Why we love to do what we do...
Case Studies - Tina O’Connor and Stewart Collins
We chose franchising because we felt we needed the back up and support from an established franchise network as we were new to being self-employed.
Before taking up the Barking Mad franchise Stewart had worked in I.T. for 15 years and had been made redundant for the second time in three years. He felt that he needed a change of direction. Tina worked part-time at a local hospital and a local primary school and had two young children to look after.
Before we decided on the Barking Mad franchise we researched the franchise arena thoroughly via the ‘whichfranchise.com’ website as well as the ‘BFA’ website. We asked advice from a relative who had recently begun to operate a franchise business. Stewart also attended a seminar in Bristol, held by a High Street Bank, where a representative from the BFA was present, together with a number of representatives from several established Franchises. From all of this information we were able to decide that franchising was the right course for us to take.
We were attracted to the Barking Mad franchise because we both have a love of animals and liked the concept behind the Barking Mad service. The idea of an alternative to boarding kennels was a very simple idea and as an animal lover it was the obvious solution to the problem if you didn’t want to put your dog into kennels.
Lees’ obvious enthusiasm for providing this service in a professional but caring manner was apparent in what we read about Barking Mad.
Once we had had an informal discussion with Lee on the telephone we received a franchise pack from Barking Mad which started the ball rolling for us. We met with Lee to discuss things further and then had a chat with an established Barking Mad franchisee who gave us a good insight into how he ran his business. Once we had made the decision to proceed and become a Barking Mad franchise, Stewart went up to Head Office for a weeks training which he found very comprehensive and informative. Having never run a business before we both had a lack of knowledge on certain important issues relating to being self-employed and we received guidance from Head Office on how to set ourselves up. They suggested that we should seek further advice from an accountant and our local High Street Bank which we did.
The training we received which was specific to delivering the Barking Mad service was as comprehensive and thorough as it could be within the time limits of the weeks training course. Stewart found the practical ‘Hands on’ training i.e. a new customer visit, a collection of a dog from a customer and a delivery of a dog to a host family, very important to him as a good introduction to the practicalities of providing the Barking Mad service in a caring but professional manner. Once we had received relevant training in the procedures contained within the Barking Mad manual we felt that we had the tools necessary, from which we could start to grow our new business. Once we began operating our franchise, Head Office were always just a telephone call away, offering support and advice if needed, as were other established Barking Mad franchisees.
We began operating our franchise in October 2004.
There have been a number of challenges which we have faced so far. One challenge which will be ongoing if we are to grow our business is the recruiting and retaining of Host Families. These wonderful people are vital to the ongoing success of any Barking Mad franchise and we are continually aiming to market different areas of the public to secure more and more of these specific type of people who are invaluable to us.
Another important and ongoing challenge is to keep our costs down. The first six to eight months of running our business were very challenging from a financial point of view, but once we began to build a customer base who started to use our service time and time again we started to see our turnover increase and began to make a level of income. It is important that we keep costs down as much as possible as we need Barking Mad to make a certain level of profit for us to replace Stewarts’ old salary from his I.T. days. We always aim to spend as little as possible on advertising our service and this is greatly helped as 25% of our enquiries now come via word of mouth, with a large percentage coming from vets and pet shops, which do not demand a large cash outlay, just time taken to talk to vets, veterinary nurses, receptionists, pet shop owners and staff. This type of low cost advertising is invaluable in the ongoing challenge of keeping costs down but is vitally important in spreading the Barking Mad word.
We would advise someone buying a franchise to fully research the franchise itself, to establish whether it is a professionally run business which provides a good level of support once you begin to operate, and to find out what help you can expect to receive in return for the management fee. Ensure that the figures add up and the outlay seems proportionate to the return you can expect to receive in terms of support and help from the whole franchise network as well as a good level of financial income.
You should also fully research your market place. Find out what other businesses are out there providing the same or similar services and know what strengths you and your franchise can then bring to that market place. i.e. an established and successful formula, professional but caring image and so on. We were advised by a friend “make sure that whatever you chose to do - that you enjoy doing it”. We certainly enjoy running our Barking Mad franchise. Also it is very important that you believe in the product you are providing!
Our experience of franchising to date has been a very positive one. We need to make Barking Mad a success as, financially, it needs to replace Stewarts’ I.T. salary, and it is doing that for us as well as providing a very welcome lifestyle change. We can be more flexible with how and when we work to fit in around our family life, as well as thoroughly enjoying the work we are doing. We feel that we always have the support and back up of the whole Barking Mad franchise network to call upon if necessary, as well as having the independence of running our own business. As the network continues to grow nationwide we are finding that the Brand awareness is building which obviously benefits us and the whole network, spreading the Barking Mad word ever further. This is one of the biggest benefits of being part of a franchise. The proven formula works very well and the Brand image is growing in stature constantly and we are a part of that growth. We both enjoy running our franchise business, with each of us able to concentrate on the elements we are stronger in, which helps to build a strong team and therefore a strong business.
Our goals for the future – we aim to continue growing our business at a steady, manageable rate, with both of us out on the road meeting and greeting dogs and their owners when the level of business demands it, and will look to employ another pair of hands to back up the office operations when the business both needs and can support such a move.
Our aim is to continue to set the standard for providing the
No. 1 alternative to dog kennels in our area within what is the ever growing franchise network of Barking Mad.
« Back to main Case Studies page