Double act

Working with your partner can be a match made in business heaven. Vesna Siljanovska talks to six couples to find out how to make your franchise a success –together

 

Running a franchise with your partner could be like putting all your eggs in one basket. But, add a proven business format, the chances of your business hatching into a profitable enterprise are significantly higher. It certainly doesn’t come without it’s challenges – long hours, lack of holidays and bringing work home is unavoidable, particularly at the start of the business. Yet with 26 per cent of franchises being operated by couples, it is clearly a common route to success. In fact, this statistic is probably even higher, as Janye Codling from Martin & Co. points out: “We have 40 couples in our network, but many have additional family members working with them, even if a single male or female is listed on the franchise agreement.”

Platinum Property Partners franchisees Lucy and Mike Regan have been operating their franchise for one year. Lucy pinpoints the core reason as to why many couples decide to buy a business together: “We are working towards our own futures and are responsible for what happens – all of our hard work is for our own benefit.

“We are both very determined to achieve what we are aiming for. If you were running a franchise with a business associate, you may be doing the same thing, but you will have different business objectives in the end.”
Anotol Poyer-Sleeman operates a ChipsAway franchise with fiancée Michelle Clark, he says: “If we have to work a Sunday the other person doesn’t grumble – the understanding is complete. It’s a shared endeavour.”

Working as a couple offers some degree of financial security, too, as often one member of the couple can continue to work bringing in a guaranteed regular income during the early stages. NBC Bird & Pest Solutions franchisees, Tim and Karen Lester found this helped to make things less stressful. Tim explains: “The franchise business took off quickly and it was only a matter of six months before we closed our catering business.” Likewise, Mike is still operating his IT consultancy business, however it is with the view to eventually work on Platinum Property Partners full-time.

There are, unavoidably, a number of challenges when it comes to couples running a business together. One of them is the affect it has on your work-life balance. Although happy with the decision to buy a franchise, Lucy says: “It takes up a lot of time and until you start you possibly don’t realise just how much time it takes up.” Similarly, Anatol reveals: “We worked for about six months through, until we were pretty burnt out. We literally had to take a week off and just switch off.”

And when it comes to bringing work home, Anatol adds: “We certainly find it hard not to bring work home. Work dominates life a great deal and we probably spend far more hours in business than we would have done in employment.”

However, the benefits must be measured against this. For example, business is now so good for Anatol and Michelle that they now employ a number of staff, which allows them to get some time back for themselves. Anatol continues: “Last year we went to the Caribbean together, we just decided that we were going to go!”

There are many success stories for couples in franchising, however the decision must not be taken lightly as for some, working as a couple just does not work out. Recognition Express franchisee Russell Golding started out working with his wife however, after nine months, both found that it wasn’t right for them. “The work-life balance was not correct during the time we worked together, and because we were working from home initally, we were together 24-hours a day, seven days a week. We never seemed to find the time to switch off from work. Even shutting the office door in the evening didn’t stop the conversation reverting to work,” explains Russell.

The pros and cons need to be weighed up if you are thinking about buying a franchise with your partner. One of the first things to consider is the type of business that will suit you both. Tim advises: “You have to make sure it is compatible for both parties – some of our other guys have bought franchises and they have done it all on their own. The reason my wife is included in the business is because she has a passion for birds of prey, and it affords us a good living.” Both of you need to be excited and believe in the business that you want to buy.

Secondly, it is crucial to plan the roles that each of you will play in the business. For Anatol and Michelle, for example, they naturally fell into the areas that that they were best suited to – Michelle is the primary repairer and Anatol, although also does repairs, looks after the operational side of the business. For Lucy and Mike, however, one of their challenges has been establishing each other’s role in the business. “We possibly didn’t establish our roles enough early on – I think if you were going into a franchise as a couple it is important that you set up exactly who is dong what right from the start, so that you make the most of your time and there isn’t as much overlap.” Lucy also suggests creating a job specification for each of you, so that your roles are firmly established from the start. This can also help avoid arguments and disagreements for each of you.

And thirdly, the cash. Anatol advises that you get as much cash behind you as, “the last think you want to be doing is panicking and taking on work that you are not ready for and to make poor business decisions because the mortgage isn’t being paid. If you can, get at least 12 months working capital behind you before you start,” he advises.

