Special Feature
Women mean business
More than ever, women are fi nding career satisfaction by being their own boss. Jack Sadler reports on the growing number of female franchisees
F
igures just released by women’s rights group Fawcett Society, and calculated using data from the Offi ce for National Statistics, show that women eff ectively work for
free from the second week of November to the end of the year, due to the disparity in earnings with their male colleagues. What’s more, 41 per cent of young women expect to face discrimination in the workplace, according to a recent poll by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. While more work urgently needs to be
done on tackling this discrepancy, one solution for individuals could be franchising. Investing in a franchise can mean far fewer constraints on your career progression and signifi cantly improve your work-life balance. In an eff ort to increase awareness, the British Franchise Association (bfa) has just held its annual Women in Franchising conference. The perfect arena for businesswomen to network and share best practice, it aims to encourage more women into the industry. Pip Wilkins, chief executive of the bfa,
says: “Government statistics tell us that 15.5 per cent of all businesses are owned or run by women. In franchising, that fi gure is doubled to 30 per cent.” The Association is proud of this fi gure and of the women paving the way forward, but acknowledges there is still a way to go. With many inspiring role models in business and franchising, however, women are headed in the right direction. Here, fi ve successful female
entrepreneurs share their experiences of being a woman in franchising…
marketing materials, training and ongoing support. I did look at and consider one or two franchises, but there were various reasons why I decided not to go with them. One of the advantages of Ovenclean is that you don’t need to have huge storage space to keep stock as you would, for example, with some supply franchises.
Ovenclean Debbie Pell
Debbie’s Ovenclean franchise covers Southend-on-Sea.
What did you do prior to franchising? I’d had a variety of jobs since leaving school. I looked into becoming self- employed and considered lots of options before choosing a franchise.
What inspired you to go into franchising and why did you choose Ovenclean?
The national network of Ovenclean appealed, as did the professionalism of the
How has your life changed since investing in an Ovenclean franchise? It’s given me a huge confi dence boost in my own ability to run and manage a business from scratch. It has also enabled me to become successfully self-employed, and has given me the fl exibility and freedom to plan my life outside of work.
What advice would you give to women considering a franchise? It’s a great start for any woman thinking of working for herself. It gives a safety net of support and you will never be short of someone to guide and advise you. Choose the right franchise for you and you won’t regret it.
What is the training and support like? The training and support was brilliant; it gave me a good basis from which to learn more as I progressed. I’ve always felt very supported by the head offi ce, even with all
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BusinessFranchise.com | December/January 2017
the changes that Ovenclean as a franchisor has gone through.
How has your business grown? It’s taken a lot of hard work and commitment on my part to grow my business and I bought a second territory when I felt ready to grow even further. It’s grown steadily year on year in terms of my customer database and turnover.
What has your biggest challenge been and how did you overcome it? Being self-suffi cient on a day-to-day basis, working alone and being totally responsible for everything is a challenge. I’ve overcome this by sharing my worries and concerns with my partner. Having a supportive family around me has helped enormously.
What are your plans for the future? My fi rst plan is to travel around Europe with my partner, who is retiring. After that, who knows? We are lucky enough to be able to be fl exible about our future choices.
Is there anything that you would done diff erently? I don’t have any regrets. Ovenclean has given me a good living for the past nine years and I would recommend it to any prospective franchisee.
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