Could apprentices be the future of kitchen and bathroom renovation?

While the success of your TREND Transformation franchise starts and ends with you, any business is only as good as the people who work for it. If you’re considering starting your own home renovation business, could this be the secret to building a successful team?

The heart of what you can offer as a TREND Transformations franchisee is our range of innovative products and services, but this is as much a management franchise opportunity as it is a home renovation franchise. Even if you’re planning to play a very hands-on role in your new business, you’ll need to build a team you can rely on to deliver a high-quality service, especially as your business grows and you take on more and more customers.

Our extensive training and support will help you a great deal and give you many of the tools you need to be a successful manager, but finding and retaining the right staff is always one of the most challenging aspects of business ownership. This has never been truer than it is now. We do have some tried and tested systems in place for you to use and taking on apprentices may be a very effective way for you to overcome these challenges.

Apprenticeships are a fantastic way for franchisees to develop their own resource of fully-trained and highly motivated young people to complement their teams. People who can become familiar with your processes, are keen to progress their careers and can become a major asset to your business as potential future, full-time employees.

Apprentices can come in many forms, so whether you are looking for installers or designers, this is a very attractive prospect for any new business owner. Taking on apprentices can also provide franchisees with an opportunity to establish a reputation for themselves in their community as good local employers, further aiding your future recruitment.

After all, the whole concept of franchising is creating opportunities – not just for a brand to grow but also for talented and ambitious people just like you, to become new business owners. The franchise model has been hugely successful for us in attracting some of the best and brightest to our brand, so it only seems natural that the thinking behind it could be extended to how you recruit your staff too.

Of course, an apprentice doesn’t come with the skills that a fully trained designer or kitchen fitter will have. Taking this route for your team does come with a number of advantages above and beyond the positive social aspect of helping young people get a leg up in life.

First of all, you have a larger pool of people to draw upon than just those with very specific experiences. Following the pandemic, and the more recent economic uncertainty, young people are having to work harder than ever before to get into well-paid professions and apprenticeships can offer them a very attractive way to both study and learn essential skills. There is a booming population of young people with huge potential who would leap at the opportunity of working with an established brand like TREND Transformations.

Secondly, these apprentices are very highly motivated and can bring a great deal to your team in terms of ambition, enthusiasm and raw talent. You’ll be able to shape that energy to suit your business.

Perhaps, most importantly, you can use this time to train and assess your apprentice and forge them into exactly the kind of person you will want to hire. Someone who already knows your systems inside and out understands your business and can begin their new role with an already established sense of loyalty to you and the rest of your team.

There are also a number of substantial financial benefits. While you do need to pay an apprentice, like any other member of staff, you’re only required to pay minimum wage – don’t worry, apprentices do have access to the same funding and loans as any university-level student! They’ll also be earning just as much as they would in an entry-level job but with the knowledge that they are working towards something better. On top of that, you are also likely to receive a one-off incentive payment or other forms of tax relief from the government if you become part of one of their various schemes.

Just like franchising, it’s a win-win situation!

We firmly believe that apprenticeships are something well worth considering when you are planning how you will succeed as a business owner and we would very much like to support you in this if you chose to partner with TREND Transformations. If you want to discuss this further, or any other aspect of how we can help you succeed as a business owner in this exciting and dynamic industry, please get in touch!