This is the story of how one NHS practitioner transitioned from employee to franchise business partner.
Julie Oommen spent more than a decade working as a staff nurse at a teaching hospital in West Yorkshire. She admits she has always had a passion for providing care, but after many years employed in the NHS in Leeds, started feeling that she had become merely ‘a little cog in a huge machine’. She was always ‘committed and happy’ in her role, but still felt there was something missing.
Deep down, she had always had this desire to become her own boss and after careful consideration decided to investigate the world of franchising. This led her to the door of leading home care provider Caremark Limited which launched in the UK 16 years ago. After undergoing intense training, she launched her business in Wakefield at the start of 2020, and this is the story of her experiences:
‘My introduction to Caremark was totally serendipitous. Prior to my discovery, I was content and engrossed in my job as a specialist practitioner in the NHS which was a role I had attained in spite of a series of challenges. The idea of joining or starting a business was always in the back of my mind but I had always been apprehensive of the sheer time and effort it may take just to reach the starting line.
I was aimlessly scrolling through Facebook one day when I stumbled upon an advert for Caremark. Acting instinctively, I made an enquiry about getting involved in the start-up business by clicking on a link that was provided. Almost immediately, after submitting my enquiry, I was contacted by Caremark‘s recruitment consultant Mark Abdelnur. We talked about my interest in the advertisement and Mark was incredibly accommodating throughout our conversation. I was immediately hooked and he encouraged me to take it further.
So we arranged a meeting with head office, where I found everyone welcoming and supportive. This meeting provided me with a strong positive feeling about the domiciliary care business. I also met with the CEO of Caremark Limited, Kevin Lewis. At no stage did I feel under pressure to become their next franchisee, with Kevin talking me through all the various stages I would need to undertake to complete my training. He also made me fully aware of the challenges I would face once I was in business. I walked away from this informative chat feeling incredibly confident and so decided to take that leap of faith.
The head office team in Worthing have supported me every step of the way on my business journey. I signed the contract to officially become a business owner and participated in a fortnight of intense training. This enabled me to fully understand my role and responsibilities as a business owner. Coming from an incredibly structured organisation that is the NHS, in which I was just a cog in a very large machine, to then suddenly being my own boss, was initially overwhelming.
In my new role I would have to engage in various and plentiful administrative work, while also needing to complete the CQC registration. However, support was available in the form of our regional manager Paul Matthews, along with all the other franchisees in my region. It made my journey more comfortable and I would strongly recommend joining Caremark Limited to anyone who intends to start their own domiciliary care business. My transition from employee to business owner was only possible because of the immense level of support I received from the head office team.‘
You will notice from Julie’s story, that she joined Caremark following a 13-year career in the NHS. However, it’s worth mentioning, that you do not need any experience in health care to become a business owner in the franchise sector. As Julie has discovered, becoming a Caremark franchisee is an office-based role, in which you will run a structured in-home care business by following a proven business model. Business acumen and the drive to succeed is the key to becoming a Caremark franchise owner. Why not call us on 01903 266392 or click here for more information, and to discover which UK territories are still available.
