{"id":7111,"date":"2020-10-27T12:24:19","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T12:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/?p=7111"},"modified":"2020-10-26T14:29:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T14:29:51","slug":"redundancy-is-never-easy-even-if-you-do-receive-a-financial-package-to-soften-the-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/redundancy-is-never-easy-even-if-you-do-receive-a-financial-package-to-soften-the-blow\/","title":{"rendered":"Redundancy is never easy, even if you do receive a financial package to soften the blow"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

As well as the longer-term financial worries that can come with losing a job in this way, there\u2019s often the upset of leaving a company and work colleagues behind, too.<\/p>\n

But redundancy can also lead to new opportunities and one of those is franchising.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our Franchise Partners come to us following redundancy,\u201d says Emma Hayes, Divisional Director of Platinum Property Partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think often they\u2019re not so worried about the financial implications of redundancy because if they\u2019re coming to us, they generally have a good package behind them and they\u2019re keen to invest in their futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the mental side of redundancy that affects people more. When you\u2019re working, you know your importance within an organisation, and you have a purpose. I like to think, among all the other benefits our Partners see, that we give them back that sense of purpose when they join our franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Purpose\u2019 with Platinum comes quickly, too.<\/p>\n

The property investment franchise is closing in on its 400th Franchise Partner since its inception 13 years ago.<\/p>\n

Platinum, whose Franchise Partners buy properties and convert them into highly profitable Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) using the franchise\u2019s business model, support and mentoring mechanisms, has evolved through changing times.<\/p>\n

But the appeal of a more secure financial future through the franchise has never waned \u2013 particularly for those Franchise Partners who have been through redundancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the main breadwinner of the household and in a senior corporate role when I had a redundancy situation forced upon me,\u201d says Paul Watson, who joined Platinum in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife Carol and I had already been through a couple of organisational changes in our lives and once my redundancy situation occurred, we sat down and questioned whether I really wanted to go back into another corporate role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came to the conclusion that we should try to set something up for ourselves with the capital we had available. We looked at investing in care homes and several other ideas, including franchising, but we kept coming back around to property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul and Carol were already landlords, albeit accidental ones, renting out a brace of maisonettes, including Carol\u2019s former home, with an eye on their children\u2019s futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my redundancy came up, we were looking at franchising really just to get our heads around it \u2013 we weren\u2019t really up to speed with what was out there and available.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we signed up for the British Franchise Association\u2019s monthly magazine and when we were flicking through the first copy that landed on our doormat, we came across an advert for Platinum Property Partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

A chat with Platinum\u2019s partnerships team followed, as did a trip to one of the franchise\u2019s Discovery Days, which are now fully online following the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Then, in early 2014, Paul and Carol took the plunge and joined Platinum, starting their HMO portfolio by buying two properties at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always believed what we were doing by joining the franchise was right,\u201d reflects Paul.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 it was still scary. When you\u2019re investing a substantial amount of money and it basically has to result in an income for you because you\u2019ve been made redundant, it\u2019s a real leap of faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of a franchise like Platinum, all your money is flowing out of your account. It\u2019s all one-way.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got your franchise fee, your deposits on properties, you\u2019ve got to pay your builders for the renovation work. There\u2019s a massive outflow of funds and that\u2019s fine if you have another income, but we didn\u2019t, other than the part-time job Carol took on at our local supermarket.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to have real trust and belief in what you\u2019re doing at that point, but when the tide turns and the money starts coming back in from room rentals, that\u2019s when you know you\u2019ve done the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul is very clear on the structure the franchise gave him following his redundancy \u2013 as well as that all-important sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I needed structure,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d come from a corporate world and a company where I was very senior and was used to having people and teams around me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019d done property alone, it would have been a very lonely existence, not to mention having nobody to confirm whether or not the decisions we would have made were the right ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlatinum provided that structure and purpose through the coaching, mentoring and the clear processes you follow to build your portfolio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a case of \u2018here is what you need to do and if you follow it, this is the result you\u2019ll get\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut not only that, there\u2019s always a go-to person for everything and trying to figure out stuff on our own would have been a really lonely place to be on the back of redundancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

After their franchise term ended, Paul and Carol became Platinum Alumni Partners, meaning they retained access to the franchise\u2019s team of property, renovation and finance experts.<\/p>\n

But most importantly for them, the Alumni scheme meant they could carry on reaping the holistic benefits of the franchise and remain part of Platinum\u2019s investor community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a big community, a big family,\u201d says Carol.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Alumni Partners, we\u2019re focusing more on the health and wellness guidance and accountability that comes from Platinum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wealth journey is great, of course, but it\u2019s easy to neglect your health along the way. The Platinum team make sure you don\u2019t fall into that trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs your portfolio grows, it would be very easy to become fat, sick and lazy,\u201d adds Paul.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no point in having the wealth without the health and that was one thing we loved about Platinum before we even became Alumni Partners \u2013 there\u2019s healthy eating plans, Fitbit challenges, juicing\u2026 all of those things are amazing extras that come with being a Franchise Partner and we wanted to continue that as Alumni Partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

After six years with Platinum, five HMOs and 33 housemates, Paul and Carol are also enjoying the extra time together that comes with what is a largely passive \u2018job\u2019, for want of a better word.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to add another house and take our portfolio to six HMOs,\u201d says Carol.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got two six-bedroom properties and three seven-bedroom HMOs, so that keeps us busy. It\u2019s not full-time, but it\u2019s not 100% passive either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly get more time together,\u201d adds Paul.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my corporate job, often I would go off to work on a Monday and wouldn\u2019t reappear until Thursday or Friday, so now we have the time to spend together and with our family, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of a balanced life and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, having been through redundancy himself, emerging as a successful franchisee, what is Paul\u2019s advice to those facing the same and thinking of franchising in the wake of COVID-19?<\/p>\n

\u201cFranchises are models, essentially,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, my advice would be, and this is especially true when it comes to Platinum: Don\u2019t try to reinvent the wheel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you pay for when you join a franchise is a successful formula, so why try to change that?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be bumps in the road, particularly with property because it\u2019s the nature of the beast. But the important thing is to ask for help and keep things simple.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As well as the longer-term financial worries that can come with losing a job in this way, there\u2019s often the upset of leaving a company and work colleagues behind, too. But redundancy can also lead to new opportunities and one of those is franchising. \u201cMany of our Franchise Partners come to us following redundancy,\u201d says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[242,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-platinum-property-partners","category-property-estate-agent-franchises"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/platinum-property-news.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}