CAREMARK
DAVID AND CAROLINE BALMER David and Caroline Balmer own a Caremark franchise in Worcester. They launched their homecare business in February 2016 and have gone from strength to strength
What did you do before franchising? Caroline: I have been in the care industry for over 15 years, having started out as a domiciliary care worker. I then worked my way into management and managed several homecare companies, as well as having a supervisory role in a care home. Before Caremark, I was the registered manager of another care franchise.
How did you find out about franchising and the Caremark opportunity? Caroline: I had always known about franchising due to my previous role but had never really thought about doing it for myself. It was while working in my previous job that David and I started to think about the idea. I had helped the franchisee to build her franchise for the first 18 months. It went well and the business was very successful. I enjoyed the process and thought about doing it myself. David and I started to look at various options and finally decided upon Caremark, mainly because we were impressed by their ethos and CEO Kevin Lewis’s enthusiasm. We had a meeting at the head office and left feeling certain it was the right place.
Would you recommend franchising to others and would you recommend Caremark? David: When you look into buying a franchise you have to weigh up your options. We had to consider if we could go it alone and succeed. We looked at a number of franchises with different territories and after visiting Caremark we felt like we could be a part of something great. When you break down the price of buying the franchise
you really do get a lot for the outlay: a proven business model, full training, help with setup, a comprehensive compendium of documents available to use and, above all, a name or brand that is well known in the sector. This has helped us massively both in the recruitment side of things, as well as 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 have worked together before and we 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 care is delivered and also means the clients receive a better quality of service. Seeing people coming together and dealing with issues in this manner really is a boost to both of us. We enjoy creating a ‘team’ around us, which will help our business prosper.
How much support and training did you receive and how much ongoing support is there? David: Once we had signed the franchise agreement, we went through Caremark’s initial franchisee training course, which is an intensive two-week residential course aimed at giving you a good foundation in the Caremark system and the care industry. It was a lot of information to take in but well worth it, and it’s intended to help you hit the ground running. Our ongoing support comes through regular contact
with our regional development manager who visits us each month to monitor the business for compliance and growth, and to address any concerns or worries we have. Plus, we have ready access to the head office support team as well, which has been fantastic this past year.
How has your life changed? David: Caroline has been in the industry for many years so not a lot has changed for her, except we are now running our own business, rather than someone else’s. For me, life has changed quite a bit as I came from a career in the Royal Mail, but I feel this is something I can really get my teeth into. On a different note, we both have autonomy over what
we do. I am a true believer that you get out what you put in. There is a lot of hard work ahead but I feel that we are really starting to make a difference. l
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