Case Study - Veronica Young
I was reading an in flight magazine on a flight to Cyprus in 2004 when I came across an article about the Barking Mad franchise. I thought it was a great idea for a business and even commented at the time ‘I could do that’.
Five years passed and it was 2009, I was in a job that I was becoming more and more disillusioned with and my daughter Laura had just graduated from University and was looking for a job. We were talking about her future and I said it was a pity we couldn’t find something that we could both do as she had skills I don’t have and vice versa. I suggested a franchise as it is the slightly less scary self employed option. I then remembered the article about Barking Mad and it seemed to tick all the boxes. We made some tentative enquiries and the more we heard the more enthusiastic we got. We arranged a visit to the head office in the Lake District to discuss matters further. The meeting was in the form of an informal chat with managing director Lee telling us more about the concept and asking us about our lives, interests etc. Lee was very forthright in her approach and supplied us with facts and figures. I came away from that interview reeling with the amount of information I had been given and with feelings of excitement and abject terror! I had been complaining for some time about how unfulfilled I felt in my current job and here was a feasible alternative. I had a decision to make and it was not an easy one. Could I give up the security of my job and take this on? Laura had been offered a temporary job for six months and we decided she should take it and join me later if I went ahead. After much thought and soul searching I decided that Barking Mad would play a part in my future. A few weeks later I knew I had made the right decision as I was offered early retirement from my job. At the age of 52 I was about to start a new career.
It was agreed that I would do my training at the end of January 2010 and start operating on the 1st of February. I “retired” in late November 2009 and began preparing for my new adventure. Head office were very supportive and always on hand to give advice about everything from car purchase to the set up of my office. I was never made to feel that any of my questions, no matter how trivial, were unimportant.
The training course was very informative and was even fun at times. You are given a lot of information to get your business started and it is presented in a logical easy to understand format. You come home with a manual that is extremely helpful in the initial stages.
The early days were a mix of learning skills e.g. marketing the business, learning procedures and willing the phone to ring. I gradually grew in confidence with each new customer and although I initially had problems getting host families on board, things gradually improved. The days are never the same and because of that it is never boring. You never know what you will have to deal with. Sometimes it is a host saying they can’t have a dog at the agreed time and you have to completely reschedule your day to accommodate them, or it could be a new customer interview. Learning how differently we all care for our dogs has been a revelation.
I have now been operating for nine months. The learning curve has been steep but I have met some lovely people and their dogs along the way and I get great satisfaction in taking a happy dog home at the end of the holiday.
Laura joined me in June 2010. I have really appreciated having her on board. It is great to have company in the office and somebody to discuss problems with. This can be a very absorbing job. The office is in your house and it can be difficult to switch off and managing work/life routine can be difficult during busy times. I did not expect it to be so demanding of my time. You have to be available to deal with a problem the host may have at any time, and although one person can do it, it is definitely a good thing to be able to share the load. Taking time off or a holiday is definitely easier with some back up.
Laura comments: I agree with my mum about the pro’s and con’s of running Barking Mad and it definitely helps that there is two of us. However, this is only the case because we have always been so close and got on so well and as it turns out we make a pretty good team. The wrong two people working together could create very different results. Additionally, some of the difficulties my mum has faced with work/life balance and her inability to switch off during evenings etc. I think are down to her character as I don’t have these issues! However, I experience other problems with being self employed, for example getting out of bed in the morning! Everyone is different, but the important thing is that you can work around all these things and be a successful franchisee.
