Special Feature
Have you faced any challenges in running your Northwood franchise? One worry was how the staff would feel about the change of ownership. While we initially worried that some of them would leave, we then looked at it from their perspective. Both of us had worked in businesses that had made people redundant and job security was bound to be a concern for them. We wrote a letter reassuring them that we had no plans to change anything and that one of the appeals of the business had been the experienced staff. We’ve been very lucky that they are excellent at their jobs and lovely people to work with. As with any business you can’t be sure that people will stay, but we treat people the way we’d like to be treated.
What are the benefits of franchising a business?
The network of franchisees has been an unexpected bonus. Both the intranet forum and regional meetings allow you to ask questions, exchange ideas and generally feel part of a bigger community. While you’re running your own business
Northwood Denise and Scott Watson
Denise and Scott bought the existing Northwood franchise in Wokingham, Berkshire, in January 2013.
How did you prepare for becoming franchisees? When we were considering purchasing the Northwood Wokingham franchise we had endless questions about how everything worked. Eventually those questions condensed down to how we would cope with learning the business while running it, what the employees were like, how they’d react to the change and how much support we’d receive from the franchise office. I’m happy to say that all these worries turned out to be unfounded.
What training and support have you received initially and ongoing? Due to a lengthy period of contract
negotiations we ended up doing our training after we’d taken over the business. This wasn’t ideal but fortunately we’d inherited very capable staff who could manage very well without us. The training was great and it was also very useful to get to know several of the staff at the franchise office, who conducted the training. There is only so much you can learn sat in a training room, so it’s the telephone support you receive afterwards that is invaluable. One of the best pieces of advice I
received was to use the franchise office support as much as you need, because that’s what you’ve paid for! I spent many hours the first few weeks on the phone, and even a year later were regular callers checking our interpretation of contract issues or looking for advice. Everyone we’ve spoken to has been well informed and they’ve all been unfailingly friendly in their support.
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there is a wealth of knowledge and experience to call upon from the other offices. We’re currently running a joint radio campaign with two other local Northwood offices and one of our experienced members of staff is about to spend a day at another office to see what she can learn from them. It’s a friendly community and one we’re absolutely delighted we chose to be part of.
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