Franchisees and cousins, Jennie Bardrick & Lisa Cable opened Radfield Home Care Havering & Brentwood in June 2017 and have already won the prestigious Judge’s Award at the Thames Gateway Business Awards 2017.

They recently spoke to us regarding their new venture, and fantastic early success:

We have both experienced fantastic careers in the corporate world. However, we were looking to set up something of our own, that would make the best use of our experience, yet bring something special to the community.

We both love meeting people and helping others, and for the last few years we have been seeking out the right opportunity to start something new, which was aligned with our values.

The inspiration
We attended the BFA Franchise Exhibition and met Alex, Hannah and the Radfield franchise team. The clear focus on the quality of care being provided by Radfield was key to attracting us to the opportunity, along with the obvious passion we felt from the team. Throughout our franchise journey our initial views have been constantly reinforced. Radfield has a clear view of what it wants to achieve which is supported by strong leadership.

Why a franchise model?
A franchise model removes the unknown. With the added value of working with an experienced franchisor there’s a greater likelihood of business success. The Radfield Home Care franchise package gives us an incredible start with a powerful brand, fantastic website and first class training.

Why Radfield Home Care?
We felt our values were closely aligned with Radfield’s. We have a passion for helping others and want to inspire independence and positivity to this generation. In particular, the Radfield core value ‘We Are a Family’ resonated with us because we are cousins and have always been part of a large family. Our ambition is to ensure that our clients and carers all feel part of this happy family.

It’s been an exciting journey so far, soon after we completed the Radfield leadership training programme covering marketing, recruitment, systems and the brand, we secured our office in Hornchurch and recruited our first member of staff.

In July, we gained our CQC registration and by early August we were seeing a fast growth in new clients, supported by an expanding care team.

The right marketing strategy is key to franchise growth
Where we have needed the support the most is with developing our marketing strategy. Although we have business backgrounds, it is always tricky to know the right approach to use at a local level to target the audience in the right way. Radfield has delivered unique marketing campaigns, training and support, plus we have worked with the franchise team to develop press releases, marketing and event plans, and social media campaigns.

Business ambitions
We have some big ambitions. First and foremost, we want to continue to grow our client base, and build a care team delivering the highest quality home care.

Over time, we would like to set up a second office in the Brentwood area, spreading our service to a wider local community. Then over the next couple of years we would look to expand further across Essex to be able to help more people.

The future is looking very exciting indeed.

By year three, Jennie and Lisa have a projected turnover of £923,000 and pre-tax profit of £275,000, and are well on target to meet this.

Radfield Home Care is rapidly expanding with new territories being established all the time. There isn’t a better time to become part of our family and to secure the best territories for yourself, to realise your ambition of establishing your own business and creating financial security for yourself and your family.