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A Dream Doors ‘Women in Franchising’ Case Study
Three years ago, mother-of-four Elaine Ryan knew nothing about franchising. Having worked for ten years supporting children with special educational needs she felt ready for a change, but to what she didn’t know. Then, while having a coffee with her husband John at a franchise exhibition, she spotted the Dream Doors stand.
“We found ourselves sitting directly opposite Dream Doors, and some of their team were demonstrating how quickly and easily an old kitchen could be made to look like a new kitchen – just by changing the doors and worktops. I was impressed by what I saw and said to John: ‘that’s something I wouldn’t mind having done in our own home’. It was at that point we realised there must be a market for people who would rather have a quick kitchen facelift than have their entire kitchen ripped out. That was the moment we started to think about buying a Dream Doors franchise.
At first, even though John was happy to get stuck into working full-time in the new business, I was nervous about leaving my existing job and losing a main income. All of my experience in the past had been working with children, and although I loved the job it didn’t give me the flexibility I wanted. Now, running my own business, I’ve found ways to merge work and home life more effectively, and I get to see more of my own children.
In the early days, when John was getting things off the ground, I did seriously think about working part-time at the school and Dream Doors, but it soon became clear that this would be unrealistic and that it would make more sense to commit fully to the franchise. I definitely made the right choice and don’t regret taking the step to becoming my own boss.
Some people might think that being a Dream Doors franchisee requires a lot of technical knowledge, but it doesn’t. In reality you don’t need any kitchen industry experience at all. Everything I wanted to know was covered in the training provided; I’ve never fitted a kitchen in my life, and would never want to, but that didn’t matter because our franchise manager Polly helped us recruit a great team of fitters.
For John and myself, the bulk of our daily work involves selling. Although it wasn’t something I was completely comfortable with at first, I’ve been out on sales visits a lot more recently and have discovered that I’m very good at it. In fact I’ve been successful with nearly every appointment I’ve had lately, so I’m enjoying it a lot more.
One thing I would say is that running a franchise with someone you’re so close to can be challenging. John and I often have very different ways of working, but if you’re mature about things you can use these differences to benefit the business. Most Dream Doors franchisees are husband-and-wife teams. What we’ve learnt from listening to them, as well as from our own experiences, is that when the doors to the showroom and office close in the evening, any work problems should be left there to deal with the following morning.
