One year on... All-round care
Phil Mason and Sarah Massey partners and joint owners of Caremark Mansfi eld and Ashfi eld, Nottinghamshire, on their franchise experiences of the last 12 months...
What did you do before buying your Caremark franchise? Sarah: I was the registered manager of an extra-care facility for a large care provider. I’d been working in the care sector for the best part of 20 years, with many of those spent in a supervisory or management position, so it seemed a natural progression to run my own business and really make a diff erence to the lives of the people in our community. Phil: After 15 years in various sectors of recruitment, I joined Caremark as a regional support manager in early 2013. The fi rst 12 months were a real eye- opener in terms of the fantastic franchise system in place, the rewards available both fi nancially and emotionally, and so, with Sarah’s support, I approached Caremark about buying a territory. We felt, with our combined backgrounds and experience, we’d really be able to create a fantastic and quality business – and we haven’t been disappointed!
How have you found the last 12 months with Caremark? Phil: Busy! We have managed to fi rmly establish a great reputation, largely through Sarah’s day-to-day leadership, which ensured we got a ‘good’ rating from CQC, but also because we have a great team of care and support workers who do an amazing job every day. We managed to win access to a contract with Nottinghamshire County Council to provide children’s services, and that is just now beginning to take off . It’s a steep learning curve but we’re managing well so far. Sarah: Phil remains a regional development manager with Caremark on a full-time basis, so his input is more remote, and tends to work evenings/weekends on the marketing strategies, invoicing, payroll etc. We work well as a team and the last 12 months have defi nitely proved that. As hard as we work, however, occasionally we need switch off and recharge our batteries to ensure we’re able to remain on top form!
What are the benefi ts of running a Caremark franchise? Phil: Without doubt the depth of support from Caremark, but also the support of fellow franchisees, many of whom are great friends, mentors and an inspiration to us.
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BusinessFranchise.com | April 2017 Sarah Massey and Phil Mason
If we’d run an independent enterprise, not benefi ting from that support, our business would have been a lot more diffi cult – and lonelier! Of course, the Caremark system is tried and tested; we’ve followed the system, and it really does work!
Would you do anything diff erently if you had to start all over again? Phil: No. We’ve made mistakes and learned lessons the hard way sometimes. We wouldn’t turn the clock back and avoid those mistakes because they’ve made us stronger, more resilient and more focused. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been all the more rewarding overcoming tough times, negotiating hurdles and still being successful. We’re proud of what we, and our team, have achieved so far.
What have been the most memorable moments over the last year? Sarah: I would say breaking through 1,000 hours per week of care delivered, as well being able to off er promotions to team
members because they’ve been fantastic and have really earned those opportunities. It’s incredibly rewarding being able to develop people, nurture and coach them. Watching them grow and achieve great results and then being able to off er them career development is the icing on the cake! Of course, being recognised by Caremark at the 2017 Annual Conference with the Midlands Regional Award was a great end to the last 12 months.
What are your plans for the rest of 2017? Sarah: More of the same! To continue off ering great care and support to our community, provide more work opportunities for local people, more development opportunities for people to grow within our business and to maintain and enhance our already glowing reputation with fellow health and social care professionals.
franchise@caremarklimited.co.uk
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