Lisa Stead of Shuttercraft explains why she believes women have an excellent aptitude for building successful franchises
As an experienced franchisor, formally a director of a highly successful property franchise and now responsible for the management of an award-winning shutter franchise, I believe women have the ideal mindset for delivering excellence, particularly in a franchise market.
I’ve always believed a team of strong, capable women have the ability to get the job done and deliver results that far exceed expectations.
From my own team of degree educated marketers and highly qualified franchise professionals to the females who are involved in running our franchises, women have the right frame of mind to understand the benefits a franchise structure can provide and know how to make the most of it.
They know franchising is an excellent way to start a business and appreciate the security of a tried and tested system to help them achieve their objectives.
CHALLENGING AND REWARDING
I thrive in a challenging and rewarding environment created when women establish and develop a new business. Seeing someone achieve a good work-life balance and free up time to reach personal goals - all while establishing a great future for them and their family - is exceptionally fulfilling.
I’ve seen women at the start of a franchise journey, who didn’t believe they could run their own business, turn into successful franchisees. In my last role, this was evidenced by the fact that within the top 10 performing franchises, seven of them were run by women.
At Shuttercraft, we have many women who start off in a supporting role to their partner when joining the franchise. However, they quickly realise that they can, and do, run the business and have the foresight to set immediate and long-term goals for growth, which they then work extremely hard to achieve. The community within the franchise world is exceptionally supportive and contributes to a great sense of job satisfaction, which I’ve not experienced in other sectors, and I think women are more inclined to be in-tune with the benefits of a network and the sharing of knowledge and experiences.
THE APPEAL OF SHUTTERCRAFT
When I consider our own Shuttercraft model, I think this appeals to women for many reasons, but in particular because of the fact the product is so stylish and adds value and sophistication to a client’s home.
“Women have the right frame of mind to understand the benefits a franchise structure can provide”
As a management franchise, it can be set up to fit around other commitments and you get excellent customer interaction and satisfaction - the products sell themselves, making running your own business a pleasure.
Personally, I’m looking forward to developing the Shuttercraft franchise brand and working with my team to develop product lines, enhancing our training and support and growing the network to levels we didn’t think were possible 12 months ago.
My advice to any woman who’s considering buying a franchise is to ask yourself one simple question: does a franchise model give me the best chance of success?
The answer is that it most definitely does and with the support you’ll receive along the way, alongside your own ability and dedication, your chance of success is high.
