{"id":9257,"date":"2021-05-12T08:25:05","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T07:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/?p=9257"},"modified":"2021-05-12T08:13:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T07:13:55","slug":"case-study-visiting-angels-staffordshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/case-study-visiting-angels-staffordshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Visiting Angels Staffordshire"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The true power of following a franchise model <\/strong><\/h3>\n

For many years, husband and wife Andrew and Helen Lofts had grown tired and disillusioned with their work. It was only one day when they realised there was more to life than starting the day at 4am and not returning until late evening that they started to consider what their next steps were. A trip to a franchise exhibition gave them the answer in the form of in-home care franchise Visiting Angels. With its strong focus on ethics and company values, the pair recognised the true potential to be had in a service like no other \u2013 opening their own office in East Staffordshire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was clear that care is a growing need,\u201d said Andrew. \u201cNot just during the pandemic when we launched, but with the ageing population and people now opting for more personal care for their loved ones, Visiting Angels provided the solutions to problems that have become prevalent in the care industry. Neither of us had any prior knowledge of the in-home care sector, but with the franchisor\u2019s expertise, we\u2019ve been able to replicate the successful care delivery model in our local community.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his 20-plus years\u2019 experience in change management, Andrew had progressed to senior leadership senior roles within global companies. However, with that responsibility came the need to travel internationally on a regular basis. Helen, on the other hand, had spent years at a globel engineering company as an executive PA and then eight years managing a hotel whilst raising their two children.<\/p>\n

Completely unaware of each other doing so, they both started looking at potential franchises they could invest in. It wasn\u2019t until they both revealed their intentions that the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together \u2013 they were both on board with franchising and decided to take it further.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided the best thing to do would be to visit a franchise exhibition,\u201d Helen explained. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have any particular sector in mind, as we knew that we would be looking for a management-style franchise. Our existing skills and expertise would put us in good stead, whilst leaving the day-to-day service to the team we would manage.\u201d<\/p>\n

An instant connection\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIt was there we met with Dan Archer, the Managing Director of Visiting Angels,\u201d added Andrew. \u201cCombining our skills with the brand\u2019s commitment to changing the face of the industry for the better with its \u2018carer-centric\u2019 approach, we knew that this was a business we could excel at. We carefully examined a number of other brands which confirmed our decision \u2013 there was nothing else that even came close to Visiting Angels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Established in the US in 1998, Visiting Angels is one of America\u2019s largest care franchises, with over 700 franchisees operating in five countries. The first UK office launched in late 2017 and became the country\u2019s first \u2018carer-centric\u2019 in-home care provider. Dan Archer spearheaded the brand\u2019s development as UK franchisor and Managing Director of the Sheffield pilot franchise territory. Within a year of launching, Dan and his team were awarded Best International Office at Visiting Angels\u2019 annual conference in Philadelphia, cited as the fastest-growing office in the brand\u2019s history. It\u2019s this success that franchisees are championed to replicate.<\/p>\n

The pair attended their franchisee training in June 2020. This was their chance to get to grips with running a care business, whilst giving them an introduction to the care industry as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the information was fed to us virtually, it worked extremely well, preparing us for the business launch. It was delivered in digestible chunks that set up a foundation for when we could begin with our service. Perhaps the greatest part though was seeing other franchisees starting their journey too \u2013 we could support one another throughout the beginning stages, and it\u2019s something that we still do today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whilst waiting for approval to operate from the Care Quality Commission, Helen focused on networking within the local community. Her efforts paid off as, when their registration went live on 1st<\/sup> September 2020, they already had a client waiting to get going with their service.<\/p>\n

The right way\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe understood what had to be done to make the business a success \u2013 by following the model and replicating what Dan and other franchisees were doing, we too could build a great business. Along with the support of our amazing Registered Manager, Arnna, we\u2019re well on our way. After six months, we had signed 12 clients, with 12 caregivers within the team. We\u2019re comfortably completing over 225 care hours per week, which places us six months ahead of our original plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it just goes to show that, if you follow the model, then there\u2019s no reason not to do well,\u201d Helen added. \u201cWe knew of the demand for quality care in East Staffordshire, so it was our chance to seize that opportunity and provide a service that families were crying out for. And it\u2019s paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whilst the pair have built the solid foundations of a successful business, they understand what is needed to take it to the next level. In order to grow, they will focus on delivering a great quality of care, rather than a larger quantity of merely adequate care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our unique difference to other providers, and it works,\u201d said Andrew. \u201cDuring the pandemic, maintaining that great quality standard of care did take effort, more PPE and further training for staff, but thanks to the robust franchise model \u2013 not forgetting the country crying out for our services \u2013 we managed to build the foundations of a successful business. If we can do it whilst facing the worst economic crisis of the past decade, then we\u2019re extremely excited for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople might have thought we were mad going into business together as a married couple, but the truth is we have complementary skills that spread across all of the daily operations. It\u2019s helped with our personal relationship too, as we are happier and feel more fulfilled than we did before. We can now see that what we\u2019re doing is making a difference, and our confidence for the future is extremely high.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helen concluded, \u201cVisiting Angels has completely changed our lives for the better. If anyone was to ask if we would do it all over again if we could, we\u2019d reply with a resounding \u2018YES!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The true power of following a franchise model For many years, husband and wife Andrew and Helen Lofts had grown tired and disillusioned with their work. It was only one day when they realised there was more to life than starting the day at 4am and not returning until late evening that they started to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-visiting-angels","category-care-franchises"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ALofts-and-HLofts-sml-1200x833-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9257","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=9257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}