Time For You

Franchisor Interview - Meet Freddie Rayner - Time For You Franchisor

10th May 2010

Today Time For You founder Freddie Rayner is hailed as a franchise guru, but it has been a long road to success. Freddie tells us more...

"I’ve always been very ambitious in whatever I’ve done, but if you’d have asked me 15 years ago where I thought I’d be in 2010 I wouldn’t have imagined this success.

In 1997 my wife Ruth was taken seriously ill with a cardiac arrest. She was in hospital for a long time and needed even longer at home to recuperate. It was an awful time seeing my wife so ill, but it was also terrible from a financial point of view. We both worked full-time prior to this and suddenly one income disappeared. Because I had to spend a lot of time looking after Ruth, my work hours had to cut down too.

When Ruth was back fighting fit it was such a relief, it was great to have my wife back. Money had dwindled though and we knew we had to take matters into our own hands.

We decided to set up our own cleaning company in Milton Keynes and enjoyed working for ourselves. The only problem was that people were very lax in paying us on time. For a small business this was a nightmare as we didn’t know when our next pay cheque would come in.

After 18 months this had become too much for us to deal with so we closed the business, took our last remaining £200 and started a new cleaning company, Time For You. The plan for this new business was to incorporate the golden rule: customers must pay up front.

This new venture proved to be a huge success for us. Surprisingly, our clients found it easier paying up front because they didn’t have to remember to pay their invoices, they just booked the hours they wanted and paid there and then.

In 2002 we decided that we wanted to grow the business, but rather than expand it ourselves, we decided to franchise it out. We sold the first franchise that May to Adam Cadell in Durham and we haven’t looked back since.

It was important for us to maintain a family-run feel to all of the franchises and this works well. We have partly achieved this by offering constant support and guidance to every franchisee. We have an intensive induction programme and allow people to succeed by sharing our tried and tested technique of running a business.

Time For You has really taken off. In 2005 we won the HSBC Business of the Year award and more recently, we sold our 200th franchise in April this year.

Our franchisees are so happy in their work. Running a franchise gives them a much higher chance of success than starting a new business alone and over 87% of Time For You franchisees are able to re-coup their initial investment in just six months. It’s great to know that we help so many people to gain more freedom and flexibility in their working lives, and to make a profit doing so.

Of course, it hasn’t all been success for me. Many years ago, I saw a franchise as an easy way to earn money which was a huge mistake. I invested in a nursing agency franchise. I had hoped to just hire some nursing staff and inform local hospitals and nursing homes that we were open and then sit back and watch the money roll in. I closed down the business after 10 months and lost over £35,000.

This proved to me that if you want a business to be a success, you have to be prepared to work for it, regardless of whether it is a new business or a franchise. Though a franchise is easier, with a proven business model and support network, you still need to put in the effort. As long as prospective franchisee knows this then I’m confident that they will have what it takes to make it work.

I welcome anyone thinking of starting a franchise to get in touch for more information. I know that the business will continue to thrive over the coming years and would love to help more people to benefit from the plan along the way.”

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Further Information

Franchise Information

BFA Membership Status
Associate

UK Years Established
8 years

Current UK Coverage
66%

Franchisee Support Staff
4

Personal Investment Req.
£11,750

Total Startup Cost
£11,750

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