Home businesses could bring in £4.27 billion more by finding new premises

A report, Unlocking the UK’s Home Business Potential, found home businesses in the south could generate £922million more in profits.

That compares with £595m in London and £667m in the north of England.

The survey of 500 home-based businesses, from Vonage in partnership with the Centre for e conomics and Business Research (CEBR) and YouGov, found 20 per cent said the high cost of commercial office space was preventing them from growing.


Samantha Acton, founder of Southbourne-based domestic cleaning company Domestic Angels, found she could expand the business through franchising. The idea enabled the company to grow despite a shortage of commercial premises.

She said: “Before Domestic Angels, I had never thought about having a business of my own. It was a huge challenge – I had to learn a lot about everything from how employment law works to how to set up a customer-service business.”

The business has grown from a handful of clients in 2002 to one with 20 employees, supporting 138 clients and providing g more than 1,000 hours of services every month.

She added: “Before taking the decision to move to a franchise model, I was searching to find the right space that would allow flexibility to accommodate for peaks and dips in demand. It was surprisingly difficult to find affordable premises that allows for the unpredictable levels of revenue in the first few years of starting a business.”
N EXTRA £4.27billion in revenue could be unlocked for the south’s economy if home businesses were able to grow and move to commercial premises, research suggests.
Continue reading the Bournemouth Daily Echo Article...

Customer Service, Angels Style

During October, we had a company-wide meeting bringing together all Angels at the fabulous Shelley Theatre in Boscombe. Our mission:- to define the Angels own Customer Service Policy. The Angels worked together in teams and created the following Domestic Angels definition: The Angels aim to deliver a great and appropriate service at all times always reflecting our culture and ethos.


Their commitment to Customer Service is:

• We will be polite and caring
• We will do a good job
• We will be professional
• We represent the ethos of Domestic Angels
• We will go the extra mile
• We will work well as a team across the company
• We will be punctual
• We will engage with our customers
• Will have good relationships with our clients and colleagues
• We will practice forward thinking
• We will be presentable
• We will have great self-discipline
• We will be consistent

If you'd like to chat about having help in your home with weekly cleaning, spring cleaning or home help, please contact our customer service team on: Bournemouth and Poole - 01202267350 or hello@domestic-angels.com Christchurch, Mudeford and Highcliffe 07712407164 or deb@domestic-angels.com

If you would like to chat about taking control of your life with the support of a Domestic Angels Franchise: 01202267350 or franchise@domestic-angels.com.

Domestic Angels Christchurch franchisee hosts reception to celebrate launch!

Debbie Broomfield, franchisee of successful South Coast based Domestic Angels hosted a drinks reception at Bodega in Christchurch to celebrate the launch of her Christchurch franchise

38 year-old business woman Debbie heads up the new Domestic Angels Christchurch office and covers the nearby areas such as Burton and Winkton, Grange, Highcliffe, Mudeford and Friars Cliff, Walkford, Portfield, Purewell and Stanpit, St Catherine’s and Hurn.

The event was opened by Cllr Vicki Hallam, Portfolio holder for Growth and Economy in Christchurch, who welcomed Debbie to the area and said that it was fantastic to welcome such an energetic and enthusiastic new business to Christchurch.

Debbie enthused, “I am delighted to have become part of such a successful business and am looking forward to making my mark in the local community in and around Christchurch and building on the excellent reputation that Domestic Angels has already established.”

Domestic Angels Founder, Samantha Acton added, “What a great occasion it has been to celebrate the arrival of our new Christchurch franchise. Debbie is already getting herself known locally and we are confident that the Christchurch office of Domestic Angels will flourish!”

Domestic Angels is a domestic cleaning business which offers a variety of services in the home, from regular housework through to intensive spring-cleans. The company, which has the proud boast to be ‘more than just a cleaning company,’ also offers an element of home-help for elderly clients who require that little extra bit of support in the home. The Company’s ‘Angels’ make regular daily visits, as appropriate, and can be on hand to provide support and care to make life both easier and also more sociable for the client.

Anyone interested to enquiring about Domestic Angels in Christchurch and surrounding areas is urged to get in touch with Debbie E: deb@domestic-angels.com Tel. 07712407164.

Domestic Angels celebrates signing up its Christchurch franchisee!

Samantha Acton, founder and owner of Southbourne based Domestic Angels is celebrating signing up the company’s very first franchisee and welcoming fellow local business lady, Debbie Broomfield in to the Angels fold!

38 year-old Franchisee Debbie will be heading up the new Domestic Angels Christchurch office and covering the nearby areas such as Burton and Winkton, Grange, Highcliffe, Mudeford and Friars Cliff, Walkford, Portfield, Purewell and Stanpit, St Catherine’s and Hurn.

Commenting on her new business purchase Debbie enthused, “I had been searching for a new career challenge and when I saw the Domestic Angels franchise advert it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me. I was keen to find a role that would allow me the flexibility of still being there for my young family but also providing me with the chance to grow a successful business close to home. I’m very much looking forward to being a part of a successful business whose professional ethos matches my own and I imagine that I will gain a lot of job satisfaction.

