Couples in fra nchising
Minster Cleaning Services
After fa lling for each other, Paul and Kirsten Dunn fell for Scotland, moving there from South Africa to take over Minster’s Edinburgh and Lothians fra nchise in 2016.
Why Minster Cleaning Services and why Scotland? Paul: I’ve got some Scottish heritage, we also honeymooned here and loved the place, it’s beautiful. So when we decided to leave South Africa and the opportunity came up we couldn’t resist. We’re even getting used to the weather!
Kirsten: We were ready to try something new, and having looked at several other franchises we felt Minster was just the right fi t. It was an established business and there was space in the company for two of us to take on different roles.
What are the advantages of working together as a couple? Kirsten: When we fi rst met, we’d have said there’s no way we could work together! But moving to a new country, starting a whole new life and taking on a business is such a big step and we’ve found working as a team has given us real strength. Also, our complementary skills and experience in business and building relationships have helped us hit the ground running.
“We really know we can rely on and trust each other – great qualities in a business partner”
How do your roles differ in the business? Kirsten: I’m in charge of the offi ce – the bookkeeping, HR, banking and so on – whereas Paul, because of his background in the sector, covers the commercial, marketing and operations side.
Paul: We have very different duties and are careful not to interfere with each other’s. It works really well; in fact, we haven’t had a work-related argument since we started!
And how is the business doing? Kirsten: Really well. The great thing about commercial cleaning is businesses always need it. We’ve grown turnover from around £934,000 when we started to just under £1.1million now.
Paul: We really know we can rely and
trust each other, which are great qualities to have in a business partner. And on a practical note, somebody would be doing these jobs either way, so we’re not having to pay anybody else.
Any advice for other couples ? Kirsten: Defi nitely consider Minster, they give such great practical and marketing support and know the commercial cleaning business inside out.
Paul: When it comes to working together our secret is to respect each other as colleagues in the offi ce – we understand we’re business partners and not husband and wife – and we have an unbreakable rule that we don’t talk about work outside of offi ce hours.
Has your work-life balance improved? Paul: Absolutely! Our lifestyles have changed dramatically for the better, we have much more fl exibility now.
Kirsten: I worked 12-hour days before so it’s transformed my life and given us time to pursue other hobbies and interests.
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