Working with your other half can offer you a number of benefits, such as guaranteed support, loyalty and commitment, not to mention the personal touch offered through a family-run business. If you are about to embark upon a joint venture, it is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages, and also whether your relationship can sustain the pressures that running your own business can bring. The strengths of being a couple in franchising cannot be matched by any other business partnership – your goals are fully aligned as you are working towards financial freedom – together.

 

Platinum Property Partners - Lucy and Mike Regan

Married for four years, Lucy and Mike Regan bought their Platinum Property Partners franchise when Mike was seeking a new business venture, explains Lucy

Why did you choose Platinum Property Partners?
After about six months of looking at various different businesses and franchises, we decided that a franchise was going to be the best way to get up and running. It would mitigate the risk involved – you have the support and strategies that would remove the pain out of starting something from scratch.

Were you nervous about working with your husband?
We always joked and said that we would never work together, but we do complement each other through the different skills that we’ve got. It was the thought of having our own business and more freedom, and eventually having more financial freedom that was exciting.

We thought about it long and hard as we are very different, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s been a sharp learning curve for us both, particularly to get to know how we work as we had never worked together before. 

 

The Camping and Caravanning Club - Rob and Dawn Muggridge and, Neil and Julie Purnell

Rob and Dawn Muggridge and, Neil and Julie Purnell are making a success of their family-run Camping and Caravanning Club franchise, as Rob reveals

How did you know you could all work together?
I used to have a small construction business with my brother-in-law Neil and I have also worked with my wife before.

What were the main challenges?
We’re very lucky because we’ve all got strong points. We’ve got Neil who is good with the computer side, Dawn and Julie are very good with the office side, and I’ve got the construction background where we develop the site – so we all pull together, we work great as a team. It’s a benefit having four franchisees – you’ve got four heads on your shoulders and four has got to be better than two.

How does this business fit in with family life?
We have three children each and their ages range from five to fifteen. We all sold our houses to be able to afford the deposit for the site. We then all moved to Puddle Lodge Farm and live on this site – our parents moved on the site too. We are lucky in that our parents assist with the childcare when we are not busy.

What are the benefits?
It gives you more freedom. If you need to go to a meeting you can rely on your family to pick up and run the site – you know it is in good hands. You get piece of mind. If there’s a problem you have four people to find a solution.

 

NBC Bird & Pest Solutions - Tim and Karen Lester

Married for 25 years, NBC Bird & Pest Solutions franchisees Tim and Karen Lester have been running their business for five years – the secret to their success is finding a business that they are both passionate about, says Tim

What made you decide to buy a franchise?
Having worked for NBC, I knew the business and could see there was lots of opportunity in a business that had already been proven to be successful. We’ve always been our own bosses, we’d never worked for anybody before. I only took the initial job with NBC because it involved falconry. I used to help my wife in the catering business.

How did you decide on your roles?
I already had experience of business so I now maintain most of the customer contact and the running of the business, and my wife supports everything we do and looks after the birds.

How do you deal with disagreements at work?
We don’t have many disagreements, we’ve been married for 25 years and that speaks for itself!
If there are any decisions to be made then we make them jointly as opposed to one running off with an idea.
What are the benefits of working as a couple?
The element of trust and guaranteed support – you don’t need to go to a board room and have people disagreeing with what you are saying, you can discuss it amongst yourselves and then put your plans into action and move forward.

 

ChipsAway - Anatol Poyer-Sleeman and Michelle Clark

The success of young couple Anatol Poyer-Sleeman and Michelle Clark’s ChipsAway franchise is down to support and motivation, reveals Anatol

Why did you decide to buy a franchise?
I was a police inspector and Michelle was a graphic designer. Michelle’s background is airbrush art and paint spray, and she’d always been looking to get into custom art work on cars. We actually got a scratch on our own car, rang up ChipsAway head office and the person said that they were short of franchisees in our area and asked if we knew of anyone that wanted to start a paint spraying business.

Had you worked together previously?
No and we had no idea how it would work. We are now engaged but at the time we were just girlfriend and boyfriend. Michelle was very keen on having a business but not launching it herself. I took a career break to help her launch with the view of eventually going back after a year. It was going to be her business, with me providing administrative support. But within three weeks we were having so much fun and really enjoying working for ourselves.

How did you decide on your roles?
The idea was that Michelle would be the paint repairer and I would do the administrative support and look after the budgeting, etc.
We’ve found that motor traders respond much better to a female – they would much rather have a pretty girl on the forecourt! We’ve also discovered that we can both go out and do the same quotes and Michelle can quote a 30-40 per cent higher pricing and get a better booking rate than me for the same job!