Walfinch franchise

Why Should I Buy a Franchise When I Can Set Up On My Own?

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Setting up any business alone is difficult.

You’ll face unexpected hurdles and things will not always go to plan.

When you set up a business with a franchise, it’ll still be tough at first, but you’ll have a support system in place to help you overcome any challenges much more quickly.

You’ll be accessing a proven system and you’ll have a network of other franchisees across the UK who have been through what you’re going through and can help you.

You’ll meet your fellow franchisees regularly throughout the year at regional meetings and you’ll have an annual conference at the end of the year to help you push your business forward and celebrate any successes.

Your network is made up of business owners from very different backgrounds who are all following the Walfinch system and are running successful home care businesses as a result. Here are a few of the jobs people had before joining Walfinch:

• Equities traders
• Registered Managers
• Bank Managers
• Mental Health Nurses
• Business Development Managers
• Marketing Consultants
• Chefs
• Recruitment Managers

By tapping into such diverse expertise, you’ll have a much better chance of success in business than if you choose to go it alone.

Walfinch franchisees at their annual conference

Regulator Registration Made Easy

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Regulator Registration Made Easy

Before you can open a home care business in the UK, you must get registration from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland (CI), the Healthcare Inspectorate in Wales (HIW), or the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority in Northern Ireland (RQIA).

This registration process can be a difficult process and take some time, especially if you don’t have any experience of it.

Shilpi Verma started her Walfinch franchise in Harrow and Brent in 2021.

Shilpi got a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi university before completing a Masters in IT and Marketing at Amity University in Noida, India in 2007.

Shilpi then moved to the UK and worked in banking for Lloyds and then TSB for 15 years before joining Walfinch.

For Shilpi, it's the support around policies and procedures to get through registration that she found most beneficial at the beginning, because she came into home care from a very different sector.

Shilpi with her Franchisee of the Year award at the Walfinch annual conference

What training and support does Walfinch provide franchisees?

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Most Walfinch franchisees do not come from a care background, so your training is extensive and ongoing:

Initial Training:

• 5 day face to face programme for 2 directors, followed by 5 days online.
• Support registering your business with your regulator
• Help recruiting your first Registered Manager
• 8-week compliance training programme, with weekly 1 hour sessions
• Help finding your first office
• Business plan and launch strategy
• Support setting pay and charge rates

Ongoing Training:

• Annual support calendar including 10-12 online workshops, 3 face to face regional meetings for you, 3 for your Registered Manager, and an annual conference
• Support during regulator site visits
• Assistance buying additional territories
• Guidance on recruiting the right people
• Regularly reviewing KPIs to help you hit your targets
• Weekly marketing surgery
• Assistance selling your business when you’re ready

“I’m following the franchise plan and the result is the business has grown hugely since year 1. Year 2, I doubled it. Year 3, nearly again.”

Greg Renk, Managing Director, Walfinch mid and South Buckinghamshire

Greg Renk at the Walfinch Annual Conference

Growing Need

You’ll be providing a much-needed alternative. Over 430,000 people live in care homes in the UK. Life expectancy for care home residents between 2021 and 2022 was just 7 years for people aged 65-69. Life expectancy for non-care home residents in the same age group was over 23 years, so your services will reduce the quick deterioration observed in care homes (ONS).

Not only that, 9 out of 10 people say that if they need care, they’d prefer to receive it in their own home.

You’ll have access to a growing and under-served market. The number of over 85s in the UK, the group most likely to need home care, was 1.6 million in 2018. By 2048, this is projected to rise to 3.5 million and 5.1 million by 2066 (ONS).

You’ll be in demand. Requests for care were 6% higher in 2021 than in 2015/16 and requests exceeded 2 million for the first time ever in 2022-2023 (The King’s Fund). Your market is far bigger than just the elderly. There were 22.2% more requests for care from the working-age population in 2022 than in 2015/16 and 900,000 additional working-age adults were living with a disability in 2021 than in 2011 (Institute for Government).

You’ll have potential clients from the start. More than half a million people were waiting for adult social care in May 2022 and the proportion of those waiting more than 6 months reached 36.5% in March 2023 which is up from 20.2% in November 2021 (Home Care Association/Institute for Government).

You’ll be in demand all year round so you’ll experience continuous growth, and you’ll have multiple sources of income because you’ll be offering a range of specialist services to lots of different age groups including hourly visiting care and 24/7 live-in care.

Reach Your Professional and Financial Goals More Quickly

Get Private Leads with a Recognised Brand

When you buy a franchise, you have full control of your own time.

Dhan Ramjuttun, who runs Walfinch Greater Manchester South with his wife Sham, was a Mental Health Nurse in the NHS for 25 years before joining Walfinch.

Dhan is from Mauritius and studied Health Care Management at Keele University in the 90s before forging a long and successful career in the NHS.

Dhan is into gardening, cycling, and football, and self-employment has given him the opportunity to do more of these things than he could when he was working in the NHS.

One of the key reasons people join a franchise rather than setting up alone is that you’re buying into a brand that is already known nationally and locally.

This means you’ll get private leads more easily.

We have years worth of marketing data which we use to advise you on where to spend your marketing budget to generate leads, alongside the organic leads which will come in because of the Walfinch brand.

Dhan and Sham Ramjuttun, Managing Directors, Walfinch Greater Manchester South

The “Mum Test”

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Everything we do at Walfinch is based around the “Mum Test” which is something Founder and CEO, Amrit Dhaliwal, came up with when he was a home care franchisee.

When deciding what care is best, how it should be delivered and who should deliver it, we always ask ourselves: “Would I like this for my own mum?” If the answer is no, we think again.

We believe that high quality care starts with our teams of carers – so we prioritise and support them with above-average pay and working conditions, which attracts and retains the best people. 8/10 carers remain with us year-on-year which is much higher than the care sector average.

FAQs

How long will it take to launch from the time I sign the franchise agreement?

Normally 3 – 4 months depending on things like CQC registration, finding an office and recruiting carers.

Yes. We will provide a business plan template and this will allow you to adjust key figures to ensure that it is ideally suited to your territory.

Are there any other costs I can expect?

Yes, other costs to budget for include a local office, local advertising, computer, office rent and working capital. Working capital will depend on how much money you need to draw from the business during the set-up of the business.

What is my expected break-even and how long should it take me to reach it?

The time to reach break-even is governed by how long it takes to find carers and clients for your business but our experience is that it normally takes anything from 12-18 months to achieve profitability.

Do I need any healthcare training or background to join Walfinch?

No, but a background in business and an understanding of how a business operates is desirable.

Will you help me find clients?

Yes, we train you to find your first 100 local contacts in your territory and provide training on the business development system. This enables you to find and retain key contacts in your area, who will keep referring clients to you.

How will I know what to charge clients?

Completing a local business plan will clarify the charges which reflect a fair hourly cost for Walfinch services. We help you with a territory review to understand pricing in the territory. This allows you to pay carers well and make a fair profit.

Is this opportunity full time or part-time?

Walfinch is a full-time management franchise opportunity. Initial franchisee training provides you with the know-how and support to set up and run a care business, as well as giving you an understanding of the care sector.

Are locations available? Could you help me choose a location?

We have territories available across the United Kingdom with strong demand for home care. It is possible to own and run more than one franchise with us.

*Download our franchise brochure here