I’m very pleased to introduce the newest Countrywide Signs franchisees, Jon and Kate, a husband-and-wife team who have just come through their training and setup and are launching in North Kent this October. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them, and their story is one I think a lot of you will recognise.

From uncertainty to a business of their own

Jon spent years running his own carpet cleaning business and was very good at it, but work had been getting harder and harder to come by. In the current climate, finding enough jobs to feel genuinely comfortable had become a constant background worry, and he decided it was time to take action.

What drew him to Countrywide Signs was the very thing his trade had stopped offering him: security. A business-to-business model, steady demand that doesn’t dry up when the economy wobbles, and established relationships with estate and lettings agents mean the work is already there waiting, rather than something he’d have to go out and win all over again every week.

A team that covers every base

Kate, meanwhile, is an experienced accountant, and she’ll be taking on that side of the business. With Jon out on the road, and Kate keeping the finances in good order, they make for the perfect team.

Plenty of people go solo with a Countrywide Signs franchise – at least, at the beginning – but the business model also works perfectly as a family enterprise, with the work and the responsibility shared between people whose skills complement each other. It’s also worth knowing that a territory needn’t belong to one person working alone, so if there’s someone who you’re considering as a business partner, there’s nothing to stop the two of you going into it together, exactly as Jon and Kate have.

Building work around family, not the other way round

When we talked about what mattered most to them, it wasn’t the business model or the numbers that came up first. Jon and Kate have a family of five, and what really drew them in was the flexibility, the chance to build their working life around their family rather than forever squeezing their family around their work.

That flexibility was clearly important to Jon and Kate from the very beginning. A big family like that doesn’t leave a lot of wriggle room!

We’ll be catching up with the two of them again very soon to hear how their first few weeks have gone and how they’re settling into life as business owners, so watch this space.

In the meantime, if reading their story has you wondering whether a move like this might be right for you, why don’t we have a chat?