Exclusive Interview
You have a 20-year long history in franchising – why this industry? What makes it so special? I’ve worked with over 500 franchisees and I like to think that what we’ve worked on led to their success and helped them realise their dreams. A lot of people with a franchise wouldn’t have run their own business in any other way. So helping people do that is so satisfying. I absolutely love it! It’s easier to be entrepreneurial with the help
of good franchising. It takes the brakes off and allows franchisees to run a good business. Plus, here, it’s an industry that’s in very good health.
How much of that is down to the British Franchise Association? Franchising is all about sharing best practice and the bfa does exactly that – it facilitates learning among its membership. I’ve learned a lot from the companies that I’ve worked for and even more from my relationship with the bfa [Dan sat on the board of directors for six years]. It’s given me exposure to hundreds of different franchise structures and ways of doing things –
all of which have contributed to my being able to run the business I run now.
You’ve worked with many brands, but currently with a care franchise – why care, and why now? I’ve worked across the industry but I’m doing this now, in care, because of a personal experience. And not a good one. We really struggled to find reliable care for my nana and so after that I wanted to make a difference. Franchising is very good at disrupting
markets, because you get the enthusiasm of a franchisee. The care industry is one that desperately needs disruption. There’s an awful lot of the same thing being done; 95 per cent of care is done the same way it has been for the last 20 years and it’s not necessarily the right way. So if you’re going to think differently and behave differently, it’s good to have franchisees along for the ride – for their enthusiasm and input. You need to have those values from someone who wants to share your cause and make the same difference in their local area.
You’ve introduced care brand Visiting Angels to the UK. What does your experience bring? Visiting Angels has been in franchising as long as I have, and in the US there’s an awful lot of shared knowledge and best practice that we’ve been able to translate straight into the UK. One of the things the bfa has allowed me
to do is to see how franchisors harvest the knowledge of their franchisees. There’s more of a sharing network in some businesses than others, but one thing that struck me about Visiting Angels is there’s very much a sharing culture and shared best practice. We’re bringing their great knowledge of private duty and social care, plus the skill they’ve got in recruiting and retaining caregivers, which is the great challenge for anybody in this sector. To that I’m adding my expertise of franchising and the UK care sector. To resort to cliché if I might, it’s a marriage made in heaven! The reality is we were both the right people to be working together at the right time in order for the brand to come to the UK.
26 | The Franchise Magazine 2019
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