Home Instead Senior Care welcomed international franchise thought leader Greg Nathan to keynote at its annual conference, a prestigious speaker who praised the homecare franchisor for its high calibre leadership and leading-edge culture.
With 190 franchises to date, the UK’s No 1 homecare franchise welcomed over 650 delegates to its two-day event in Liverpool. Franchisees, key players and CAREGivers came together with National Office colleagues to collaborate on best practice spanning franchising and elder care.
With the event themed ‘Together Stronger’, the power and potential of franchise opportunities with the multi award-winning brand delivering relationship-led care and companionship, were clear.
By investing in one of the 120 available territories, franchisees are joining a franchise family that is fiercely protective of its culture and steadfastly proud to be a part of the national organisation’s mission: to change the face of ageing.
That’s a fact that has been officially endorsed, with Home Instead recently receiving 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction from Smith & Henderson for the 4th consecutive year – with a score of 81% for 2016.
Commenting on the Home Instead franchise network, Greg Nathan, the author of five acclaimed franchising books, said: “I was very impressed with the calibre of the leadership, the character of the organisation and the quality of the culture.
“Home Instead’s levels of franchisee satisfaction show that this is a franchisor that’s doing a really good job of servicing and supporting its franchise owners.”
Greg was presented with the inaugural National Contribution to Franchising Award in recognition of his pioneering work in franchise education and research in 2003 by the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) and inducted into its Franchising Hall of Fame in 2014.
As an expert on franchisee/franchisor relationships, Greg highlights three key drivers that potential franchisees should reflect upon as part of their due diligence process.
1 Look at your life goals: Think about what you want from your franchise business. If you want to run your own business and do something meaningful in your community, look for a franchisor that complements that ethos. If you want to sell pizza, sell pizza, if you want to sell coffee, sell coffee. Choose a sector that’s the right match for your life goals.
2 Study the risk profile: Investing in a franchise is, understandably, a major life decision, one that impacts on the franchisee, spouses and families especially in the early years of a business. Study the franchisor’s franchisee satisfaction levels, look at its systems and processes. Study the support structure and how that evolves throughout your franchise life cycle.
3 Assess the business case: Look at the business’ potential. Look at the return on investment outlined in your franchisor’s model, consider the breakeven point and look at the long-term business case. In the context of care franchising, there’s an ageing population, and globally, providing dignified care hits a real need.
Ruth Brown, Head of Franchise Development at Home Instead Senior Care, said:
“We look for franchisees who want to make a difference. We call that being a ‘caring entrepreneur’ and are looking for more like-minded people to join our mission and franchise family in 2017.”