal with progressive companies, so our slogan would always be “we grow when you grow”. JOE: What would you say has been the most satisfying aspect/moment of owning the business so far? LN: The most satisfying part of the process so far is seeing the growth within the company. From seeing the progress made by the staff right through to the progress we have made with our systems, the satisfaction you get from seeing your ideas put into practice and seeing the results is second to none. JOE: And what has been your toughest challenge? LN: The toughest challenge for us is while we try to grow to make sure we are doing the right business. It is important not to get carried away and end up doing bad business and sometimes it’s hard to pull yourself and the team back from getting carried away. We always have to be careful to do good business and make sure that when vehicles are returned in three to five years that we can stand over their values. JOE: What would you say are the pros and cons of setting up a business in Ireland? Do you think there’s incentives for people to do so in Ireland in the current environment? LN: The cons would mostly be based around finance; we have been lucky to date with us having some great finance deals in place with the likes of AIB, Ford Credit & Renault Credit.

"There has, however, been some banks and financial houses that are not open to dealing with new companies. This is something that I feel all new businesses need to take into consideration."

I would say there are incentives to open a new business in the current environment and with the country on the road to recovery it may not be a bad time to open one. I would advise anyone thinking about it to prepare a business plan and to talk to the local bank manager before taking the jump. JOE: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given and what’s the best piece of advice you’d offer for people going about setting up their own business? LN: Take advice from your peers. Even though we all have our own ideas and want to do it ourselves it’s always good to take on advice from people who have been there and done it. This can be extremely beneficial, especially when it comes to areas you haven’t been involved in before, such as recruitment. JOE: And the inevitable question, what are the aims of the business in the future? Where do you see the business in five years’ time? LN: We hope to be huge in five years’ time! On a serious note, we want to progress year on year across our leasing and rental divisions. We are hoping to triple the amount of cars we put out every year, we hope to see good profits returned and also to recruit and train good staff who will be part of the team for years to come. For more information on Jensen Fleet Solutions, check out their website and Facebook page.