{"id":294,"date":"2020-03-04T15:47:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T15:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=294"},"modified":"2020-03-04T15:47:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T15:47:31","slug":"being-a-franchisee-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=294","title":{"rendered":"Being a Franchisee &#8211; the truth!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"295\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?attachment_id=295\" class=\"wp-image-295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-945x945.jpg 945w, https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Amy-2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meet Amy &#8211; she took on a Friends For Pets Franchise in 2014 and hasn&#8217;t looked back since! We asked her a few questions to find out what interested her in taking on the business and how she has found life as a Franchisee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: What made you get involved in the pet care business in the first place? <strong><em>Well, I had always had pets growing up and eventually completed a diploma in animal management once I&#8217;d left school. I started working as a pet carer for Friends For Pets<\/em> <em>and enjoyed the<\/em><\/strong> <em><strong>work so much that when Becca (the founder of FFP) went on maternity leave and asked me to help run the Cheddar team &#8211; I jumped at the chance.<\/strong><\/em> <em><strong>It all went from there really.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: Why did you decide to take on a franchise? <em><strong>I really enjoyed managing the Cheddar team and felt confident that if I took on a franchise I would be able to grow my business further; meaning I would benefit directly from my own hard work. It was also an easy transition as I had total support from Becca and the Head Office<\/strong><\/em> <strong><em>and the work was interesting and rewarding. I would say that increased income played a large part of it but also having a job I believed in and could fit around my lifestyle was also really important.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: What has been the best moment? <strong><em>It was in 2019 when I won an award for Excellence in Customer Service at the Sedgemoor Business Awards. I was also shortlisted for Young Business Person of the year and this has been such a proud moment for me and it was so lovely to be recognised for all my hard work.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: What has been the worst moment? <strong><em>I think the worst points are when we have looked after an animal for a long time and they pass away from old age or illness. It is a real wrench for us as a team of pet carers as we have really developed a bond with them and also seeing the impact on the families is tough&#8230;&#8230; but thankfully this isn&#8217;t a frequent event!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: What has been the biggest surprise? <strong><em>Realising how much goes on behind a pet care business and the time and effort all the pet carers and managers put in to ensure that every animal is looked after carefully and correctly. Also, having such a close relationship with the clients; for some people we really are a life line and we can easily have weekly communication with them if not more! You really feel a sense of purpose and reward from that kind of relationship.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: What is the thing that makes you happiest? <strong><em>Sunny days!!!! Being out in the fresh air on a walk in the sunshine is hard to beat &#8211; and I get paid for it! Also feeling like I am doing something worthwhile! I love getting to know the animals and are always appreciative for the time and effort you put it &#8211; a waggy tail greeting you is a simple pleasure that never gets old.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question: Why would you recommend becoming a franchise owner? <strong><em>For me, the key factors would be; the ability to create and grow a business in a supported way &#8211; and importantly to grow it in line with your own lifestyle. I can choose when, where and how much work I take on and I get to wear jeans and wellies to work (or alternatively my pyjamas when I am doing paperwork!) I&#8217;m not going to pretend that there isn&#8217;t a lot of work involved &#8211; but the important thing for me, is that I am in control of it and I directly benefit from it &#8211; it&#8217;s a win-win situation.<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow &#8211; Amy has given us some great insights into the life of a fanchisee! If it has sparked your interest in owning your own (low cost) Friends For Pets Franchise &#8211; please follow the links and attend one of our discovery days. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/franchising\/\">https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/franchising\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet Amy &#8211; she took on a Friends For Pets Franchise in 2014 and hasn&#8217;t looked back since! We asked her a few questions to find out what interested her in taking on the business and how she has found&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=294\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,26,2,4,25,23],"class_list":["post-294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-franchise-opportunities","tag-homebasedopportunities","tag-mumworkawards","tag-petfranchise","tag-workfromhome","tag-worklifebalance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}