What is driving the success for Anne-Marie Coleman, franchisee for Molly Maid Haselmere
“It really is the best combination of being your own boss, but also having back up when needed”
Anne-Marie Coleman worked in a family law firm, overseeing the day to day running of the company and managing a small number of staff, prior to starting her own business in October last year as proud franchisee for Molly Maid Haselmere. “My business background gave me a good base knowledge of what it takes to create a successful working environment,” Anne-Marie told What Franchise. “I left my position to have a family, but once our son started school, I was ready to get back to work. I needed to find something that could fit around my family as I felt it was important to be able to pick him up from school and have time with him between school and bedtime.” After talking to Aaron at Molly Maid, Anne-Marie decided this opportunity would be a great option. “It gave me the flexibility to be the parent I wanted, but also create a business to be proud of,” she explained.
Up and running
Although setting up a business, especially for the first time, felt daunting for Anne-Marie, she found the help received from the Molly Maid Support team invaluable. “They have made it so much easier for me by providing training before the launch, full time mentoring for the first few weeks and extensive ongoing support whenever it is needed,” she continued. “There’s also an extension to that support – through all the other franchisees who are eager to share their knowledge and experiences to help new business owners.”
Funding the project was very straightforward. Anne-Marie put up half the initial cost and was guided through the Government Start up Loan process by a recommended partner of Molly Maid, which made it quick and easy to obtain the required funding.
“The biggest learning curve for me has been staff management,” admitted Anne-Marie. “It’s a big job making sure they are happy, have what they need and are working to an optimum level. I’m sure I have much more to learn in this area, but I feel I am now much more skilled with the interview process and now I am able to identify more suitable candidates.”
Business pride
“The best thing about being a franchisee is having the opportunity to build a business to be proud of, but with the support of a proven system and established brand recognition. This all comes together to enable you to launch a business you know will succeed and with a huge helping hand to make sure you can achieve the best results.”
A typical week for Anne-Marie is a varied mix of staff management, admin, planning and visiting potential customers to carry out estimates. “I try to have Monday and Friday in the office and the rest of the week out estimating,” she said.
The relationship with Molly Maid Support office has been invaluable throughout the journey. The franchisor offered help from the moment she enquired about the prospect of buying the franchise, guided her through every process of setting up the business and still remains on hand whenever needed for support and advice, checking in often and offering practical support like marketing and business development advice. Anne-Marie concluded: “It really is the best combination of being your own boss, but also having back up when needed.”
For more information about new and resale opportunities at Molly Maid, contact Aaron Watson, Director of Franchise Development, by email awatson@mollymaid.co.uk or by phone 01628 583765.