Harrogate, Wetherby & North Yorkshire

With a lifelong career in the healthcare sector, Occupational Therapist, Matthew Nutting was becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of high quality, care at home services for older residents throughout his local community in rural North Yorkshire. This was, of course, until he realised he had identified a huge, profitable and rewarding gap in the local marketplace and he seemed to be the only one prepared to do anything about it.

“My wife is a Registered Nurse and I am a Registered Occupational Therapist. Both of us had seen how home care can been done well, but also how it can be done badly. Our professional understanding and local knowledge helped us see there was a huge gap in the market for people wanting to pay for a premium service in Harrogate and its rural surroundings, so I decided to take the jump and began researching setting up my own business”, Matthew explained.

“I tried to speak with multiple home care franchises, yet Radfield Home Care was the only company that took an interest in me. Other companies simply weren’t available to speak to or said they will call me back, but never did; they only seemed to be bothered in how big my bank account was!

“When I spoke to Radfield though, we had a great discussion about the home care sector, as well as my experience and skills. As a result, we immediately had an interest in one another, and throughout the whole process it was clear that providing a quality service was at the top of Radfield’s agenda. They supported me with developing different plans and were always there at the end of the phone; honest, up front and caring.”

During Matthew’s due diligence, he identified recruitment could be a challenge in his territory, with Harrogate suffering from an early, pre-Brexit exodus of his potential workforce. However, even despite this, Matthew has had little trouble with his recruitment and is overrun with so many enquiries, he proclaims: “Recruitment has been nowhere near as hard as we anticipated. We thought it would be the hardest thing for us, but it has actually been quite easy. We’ve had to slow down the recruitment activity as they have been coming through far too fast.”

“To date, we have not had to spend a penny on recruitment or client attraction - it has all come from my connections in the industry, word of mouth and organic Facebook promotion. Almost the entire team we have in the office and out in the field I have worked with before, is a previous connection or has been recommended from an ex-colleague of mine.”

Although his connections have played a huge role in his early success, Matthew is happy to use his years of hands-on experience, lead by example and support his care team when they need assistance too: “I started out as a carer when I was 18 or 19 and the staff know and appreciate that. When I visit a client alongside one of the care team, they are often amazed to see me pull on gloves and get involved - but as a result they know I will do what they do, and would never expect them to do something I wouldn’t. I will be on the floor working with them and I know what they are going through. I often get told by staff that they have never seen a company director do personal care before. Coming from within the industry, this is natural to me though and it is these little things that really make a difference. By supporting and working alongside the care team, they feel valued and that helps with word-of-mouth, referrals and retention.”

Matthew’s reputation, connections and knowledge has also secured him many of his clients to date, as they are hearing great things about Matthew and his team from other local healthcare professionals: “Clients like that we meet with them face-to-face when they first get in touch, they like my background in Occupational Therapy and District Nursing, they like that they have been recommended by MacMillan, district nurses, the palliative team, discharge services or the Alzheimer’s Society. My experience also means I can advise clients how to navigate through complex healthcare systems. They find this such a great help, but it also reassures them about the service we provide. As a result of this, we have had clients be to wait weeks for our services instead of going to other providers in the area.

“We are finding client attraction through word of mouth is one of our main avenues as clients trust the people and organisations that are recommending us. I still can’t believe the amount of work that is coming though. I have had five calls just today from new clients!”

Although Matthew has been able to use his healthcare background to great effect, he is already making sure he is utilising the franchise support team to help lay the foundation to sustain this growth, particularly in areas of the business is not so experienced in: “The support provided by Radfield is fantastic. Our Franchise Support Manager, Vikki is invaluable. There are not enough superlatives to describe her, she is always at the end of the phone and coming to visit us in our office to support, guide and cheer us on. The whole team is the same though, they all have so much experience and help you overcome any hiccups you may face. Before joining, we never doubted the support they said they would offer, but it has without a doubt surpassed our expectations!

“For some things I have not needed much guidance because of my background, but I’ve needed the support team much more when it comes to running and developing a business. Despite being a healthcare franchise, Radfield is excellent at providing supporting in all areas - governance and compliance, as well as business and marketing etcetera.”

Having always worked within the NHS, Matthew had never experienced being his own boss and it was also one of his biggest concerns when considering setting up his own home care business. However, he now thinks it is one of the most rewarding things he has ever done: “The worry for me was I would be on my own, but the support I have received from the National Office is fantastic, and it comes from honest, upfront and easy going people that are easy to talk to and there to help you out. No egos or hierarchy, it is about helping you succeed.

“Another challenge is balancing the demand with making sure we provide a good quality service. Obviously, you don’t want to turn down work but you don’t want to take it on and do it badly. Having courage to say no when you can’t do it is a challenge I had to come to terms with as I didn’t expect it to happen.

“There are a lot of proud moments to choose from too. Receiving our CQC registration, then taking on our first client and our first member of staff was a really exciting week as we got to see all of our hard work come to fruition. Getting nominated for an award and receiving fantastic feedback from happy clients and staff members makes me proud every single day.”

With early targets well and truly being annihilated and breakeven on the horizon months ahead of schedule, Matthew has his sights on expansion throughout Yorkshire over the next few years to develop a Radfield Home Care stronghold in the region: “Five years down the line it would be fantastic to have three territories with a management team in each and an area manager overseeing it. This would free me up to look at working with local trusts and social services to see how we can support them better and improve the home care provision throughout the region. It would also be great to work with Radfield to expand national services.

“That is all in the future though, and right now I can just say that other than getting married and having kids, Radfield is the best thing I have ever done!”

