Special Feature
franchise adds: “The saying two heads are better than one is true in franchising. Often family members have different skills and experiences, they trust and instinctively know how to support each other as they grow their franchise business.” Here four franchisees describe their experiences of keeping it in the family.
Caremark
a domiciliary care franchise that the germ of an idea began, which started primarily when we were both caring for our terminally ill mother at home. It was at that point we realised the need for families to have access to a really good care and support service. We discussed going into the care sector and as Hayley was working in healthcare at the time, her knowledge of the industry was invaluable. We wanted to help others whilst providing exceptional standards of care as well as enable families to have the highest quality of life possible. When Hayley told me she would like to work in the business with me, I did not hesitate – to be working with my sister again will be amazing!
Sisters Jo Fitzmaurice, 43, and Hayley Parkins, 41, have just embarked on their Caremark franchise in Bedford. Having worked together previously, they are confi dent that their joint venture will be a success.
Why did you decide to go into business with a family member? Hayley and I worked very well together in several businesses some years ago and really enjoyed the experience. It wasn’t until I took a career break and looked into
How will you divide the work between yourselves? Hayley’s skills gained from her previous employment equip her perfectly to take on the role of care manager, whilst I will be taking the role of the franchisee. Both Hayley and I, together with our father, are directors of the company, with our father taking responsibility for the fi nancial direction of the business. The roles of care manager and franchisee are clearly defi ned in the Caremark system and the skills required for each are perfectly suited to our individual previous experience. We both work very proactively and are able to distribute the workload to suit our particular strengths.
What do you think will be the biggest benefi ts of working with family? We both work to very high standards and are committed to providing the best professional care and support. We understand the need to support and develop our employees and how to work as a team. Knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, we are able to be supportive of one another as well as understanding the commitments we have outside of work. As sisters we are very close and rely on each other for feedback, criticism and support.
What advice would you give to others thinking of going into business with their family? First, make sure your skill match is relevant to your responsibilities. Be totally honest and transparent with each other and make sure that you can talk openly about anything without a major fall out! Always listen to each other and don’t take feedback or criticism negatively. Realise that you will face obstacles along the way, but see these as a way to learn and make positive changes in your working relationship. Don’t have expectations of each other that have not been discussed
and agreed from the outset. Getting the work life/family life balance correct from the start is crucial and always set aside time to be a family and not just business partners.
Most importantly, never lose sight of what made you decide to do it together in the fi rst place!
Do you think there are any negative aspects to working with family? Not really, not for us, having worked successfully together in the past. We do exchange ‘words’ from time to time! But it’s never anything serious and is to be expected when one is working closely with a family member. We are very different people but we are both as committed as the other to making our business a success and totally trust each other to make this happen.
Granite Transformations
The Whitwood family run two Granite Transformations franchises in the East of England, recently opening their second retail showroom in St Ives, Cambridgeshire to complement an existing site in Norwich. Before franchising, father Malcolm had his own woodworking fi rm and sons Oliver and Tom already had jobs but felt like a change. Oliver, 31, explains how Whitwood & Sons came to operate the ‘top-that-fi ts-on-top’ franchise.
How did you fi nd out about franchising and why Granite Transformations? We fi rst saw the Granite Transformations concept at a trade show and, since we didn’t take any leafl ets, we might have missed the opportunity – but later we saw it at another show and got hold of the franchise information. By 2004, we’d opened our fi rst showroom in Norwich.
What cemented your decision to invest and work together as a family? Dad and I had already decided to invest in a Granite Transformations franchise, but we thought it would be great if we could all work together, so we enlisted Tom as workshop manager.
July/August 2012 |
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