Raring2go: My journey in to franchising

Kiri St. George had spent many years in the insurance industry before having children. She had her Daughters,  and then spent six glorious years at home with them.

Work desk

 

The time came for her youngest to start school, which wasn’t easy for her to then be alone in the day and so it was time to look for a new challenge and find a job that would provide flexibility around her family because her priorities had changed somewhat!

The opportunity came about to become an editor of Raring2go! Worthing and it certainly ticked the boxes for her to work around a growing family.

Although Kiri had many years of experience dealing with the public and speaking to people, she had reservations with regard to being her own boss and making the business work.

Kiri knew that with anything new and especially starting up a business, it wouldn’t be a walk in the park necessarily, but the one thing that kept her spirits up was the backing and support of the team behind Raring2go!

Kiri hadn’t sold to anyone before, which raised questions as to whether she would be good enough, what would she say, how would she present herself, the questions were ongoing.

The process right at the start with Raring2go! was thought out and broken down into stages, so everything was covered, from picking up the phone to contacts, to maintaining the database, how to go about selling and conducting yourself, and covering everything that was involved in putting the magazine together.

She was not afraid to admit there were some funny moments, saying to herself, I can’t do this, this isn’t for me, but it was all new, a new challenge, and have an income that didn’t sway her from being there for her girls and, which was her motivation.

For some, cold calling is not for them, but Kiri enjoy’s it! The challenge of speaking to people about their business, conducting yourself in a way that doesn’t scare them off and introducing an invaluable resource, which provides a guaranteed reach to their target audience.

I do work from home, which there are positives and negatives. The positives, which certainly outweigh the negatives;

  • Planning the day to suit what you have on
  • Working as much or as little as you need to
  • Being there for her girls, whether they are ill and need to come home from school, or they may have forgotten their books or pe kit

The negatives, which are easily solvable, are working alone and some days not seeing another adult! That just means visiting various cafes, drinking copious amounts of coffee, to have a meeting with his clients or catching up with a friend, either way it’s great to get out and about, plus you can’t beat face to face!

Kiri has found networking groups a great way of being out of the house, having that social element and getting in front of businesses to have that face to face experience, which she has formed some great friendships over the years as a result of this, most of which she still has today.

The only other negative is sometimes being distracted with what needs to be done in the house, although she can admit that hanging out the washing is more therapeutic for her than being on the laptop!

The network of the other editors, and there are many of them, is invaluable. There will be invariably a network around you and your area and therefore all editors support each other with selling, meeting up and going through ideas for the magazine.

There is also the facebook editors page, which is a godsend! I doubt anyone has good days, one after the other and whether you want to moan, laugh, tell a joke, shout from the rooftops of a booking you have just secured, there is always someone there, which is reassuring and makes you feel you are working with others, albeit they are not with you in person.

Kiri is now in her 9th year. Her girls are now in their teenage years and whilst she misses the days of taking them to farms and parks etc especially in the holidays, she is still very much involved in what’s happening in the area to help other families to keep in the know.

Kiri enjoy’s building up new relationships with businesses and providing a great variety of what is out there for the local families to enjoy.

There is still a need (not as much now!) for her to be there for the girls when they aren’t well, the odd book or pe shirt is still being forgotten but she wouldn’t have it any other way!

Kiri look’s back on her journey into the franchise business and she really doesn’t regret a single second of it.

Without doubt it has delivered on both a personal and professional level. She often thinks what she would be doing now if he hadn’t bought the Raring2go! business; quite possibly back in insurance and probably not enjoying it half as much as she enjoy’s Raring2go!

Perhaps more significantly though, she often thinks how much of his daughter’s childhood she would have missed out on had she not taken that first step and enquired about the Raring2go! franchise.



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