{"id":9259,"date":"2021-05-13T12:12:01","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T11:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/?p=9259"},"modified":"2021-05-12T08:14:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T07:14:38","slug":"care-professional-pursues-business-ownership-dreams-and-spreads-her-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/care-professional-pursues-business-ownership-dreams-and-spreads-her-wings\/","title":{"rendered":"Care professional pursues business ownership dreams and spreads her wings"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Care is the blood that runs through Lynn James\u2019 veins. Right from the age of 19, it\u2019s a sector she\u2019s been involved with – starting her career as a nurse and working her way up to launching and running her own care franchise in 2020. Whilst working for another care franchise, Lynn realised that she had ideas of her own about how true quality care could be delivered, and how caregiving staff could be recruited and retained. \u00a0Then she discovered in-home care franchise Visiting Angels and realised it gave her the solution to do things her way. In the year that brought with it the pandemic and the worst economic crisis in over a decade, Lynn launched her Visiting Angels business in North Surrey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect a lot of people think I am mad to launch a care business in the middle of a pandemic. The reality of it is that it just highlighted the important role that caregivers play in communities across the UK. I was so sure Visiting Angels was the best route to delivering quality care in my community, instead of placing things on hold and waiting out an economic downturn, I decided to launch my business when demand was high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The passion for care was evident right from Lynn\u2019s youth. After spending many years in nursing, she secured a job with the Alzheimer\u2019s Society, responsible for directly supporting families affected by dementia and developing support services that made an impact. It was in this role where Lynn came into her own and, after 15 years, she was ready for a change, becoming an Activities Coordinator at a care provider. Her passion grew stronger, and she knew she could make a difference in the care world.<\/p>\n

Lynn has experienced all aspects of care, spotting opportunities for improvements as she progressed. When she was searching for a solution to issues with underpaid and underappreciated caregivers, rushed client visits and a stretched workforce, Lynn came across a franchise opportunity that resolved each and every one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started to research Visiting Angels in more detail, I realised that it was the answer I was looking for. The main issues I had identified throughout my career could be fixed by one simple correction: placing caregivers at the heart of the community. It\u2019s engrained into Visiting Angel\u2019s culture to value the staff and that resonated with me massively. I was sold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Established in the US in 1998, Visiting Angels is one of America\u2019s largest care franchises, with over 600 offices 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, UK franchisor and Managing Director of the Sheffield pilot franchise territory, spearheaded the brand\u2019s presence after demonstrating great success. Within a year of launching, Dan and his team were awarded \u2018Best International Office\u2019 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

\u201cIn my previous role with another care franchise I learned about the world of franchising. I saw how well it worked, recognised the support on offer and understood the benefits of investing in a much larger brand. Not only would this give me the best foundations to build upon, but I would also have an existing network to look to for guidance, advice and support throughout the life of my business. Everything was pointing towards Visiting Angels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the entire world to shut down, Lynn was even more determined to proceed with her plan. With the backing of her husband Chris and the passion for making a difference in her local community, she attended her franchisee training in June 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was excited to get on with the initial training and set the wheels in motion for something that I had been considering for so long. It was great to get a grasp on how the business works, what it involved and how I could follow in the footsteps of the success of the Sheffield franchise. It just made me even more eager to start changing lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

In preparation for her business launch, Lynn was equipped with all the business know-how to hit the ground running. Whilst waiting for approval to operate from the Care Quality Commission, Lynn focused on generating a buzz around the business arriving in the community and what support they could offer to local residents. On July 7th<\/sup>, her registration went live, and Lynn wasted no time in securing client contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter six months, we had signed 10 clients and were comfortably delivering over 350 hours of care a month. I had also created my own goal of 25 recruitment opportunities within the first year \u2013 halfway through, I had 15 carers and two office team members. Once we\u2019ve hit a year milestone, I\u2019m confident that all targets will be exceeded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of the business is looking extremely positive. It sounds corny, but I\u2019m constantly looking forward to meeting the next client and providing them and their loved ones the support I know will make such a difference to their lives. That\u2019s what really puts a smile on my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Lynn\u2019s passion for care that has increased, it\u2019s also had an impact on her overall sense of purpose and wellbeing. After investing her life savings into something she believes in, it\u2019s given her the confidence and drive which is working wonders for her personal life too. With Chris supporting the day-to-day running of the business too, it\u2019s made the world of difference to their relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make a great team and complement each other well with our varying skills. When we\u2019re not working, we enjoy spending time with our youngest son and dog, going on walks and getting out and about. I\u2019m also part of three book clubs and I absolutely love it. I understand that the first year of my business will require a lot of time, but once the foundations are built, I know that\u2019s when I\u2019ll be able to reap even more benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see what I do as work, it\u2019s more of a vocation. I\u2019m finally pursuing my dream of running a business and I\u2019m confident that I\u2019m targeting my passions in the right direction. Visiting Angels is here to make a change in the provision of care and I\u2019m proud to be part of the team who\u2019s leading the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Care is the blood that runs through Lynn James\u2019 veins. Right from the age of 19, it\u2019s a sector she\u2019s been involved with – starting her career as a nurse and working her way up to launching and running her own care franchise in 2020. Whilst working for another care franchise, Lynn realised that she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9259","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\/VA12-1200x737-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259","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=9259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}