What did you do for a living before you became a franchisee?
I have always worked in practice, including eight years running my own.
Why did you consider the franchising route, and why did you decide to go into business as a couple?
Paul was looking for a new challenge and franchising looked to be the way to go; being an accountant, TaxAssist seemed the obvious choice. Originally, it was just going to be Paul, but he was so successful at taking on new clients that we quickly realised that either I had to join him or we had to bring in a manager. I had become bored and disillusioned in my role at the time, so we decided to make the jump together.
How was the sign-up process? What support did you receive?
As we took over a current practice it was a bit different from a startup. Paul did the introductory course and was then in the office working from day one, getting to know the current clients. I did the marketing course after working in the office for a few months, as that was the only part of running a practice that I didn’t have a knowledge of. We received all the support we needed or asked for and that continues today.
What strengths do each of you bring to the business?
Paul is very good with clients and has a vast knowledge of practical matters having come from working in industry. I have all of my practice experience relating to compliance needs, resourcing and the ability to get the best out of our staff.
What are the pros and cons of working as a couple?
We see each other pretty much all day, every day! Being able to debrief on the way home means that we usually deal with any issues before the end of the working day. We are also aware that we can’t take personal issues into the office, so it has made us better at dealing with those outside work.
What do you see as your short and long-term business goals?
Short term, we will continue to grow the Sidcup office, open our new office in Gravesend and make it self-financing within six months.
Long term – build our client base to a point where we can retire! This involves having a strong management team in each office so that we can start to take a step back from the day-to-day running of them.
Does working as a couple benefit family life?
If we had started this practice from scratch, there would have been additional stresses around having an income in the early days. As it was, we were able to leave work at work so that it didn’t impinge on our time at home with our children. However, as we have both become busier, there are times where we are both under strain. Working together means that we understand the situation and we therefore don’t make additional demands on each other when the other person is not able to cope with them.
What are your golden rules to live by when you live and work together?
Define your roles at work, don’t take your work home with you, maintain a life outside or work, keep communicating and stay friends.
Read Paul and Carol's case study here.
