Walfinch franchisees see the difference they make to clients

“It’s never too late to improve a life,” says Walfinch franchisee, Tiffany Meachim.

Recently his family contacted Tiffany to say how pleased they were to see the huge improvement in his mobility since she and her team started working with him.

Patrick says: 

“Walfinch Mansfield is one heck of a company. Everyone who works there from office staff to carers have been absolutely amazing.”

Patrick is not the only one whose life has been improved by Tiffany’s team. She proudly states: "Recently social services called to say that one of our clients, who is 41 and has a muscle wasting disease, has made so much progress that they had been able to discharge him. They asked us to pass on their thanks to our carers who had help him come so far.”

Tiffany says:

“One of my greatest pleasures as a Walfinch franchisee is hearing stories like this. I often get messages telling us what a difference we have made to clients’ lives. I pass them all on to everyone including carers, office staff and management, because we are all part of one team working together to improve the quality of life for our clients. The results speak for themselves."

Walfinch is looking for new franchisees, who, like Tiffany, prioritise care quality while wanting to build a successful business. Request more information and get in touch with Walfinch to find out more. 

Turning a passion for care into a rewarding business

"I fell in love with homecare as a postgraduate student. Now as a Walfinch homecare franchisee I’m running a thriving business in a sector that I love."

“Recently we took on a new client, a Pakistani Muslim lady, whose family had been caring for her themselves. Realising that they needed extra help they engaged us, but they were a bit concerned about what it would be like.”

Bunmi sent two of her team: a Muslim lady, and Joseph, a Christian man. “She always greets the lady with “As-salaam alaikum” [The traditional greeting among Muslims that means peace be with you],“ says Bunmi. Joseph explained that she could call him Joseph, as the name is rendered in the Bible, or Yusuf, as the name is rendered in the Quran.

She helps the lady with exercises and goes the extra mile by reading parts of the Quran to her. “The lady says it brings back happy memories for her,” says Bunmi.  
Meanwhile, her family told Bunmi it was the last thing they expected. “They were unaware that such culturally appropriate care would be available,” she says.
How I got into a care career
Once Bunmi completed her  Postgraduate Marketing , she stayed in Scotland. “After that, I tried to get jobs in marketing, but it wasn’t working out, so I used my care experience to get a job as care coordinator,” she says. “It meant office work, but it also meant getting out to see the clients, a combination I enjoyed.”

Why the Walfinch franchise?

Three years ago Bunmi decided that she wanted to use her expertise and energy to start her own business in the home care sector. “I concluded that a franchise was the way to go, because you get the benefits of the franchisor’s experience and their extra support.
“I did lots of research and chose Walfinch because I felt that their support would be good. I was right – they helped me find funding for me to start Walfinch Edinburgh South and have provided great support throughout.”

Growing her business

Bunmi has recently recruited six new carers for her team – not easy in today’s market, when carers are hard to find. Her secret? 

“Referrals,” she says. “I generate referrals from carers’ family and friends, which I like because you have a connection to the candidate before you start. That said, Walfinch can also provide a lot of help with recruitment, along with support on other issues.”
Among Bunmi’s team are some students working around their studies, as she did. “I don’t think any of them have an ambition to get into the care sector right now – but then neither did I until I fell in love with it. They may come back to it later, as I did, because it’s a sector that welcomes people with a passion for care,” says Bunmi.

“If you have the commitment and energy to work in the homecare sector, Walfinch supports you to build a thriving business that delivers huge rewards and a good living.”

Shilpi, whose career includes 17 years in banking, is now the Managing Director of the Walfinch home care franchise in Harrow & Brent. Here she explains how she successfully combines care and business skills.

“Banking and care look superficially very different, but they are both about understanding and meeting the needs of customers,” says Shilpi. “The commercial and team management skills I learnt in banking now help me bring genuinely personalised care to clients, while developing my carers' careers and building an award-winning business.” 

Shilpi launched her home care business in 2021, and now has a team of 55 people delivering care to 28 clients. She is the third most successful franchisee in Walfinch's countrywide network of 30. Recently she and three of her carers were chosen as finalists in the London Region of the Great British Care awards, and Vaibhavi Patel won the Palliative/End of Life Care Award. 

How does she do this?

Developing the care team

“Supporting your team is crucial to providing the best quality care, and I am sure that this is one of the reasons why we have a low carer turnover ratio,” says Shilpi.

She takes practical action to develop the careers of her care team with training and support, and offers carers wellbeing reviews, an employee assistance programme, and access to mental health support. She believes strongly in internal promotions, and provides suitable people with the extra training required to climb the career ladder. Her care manager started as a carer and two others have been promoted to field supervisors.

To ensure staff are engaged she commissions regular staff engagement surveys. “Staff often mention the supportive and friendly work environment, and the positive attitude of colleagues and management,” she says.