Panel thoughts

Last week we hosted our first ever Insight Event; a lively panel discussion between franchise partners at different stages of growth; from 3 months in to 3 years. Thank you to Shaz, Annie, Arpan and Naz for their insights. For those who couldn’t make it, here’s some key actionable takeaways:

• Start talking to people early – Shaz’s advice was start talking to people earlier, even pre-CQC registration; she reflected she spent too much time getting the office looking great (which it does to be fair) rather than starting to build relationships and excitement in the community. Annie reflected that she’s been pleasantly surprised that people want to talk to her as much as she wants to talk to them.
• Be prepared to work hard – There was unanimous agreement that the early days require long hours, and a real investment of your time, energy and emotion.
• Over time, your time is more your own – Our more established partner revealed he’d spent two hours in the gym in the afternoon before the event. He looked great for it 👀
• Recruit right for your Registered Manager – There was debate among the panel about the ideal profile of Registered Manager, and whether you need them to have commercial instincts, or whether that can be provided by the owner. There was agreement that you want to recruit an RM who complements your skillset as a business owner.
• Treat your Care Pros right – Naz mentioned when talking to a franchisor before finding us the franchisor said, and I quote, “Carers aren’t like anyone you know, they are a different breed.” Wow. To Naz’s credit that ended their interest in that particular brand. And by treating his team like the decent, caring human beings they are, he’s had such a low staff turnover rate that has helped his business grow and compete with bigger, more established competitors.

Thanks again to everyone who attended and we look forward to potentially meeting some of you at the next one!

Best wishes, Ben.