Establishing and sustaining a profitable home care franchise is something to be proud of. For many franchisees, years of success is a cue to open up another franchise under the same brand. It doesn’t mean starting from scratch again; rather you’re expanding the business and even supporting the original franchise you set up.
Home Instead has several multi-unit franchise owners. They began with one, before buying other franchises and expanding the territory that they provide care. It has been a key ingredient for them enjoying so much financial success, with some of them turning over £1m. They become more than business owners, with many of them winning awards and becoming well-respected figures in the care sector and the local area. Their successes are enough to inspire any franchisee to become a multi-unit owner.
Opening up another franchise doesn’t have to mean doubling all your resources, such as office space, team and operations. You can share resources and knowledge, leading to overall business improvement as you work according to a cohesive strategy.
As a multi-unit owner, you can centralise administrative functions for them to benefit multiple franchise offices. It might be that only one person is needed to perform one role, such as finance officer, for all offices, reducing the human resource costs.
When looking at business support, such as marketing and IT support, you’re in a great position to negotiate with suppliers since you’re offering them so much business; they’re unlikely to want to turn you down!
Whatever formula works best for operations, you can apply to all franchise offices. Whether it’s finance procedures or marketing operations, you can make it standard across all units and reap the benefits from each.
Owning several units means building brand awareness. Several businesses, under the same brand, located in one region, only strengthens the business’ name. Having a large market share in one region gives you a competitive edge thanks to greater familiarity amongst people in the community.
As your customer base grows, so will the number of success stories and positive reviews you have to your name. More word of mouth plants the seed for potential customers looking for a reputable business like yours.
Investing in an additional franchise means not only having the potential for higher profits, but more financial security.
It means you can make operations more efficient across multiple franchise units, giving more scope for financial savings. The more franchises you have, the greater the benefits you will reap.
Becoming a multi-unit owner means diversifying income sources. That means if one unit is underperforming, this can be offset by a unit that is performing well. Every business owner knows that financial performance goes in peaks and troughs, but it’s less risk if you’re running multiple franchises.
Owning several franchises puts you in a better position to access finance, since your existing franchises can be used as collateral. With a successful track record of multi-unit ownership, your credit-worthiness is likely to be high and it may even mean access to finance with better loan terms.
Cath and Mike Chalton are Home Instead multi-unit franchise owners. Establishing the Wirral office near the beginning of Home Instead’s inception in the UK, they built a dedicated team of Care Professionals delivering quality care, gaining an Outstanding rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It only felt natural for them to buy a resale franchise in nearby Chester.
When expanding to Chester, the husband and wife team already had the blueprint to grow a care company. That doesn’t just mean the business operations. Their strong community presence in the Wirral meant that they could replicate an approach to networking that was proved to be successful.
Their success has been recognised outside of Home Instead, with Cath representing Home Instead in the British Franchise Association and the European Franchise Federation.
Franchising is more successful when it involves a close relationship between both parties. That’s more likely to occur when you’re a multi-unit franchise owner since you’re more involved with the franchisor.
With a strong relationship, the franchisee is more likely to have strong influence on the direction of the company. Suhail and Tasnim Rehman own several Home Instead franchise offices in Scotland, beginning their journey with the brand in 2014. By 2022, they were turning over £5m and dominating the home care market in the locations where they are based.
It’s no surprise that Suhail has a role in Home Instead’s Franchise Exchange Council, a forum for franchisees to exchange views and plan projects with the franchisor. He also sits on the Marketing Exchange Group, which gives franchisees the chance to give their say on the marketing strategy of the brand. As a successful multi-unit franchise owner, Suhail has the insight that Home Instead values as it moves forwards as a business.
Owning several franchise offices gives you and your team the chance to grow professionally. Additional businesses to manage means coming across new learning opportunities and meeting more challenges that help build your skillset. There’s more opportunity for the office team too, giving them the chance to not only learn new skills but progress into new roles.
As the multi-unit franchise business grows, so does the need for a robust management team. This gives the owner the chance to eventually step away from the day-to-day running of the business and instead focus on a more strategic role. Succession planning becomes simpler, since you already have a strong team that would attract a buyer.
As soon as our franchisees come onboard, they’re given support to help them grow their business. Many get to a point where they’re ready to take on another franchise. If there’s opportunity in a neighbouring territory, either a new territory or a resale, Home Instead works with them to establish what will be required and stand them in great stead to further their success with an additional franchise.
Ambition is one trait that enables Home Instead franchisees to go far. That’s what inspires them to become a multi-unit owner, not only making a success out of their new business, but also their original one.
There’s so much potential for growth in investing in a Home Instead franchise. Our Franchise Development Manager Luke Spellman will give you the information you need to take the first steps. Book a call with him by clicking here.