Matthew is a fantastic example of a franchise partner utilising their skills to develop a successful business. However, Radfield Home Care has franchise partners from all different backgrounds, some with years of business ownership behind them, some working in the commercial world, and others coming from the healthcare sector, like Matthew. They have all entered the multi-billion industry and are developing successful business using skills developed in their previous careers, and the training and support offered the franchise support team to overcome new challenges they may not have faced before.

If, like Matthew, you are currently working in the healthcare sector and are looking for an opportunity to become your own boss, why not get in touch to discuss how your inside knowledge can help you become the next Radfield success story?

Alternatively, if you don’t have any prior healthcare experience, you can read some of our other franchise partners experiences that have come from a whole host of different backgrounds here.

Liverpool North

After 15 years working within the finance department at petrochemicals bluechip, Shell, Dave Bellis found himself facing redundancy in 2016. With a lifetime of working for other people in various finance roles, he decided his redundancy presented him with the perfect opportunity to start his own accountancy-based business. However, after a busy day meeting with multiple finance franchises at the National Franchise Exhibition in 2017, Dave wandered past Radfield Home Care and, with personal experience of the industry, stopped for a chat before heading home for the day.

“I had a lot of notice about my impending redundancy at Shell, so I began looking at what I wanted to do. I went to the franchise exhibition in February 2017 looking at financial franchises, but I spent my last ten minutes chatting with Radfield’s Digital Marketing Manager, Phil.

“My parents have been in care for a number of years, so I have been heavily involved with sourcing home care providers and had a reasonable understanding of how the industry operated. As a family, we have always liked to give back too; my father was a doctor, my mother was a nurse and my brother is a dentist - so healthcare has always run through my family. I think after meeting Radfield at the show, their family values came through and something just really seemed to fit. As a result, I ended up making my mind up on the motorway back home...Radfield Home Care was the franchise for me.”

Over the following months, Dave researched the local healthcare marketplace in his home region of North Liverpool and began his journey with Radfield Home Care, officially launching his new Radfield Home Care Liverpool North business in January 2018.

His dynamic mix of professional finance and business experience, twinned with personal experience of the care sector has enabled him to relate with the characteristics of a well-led, high-quality, home care service, whilst successfully managing the day-to-day running of the business.

“Being an accountant helps me keep an eye on the figures and keep organised. Whilst I am sure more of a professional healthcare background wouldn’t do any harm, sometimes it is good to have a different viewpoint on things and do things differently in a way which you may not have thought of if you came from the sector.

“It is an interesting one though, as ultimately you choose to launch your own business to make a healthy living, but in this sector it is a two-way ship of success. If you are a business person, you will have a great understanding of business finances and management, but you have to go into this knowing it is more than just a business. The most important thing in this sector is providing great care to all our clients.”

Thankfully, this is where Radfield Home Care’s franchise team can step in to help support its franchise partners no matter their background - and it is something that Dave has found invaluable throughout his journey to date.

“The support structure has most certainly helped me. I was one of Radfield’s first franchise partners, so I have watched the support network grow. From day one though, I had the support and hand-holding to help me grow through my first months of trading, and I have my dedicated Franchise Support Manager who is continuing to support me to grow and overcome challenges that any new business will face - from a healthcare, HR and business management perspective.

“I have been very, very happy with the support I have received; there is always someone at the end of the telephone and they are not afraid to get their hands dirty and support me with running the business. I owe everything to Radfield for this opportunity. I could not have started this on my own...well, I could have done, but I would have failed.”

Like any sector, healthcare has its challenges, and recruitment is one of them. However, having a high focus on providing the highest quality service to his clients, it has not been a shortfall of applications that has been the challenge for Dave, but rather carefully handpicking the right staff that reflect Radfield’s ethos. Although this has meant the shortlist of potential staff has reduced, Dave is now starting to see the benefits of his focus on recruiting a high calibre care team - from home care assistants in the field, to his Registered Care Manager in the office.

“Recruitment in itself had not been our main challenge, but getting the right staff has been tricky at times.  However, we now have a team of staff with a good pipeline of new team members coming through. Having a good retention and reward system has helped us retain our best staff too, which makes it easier to plan and reduces training costs.

“The same applies to Registered Care Manager. My Franchise Support Manager helped me headhunt her, but taking the decision to invest in recruiting a Registered Care Manager of Carolyne’s calibre has been one of the best moments so far. Knowing I have somebody with a proven track record, I am comfortable in the knowledge she will do a great job and is taking the business forward is a huge relief. Her knowledge in the space challenges me and makes me think about things in a different way. She has helped push my business to the next level. If I had to give someone new to the sector one piece of advice, it would be to recruit the best care manager you possibly can as a number one priority. Don’t save on that at all, pay top dollar and get the best.”

Now Dave has developed a strong and growing care team, he is in a sustainable position to support his existing client base, but also have one eye on the future. He has plans to expand to every corner of his existing territory, but will not lose sight of the clients at the centre of his business, and wants to be known as the highest quality home care service in the North Liverpool region.

“Over the next 12 months, we will be working with our Franchise Support Manager to augment our growth strategy. By implementing this strategy, going above and beyond for our clients and working as a team with good communication, I would like to grow the business to be the best home care service in our area. If we achieve that, the business will be really successful.

“I think that is one of the joys of working for yourself. Every day there is an open sheet of paper in the morning and everything to go at to take your business and destiny where you want it to be. I love it, no two days are the same. Don’t get me wrong, you have to work hard, but because you enjoy it, it doesn't feel like work. The main thing to me that makes this enjoyable is I make a difference to the clients we care for and the staff we provide a career and future for. It helps me sleep well at night knowing I am giving something back.”

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