“I was particularly impressed with the whole franchise process…right from my initial enquiry Samantha had a very open approach, allowing me to take my time to make any decisions and making it possible for me to look in on the business, analyse figures, the Company structure and set up. She also put me in touch with the relevant people who would be able to help make sure that the franchise set up was as smooth a transition as it could be for me. The whole process ensured that I was able to make an informed and considered decision in this big career step for me.”

Domestic Angels is a domestic cleaning business which offers a variety of services in the home, from regular housework through to intensive spring-cleans. The company, which has the proud boast to be ‘more than just a cleaning company,’ also offers an element of home-help for elderly clients who require that little extra bit of support in the home. The Company’s ‘Angels’ make regular daily visits, as appropriate, and can be on hand to provide support and care to make life both easier and also more sociable for the client.

Debbie added, “It’s the home-help for elderly clients’ side of the business that is a particular draw for me. The personal service that we can provide allows some clients to be able to stay independent and remain in their own homes. They look forward to a coffee and chat and the friendship that comes with our service. Not everyone requires this level of attention, of course, but it’s there for those that do. I would urge anyone interested to enquiring about our service in Christchurch and surrounding areas to get in touch E: deb@domestic-angels.com”

Samantha concluded, “This is a momentous occasion for us all at Domestic Angels. We are excited and eager to ‘crack on’ with Debbie and ensure that the Christchurch team is as successful as it can be and achieves its potential!”

Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a franchisee and exploring the business and earnings potential, opportunities and support available is asked to contact Samantha Acton at Domestic Angels e: franchise@domestic-angels.com Tel: 01202 267350 www.domestic-angels.com www.franchise.domestic-angels.com

Franchisees may be based anywhere in the UK.

www.domestic-angels.com

Meet the successful businesses that start at home and stay there

We've probably all heard stories of businesses which start in a spare bedroom and become multi-million pound concerns.

But what about the businesses that stay – and thrive – in that spare room?

For some, work can be done wherever there is a good internet connection and a phone service – even when it involves hiring and managing other people.

Sam Acton started Domestic Angels, a domestic cleaning and home help service, in her home at Southbourne in 2002. Not only has it expanded and won a national award, but she has recently turned it into a franchising opportunity.

“I started with an ad in the Daily Echo on April 11, 2002. At 11.10am, a woman phoned up. She was my first client and stayed with me for 11 years," she says.

“I quite quickly had four staff, then stayed at that level for a few years. I learned to be an employer.”

She now has around 20 staff looking after around 1,000 client hours a month. Although the business has moved to a home office in the garden, she has found no need to find separate premises.

The agency started in the days of home produced flyers rather than websites and social media, and the advance of technology has been vital to keeping a sizeable business going from home.

“The business would never have got as bit as it has if it wasn’t for technology,” she says.

“Email is very speedy and I can email and communicate with our clients whilst they’re at work. You can email for a reference and get it back straight away, which makes the business scalable anyway.”

She chose to franchise as a way of expanding the business while keeping her own operation a manageable size. Franchisees buy into a way of running the businesses and the processes it has evolved.

“Our reputation is the most precious thing we have because we’re in a service industry. It’s a really big deal. Franchisees are buying into the reputation and the culture,” she says.

Kate Shaw runs her own public relations business, KTPR, from home in Westbourne. Having been involved in politics and the private school sector, she launched the business in an area that has no shortage of PR agencies.

“It was my husband who had the belief that I could make it work. I started totally cold and I did have many doubts and kept my eye on the job market for quite some time but I gradually picked up and it’s gone from strength to strength,” she says.

The business has moved a couple of times within the house and is now in a spare bedroom.

“I found when I was in the back room it was starting to take over my life. My office is confined to one room in the house,” she says.

Both women have learned about finding boundaries between work and personal life. Sam Acton says she had to make it clear early on that working from home was still working.

“I was making myself too accessible. I had to say ‘I’m working at the moment, can I get back to you?’” she said.

But both say they benefit from flexibility in their working days.

“I like the fact that when [son] Jack comes in the door, we can have a chat. It’s being able to do those kinds of things and enjoying life and not feel like anything’s getting out of hand,” says Sam.

“When you get to the end of the day you’ve got the chance to sit at the table and have a chinwag.”

Kate Shaw added: “Quite often when I’ve got a press release to write, I’ll go down to the beach and take my laptop and be inspired by the surroundings. I’ve been quite flexible about where I might go during the day.”

There is little danger of feeling isolated from not being in a busy office, she says.

“The nature of my job is quite social anyway and it’s not just me sitting in my office,” she adds.

For Sam Acton, the success of the business outstripped her expectations. She took the title for home based business at the Venus National Awards for women in business in 2013-2014 after winning the local award. The confidence boost from that success has helped her expand the business, go into franchising and meanwhile organise annual Parliament Week events locally.

“In 2013, when I won the Venus, I struggled to take it on board that I was a business person. I was Sam who did Domestic Angels,” she says.

“When I won the national award, that’s when the penny really dropped.”

Original Article from Bournemouth Daily Echo