When we consider our Aspray professional property franchise opportunity, the words ‘transferable skills’ often come to mind. Many of our franchisees do not leave school thinking, “I want to be a loss assessor and property damage repairs manager”. Those who take up our franchise offering come various backgrounds.
Architects have all the skills that a successful franchisee requires, as one of our existing high-flyers, Audrey Hage, now director of Aspray (Central and West London), has proven. Audrey was previously an architect but discovered the Aspray opportunity, whilst pregnant with her first child, and hasn’t looked back since. Audrey has grown her franchise significantly and regularly been one of our top performers within the network. This is not just down to her hard work and personality but also the application of her transferrable skills, brought with her from life as an architect.
In her new career after architecture, Audrey has been able to draw upon her knowledge of building and construction, when assessing property damage loss and the repairs that will be required to put damage right. Attention to detail, key in architecture, coupled with thinking and reasoning skills, are required continually within a role as a loss assessor and property claims and repairs manager. At Aspray, you not only negotiate the claim for an insured policyholder but also manage the whole of the property repairs process, scoping out the job, working with vetted contractors, overseeing their repair work and ensuring all is carried out according to the agreed schedule of works.
The role requires the initiative, ability to work with budgets and the right specification of materials, which are the day-to-day concerns of an architect. Site visits are necessary, just as would be the case in an architects’ practice. Planning is vital. Checking the works carried out is paramount.
Add to this the chance to not just build a vision but rebuild someone’s home and put their lives back together and it is a compelling change of direction and new career choice for any architect, as Audrey has proved.
What architects can gain from life as an Aspray franchisee
With excellent income generation potential from an Aspray franchise for those who put in the required effort, the opportunity can also help an architect maintain or improve their lifestyle. For those who do not currently own an architects’ practice and are simply employed in one, it is a means to run a business, without the insurance woes that architects now face and with the daily knowledge that your job security is not in someone else’s hands.
For those willing to work the model in the right way, using their personality and drive to bring customers into the fold, there is always plenty of work to be had. Added to this, the events of 2020 proved that the model operates even during a major crisis, with franchisees being classed as key workers, assisting homeowners with their property damage and losses in the most difficult of times.
Next steps for UK architects seeking a new career
For all of these reasons – and the example that Audrey has set – we believe the Aspray property franchise opportunity offers architects a possible new career path that will still enable them to do the things they love and use their existing skills. We will test this theory with the most advanced profiling tools available, for both our and their benefit, at a very early stage in the process.
