The growth of care fra nchising
Caremark
David and Caroline Balmer own a Caremark fra nchise in Worcester, launching their homecare business in February 2016.
What did you do before franchising? Caroline: I have been in the care industry for over 15 years and before starting Caremark (Worcester and Malvern Hills) I was the registered manager of another care franchise.
How did you fi nd out about franchising and the Caremark opportunity? Caroline: I was working with a franchisee in my previous role and helped her get established. It went well, the business was very successful and I enjoyed the process, so I thought: 'why not do this for myself?' David and I looked at various options
and fi nally decided upon Caremark, mainly because we were impressed by their ethos and Kevin Lewis’s enthusiasm. We had a meeting at their head offi ce and left feeling certain it was the right place.
Would you recommend a Caremark franchise to others? David: When you break down the cost of the franchise you really do get a lot: a proven business model, full training, help with setup, a comprehensive compendium of documents available to use and, above all, a brand that’s well known in the sector. This helped massively in both recruitment and in picking up work initially; the local authority already has two other Caremark providers so they were happy to see another one coming through.
What has been the best thing so far? David: Caroline and I work well together and make a good team. It’s important to maintain a positive outlook throughout the business and we encourage our staff in this respect. This ultimately affects the way our
Take it personally
Previous experience of finding care for a loved one is very often at the heart of why people join this sector – whether at head off ice level or as a fra nchisee. Here are just a few of the personal stories that led to a passion for providing quality care.
"When I was searching for care for a fa mily member who needed it, I was disappointed and frustra ted by the poor standard of care available. So I considered going into business for myself in the care industry , as I knew I wanted to be able to off er better standards of care." Julie Houston, Right at Home fra nchisee
"My fa mily struggled to get a reliable care provider for my nan. Irregular times for our prearra nged visits, regularly changing fa ces and missed visits caused me and my mum countless problems and stress. I knew care could be better so I decided to make a diff erence." Dan Archer, Visiting Angels managing director UK and fra nchisee
"The challenges ra ised by support ing my own parents’ healthcare needs led me to the care sector. Over recent years both my parents have struggled with dementia and this has brought its own challenges for the whole fa mily – in part icular, we have struggled to find high-quality, person-centred homecare. It is because of this that I recognised the need for such a service and had a reasonable understanding of how the industry opera ted." Dave Bellis, Radfield Home Care fra nchisee
care is delivered and also means the clients receive a better quality of service. We enjoy creating a ‘team’ around us, which will help our business prosper.
Describe the training and support David: Initial training was an intensive two- week residential course. It was a really good foundation in the Caremark system and the care industry; a lot of information to take in, but well worth it and helped us hit the ground running.
Our ongoing support comes through regular contact with our regional support manager, who visits us each month to monitor the business for compliance, growth and to address any concerns or worries we have. Plus, we have ready access to the head offi ce support team, which has been fantastic for us.
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