What to look for when you’re choosing a franchise? You might well be making a sideways or even forward step on your career. Perhaps you’ve worked your way up in the corporate world and now you’d like to work for yourself (not by yourself!) and gain more flexibility. Maybe you see a franchise as an opportunity to extend your management and leadership skills. 

At Get Ahead, we value the input of all our franchisees and do what we can to help them grow. Buying a franchise should be a positive career step and we want to help you move forward. Let’s take a closer look.

Why is it important to invest in our franchisees? 

Franchisor Rebecca Newenham is a self-confessed people person. She loves meeting new people and learning what makes them tick. This translates into a great generosity of spirit that’s been the driving force behind Get Ahead from its foundation more than a decade ago.

But there’s solid business acumen behind this approach too. Rebecca knows that investing in her franchisees means that they can do a better job. As franchisees grow as people and managers, they bring in more business and enhance the Get Ahead brand and its reputation. 

What does “investment in potential” look like at Get Ahead? 

Rebecca is a great champion of all the franchisees. She firmly believes that flexible working is an opportunity, not a compromise, and is keen to open this up to others. 

Franchisees start by receiving a full induction, tailored to their needs and experience. For example, if you come from a marketing background but feel less confident about finance, you’ll receive finance training but we won’t make you sit through (!) marketing basics. 

Once you’re up and running, you’ll benefit from regular monthly calls with the other franchisees, whom we call regional directors. This is a great way to celebrate successes, raise issues, share best practice and offload if you need to. You’ll also have a regular check-in with Rebecca – a two-way meeting where you can both discuss progress and ask questions. 

Get Ahead’s model allows you to run your regional office the way you want to. Our established franchisees have a variety of approaches, often starting with the methods they know best before branching out and trying something new. 

This flexible, tailored approach is possible because we genuinely believe in the power of people. Unlike other franchises, we don’t have targets.

Before she franchised her business, Rebecca worked as the Get Ahead regional director for Surrey (now part of our South East super-hub). This means that she knows exactly what’s involved in being a regional director. She knows what it is to be in that role and to further her career – a benefit she’d love to pass on to you too.

What to look for when you’re choosing a franchise?

If you think buying a Get Ahead franchise could be your next career move, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us today to book a no-obligation call with Rebecca Newenham.

How’s 2021 been for your business? We hope it’s been a good one! This was the year we thought things would be “back to normal.” In fact, we’re back to a “new normal,” but here at Get Ahead, we’re proud to say we’ve made it work for us. We’ve had an amazing year – here are some highlights:

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When you talk to our franchisees about why they joined Get Ahead (and why they’ve stayed!), you’ll hear them talk time and again about the advantages of working with a team of experts. If you’re considering joining the Get Ahead family, this blog explains how our model works and what it means for our regional directors.

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Why are financial goals important for my business?

It’s a good idea to set fresh goals every quarter, but it’s also important to be smart, strategic and focused in your approach. Done well, goal setting will keep your business on track and heading in the right direction. You’ll also be able to measure your success and see how far you’ve come, which may motivate you to go further in the next quarter.

We love goals at Get Ahead. As we begin the last quarter of the year, we thought we’d share our views on why goal-setting is important, and how to set achievable goals that will move your business forward.

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Get Ahead is growing, with new franchisees steadily joining the family. As the business expands, our new regional directors bring virtual expertise to more and more areas of the UK and beyond.

Something that sets Get Ahead apart from other franchise offerings is the amount of support we give to our regional directors. We believe you should work for yourself, but not by yourself – it’s important to us that we should always be there for our RDs.

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While Get Ahead greatly increased its number of franchises during 2020, some of our regional directors have been up and running for some time now. One of these is the outstanding Fiona Ibbetson who has been running Get Ahead Leeds since January 2018.

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Get Ahead is proud to operate as a franchise, meaning that we have branches around the country, each run by an independent, entrepreneurial Regional Director, all under the umbrella of the Get Ahead brand. 

If you’re considering trying something new in 2021, perhaps the Get Ahead franchise opportunity will be right for you – it gives you flexibility and control over your working life, and the satisfaction of providing administrative and marketing support to businesses in your local area. In fact, there are several key reasons why next year could be the perfect time to get started! 

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Get Ahead VA is very proud to have branches across the country, and we’re always on the lookout for ambitious, business-minded people who are interested in opening a new branch in their local area. Our Regional Directors are brimming with good advice about being your own boss. Today, Kristy and Suzanne, co-Directors of our Berkshire & North Hampshire office, are here with some advice about working together as a partnership.

When we set up our branch of Get Ahead VA in 2019, we decided to do it as a pair. There are all sorts of benefits to going into business with another person – companionship, shared workload, complementary skills – so if you’re thinking of doing this, here are some tips for how to make your business partnership work!

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Get Ahead VA is very proud to have branches across the country, and we’re always on the lookout for ambitious, business-minded people who are interested in opening a new branch in their local area. Our Regional Directors are brimming with good advice about being your own boss. Today, Fiona, Regional Director of our Leeds office, is here with 5 quick tips to help you level up your franchise.

I started Get Ahead VA Leeds in January 2018, and over the last couple of years I’ve found all sorts of ways to take my business from strength to strength. Here are 5 of my favourites!

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For so many of our Regional Directors – the ambitious business people who run the regional branches of Get Ahead VA – achieving a healthy work–life balance was a major reason for deciding to open a Get Ahead VA franchise. Running their own business gives them the flexibility to plan their time and fit their work around their home life – not the other way round.

We’ve spoken to a few of our Regional Directors to find out exactly how they achieve this all-important balance, and to give you some tips if you’re thinking about taking the plunge too!

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