A comprehensive review by the UK’s leading franchise representatives led to Radfield Home Care being crowned with the prestigious bfa HSBC Emerging Franchisor of the Year 2019 award.
A critical and contributory element of this review was the support, training and guidance provided to franchise partners and the positive impact this is having on their performance and success.
With a better-than 2:1 ratio of support staff, Radfield’s franchise partners benefit from unrivalled access to a team of experts to help them launch, grow and develop their home care business. Specialists within the support team deliver marketing, recruitment, finance, business development, compliance, regulation and technology support, meaning it doesn’t matter what your previous experience may be or what questions you have – the team is perfectly positioned to help you develop a profitable business.
“Providing support to our franchise partners that exceeds expectations was always at the top of our agenda, as we knew this was critical to the success of franchise partners”, explains franchisor, Dr Hannah MacKechnie.
“To achieve this, we invested heavily in Radfield’s support team early on, ensuring franchise partners have a large, specialist and experienced support team to turn to from day one. As we grow as a network, the franchise support team is also set to grow in order to maintain a leading ratio of support staff to franchise partners. Our recognition as Emerging Franchisor of the Year by the British Franchise Association and HSBC was heavily hinged on our focus for leading support systems, and it inevitably made us stand out from the crowd.”
As well as the franchisor’s unique hands-on experience within the Radfield brand for over 35 years, the wider support team collectively boasts over 40 years of franchise support experience and over 150 years of care experience. As a result, there is little they have not overcome or helped franchise partners overcome before – so you know you are in safe hands.
As well as daily operational support, the award’s judging panel also reviewed the critical training and support franchise partners experience prior to launching their new business. Radfield Home Care provides a unique franchise training package consisting of 20-days initial training (as well as on-going training days throughout the term of their franchise). This initial training is time-sensitive and is delivered when best suited to each franchise partner’s individual needs during their pre-launch activity and early days of operation.
During this pre-launch cycle, franchise partners work closely with their franchise support manager and marketing team to achieve essential pre-launch actions and drive their initial promotion within their territory. During this time, the franchise support manager and marketing manager spend time with franchise partners in their territory sourcing and interviewing new team members, applying to the industry’s regulator, developing marketing plans and networking with key professionals.
Radfield Home Care Wakefield & Dewsbury franchise partner, Jackie Gillen has experienced this support first hand, and is currently operating seven months ahead of projections: “The marketing manager and franchise support manager are a wealth of information and ideas; they have fully supported me with drawing up my marketing strategy and in making initial contacts with key health care professionals in order to develop links and increase awareness of our brand and the fantastic services Radfield provide. The Radfield team are so positive, enthusiastic and supportive and really can’t do enough to help and guide franchise partners through this process.”
Beyond marketing and business development support, the central operating system and cloud-based management system that all franchise partners use to manage their care delivery on a daily basis is an essential aspect of the Radfield model that few other franchisors provide. Again, this was influential in the British Franchise Association’s decision to recognise Radfield’s model and hotly discussed during judging. “Radfield was one of the earliest adopters of technologies to help manage clients and staff. However, we have refused to stand still and accept these products as the master solution,” Governance and Operations Manager, Jess Jenkinson explains.
“We identified that new solutions were entering the marketplace that offered much more; they were a 360 solution providing all our requirements in one place, whereas previous incarnations required different technology providers for different aspects of the system; they provided new features, such as automated compliance reviews, CRM and call monitoring; and they demonstrated their ability to remain future proofed, with ongoing investment in new technologies to continue to stay one-step ahead. As a result, our franchise partners are confident they are utilising the best systems out there to provide high quality care, reduce admin time and minimise costs.”
The support provided by Radfield is not only franchisor to franchise partner, it is also franchise partner to workforce, and workforce to clients. As a result of this, generating a supportive work environment is critical; it not only maintains a happy workforce, it drives a focus on high quality of client care and increases staff retention. Radfield’s franchise support team paves the way for its franchise partners to provide such a work environment with the unique Caring for Carers pledge. Developed in 2013 to place more emphasis on valuing Radfield’s carers, the network has experienced turnover rates as low as 11% – in a sector with average turnover rates of 37%.
Combined with Radfield’s experience, passion and business model development, this training and support was highly commended by franchise experts that hand-picked the leading franchisors at the British Franchise Association awards and ultimately led Radfield Home Care to be crowned the winner.
If you have been thinking about seeking the benefits of the support and guidance of franchising, Radfield Home Care is the opportunity for you. Alongside its award-winning support, it is also operating in an increasingly in demand sector, which is set to continue growing in spite of difficulties other sectors may face in the wake of Brexit.
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