Inside Story The lowdown...
… on Caremark. Franchise recruitment manager David Glover reveals everything you need to know about the homecare franchise
INVESTMENT LEVEL: FROM £100,000
What does being a Caremark franchisee entail?
As a management opportunity, Caremark business owners are responsible for the strategic growth and development of their franchise. They engage and train teams of dedicated care workers who deliver personalised care to people in their own homes. They need to be comfortable building and leading a team and, therefore, must be good communicators and capable of relating to and working with all sorts of people. Caremark’s franchise is primarily a ‘people business’. Therefore, franchisees must have a genuine passion for the care industry and be passionate about delivering a high-quality care service to the vulnerable individuals in their community. This business is all about community engagement from both a service and work opportunity perspective. In addition, they need to be able to network and form positive working relationships with key contacts in their local community, whether that is with local commissioning agents at their council or the community practice nurse at the local GP’s surgery. These all form part of the important connections that need to be made and developed.
What makes Caremark different? We remain one of the only independently owned healthcare franchises in the UK and our founder is still actively involved in the business. Our senior management team has over 100 years of combined experience in the healthcare sector and more than 60 years in the franchise industry. This experience is visible through all our working policies, procedures and training programmes; it’s experience that provides a valuable steer when considering future strategies for the growth and development of the company. We have an excellent ratio of support staff to franchisee, which means that each office has contact and visits from their regional manager on a regular basis.
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BusinessFranchise.com | October 2017
Managing smaller numbers of franchisees means a more intensive level of support, and business development guidance is available to each business owner.
Do you need previous experience? No experience is needed as full training is given to all franchisees when they join the network. This gives them a good foundation in the care sector, the legislation that underpins it, and allows them to understand the Caremark model and how to run and grow a sustainable care business.
Our network is made up of many
different professionals who all come from varying backgrounds: military, finance, IT, retail, recruitment and social care. However, the common denominator is they all have management experience, have passion for the industry they have bought into and want to build a business in their local community.
Having experience in social care is helpful from the point of view of already having made valuable contacts within the sector, which certainly is advantageous when starting a new care business.
What support do franchisees receive? • Regular site visits, together with ongoing email and telephone support from their field-based manager
• A residential two-week initial training course
• Mentoring pilot where experienced franchisees running large businesses spend time with the newer businesses
• Regular consultative group meetings where franchisees bring their concerns, feedback and ideas for discussion, through an elected representative, before senior management
• Support with finance, marketing, training and compliance from the head office team
• Support from regional managers on all key drivers for franchisees’ businesses, plus monitoring their key performance indicators
• Provision to the network with a system that evolves to meet industry changes
• A bi-annual rewards-based, five-star event giving the opportunity to relax, socialise and enjoy a day away from their business in the surrounds of a prestigious location
• Training resources: e-learning and care manager forums, which provide further learning and offer the opportunity for networking and peer support
• An intranet providing further resources and information for the network, including a dedicated forum that enables discussion and information sharing across the network
• The input of experienced PR and marketing consultants, who are working with the network, and the PR and marketing team at head office to raise brand awareness across different media platforms.
Is there room for more franchisees? The network is not yet complete and there are many territories still available across the UK for the right business owner. It is more important for us to find the right professional to join our expanding network rather than simply sell territories. While we continue to receive a steady stream of enquiries, not everyone is suited to our franchise.
What sort of person would suit a Caremark franchise? This would suit an entrepreneurial individual who is interested in building a sustainable, long-term, community-based business in a growing sector. Caremark franchisees are professionals interested in people and working with people. What unites them is that they all have the drive and ambition to make a big difference to the lives of others in their local community, whether that is through providing work for local individuals or delivering a high-quality homecare service to those on their doorstep. If they are ambitious, good
communicators, enjoy networking and get
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