Tag: Franchising

ScaleUp Radio – From Freelancer to Franchisor

By on August 2023 in Our Team

Scaling up a business isn’t easy, in fact it can be a little daunting. ScaleUp Radio exists to make it a little easier. The show is hosted by Kevin Brent, the founder of BizSmart.

Recognising the challenges that owner-managers face in scaling their businesses, Kevin interviews successful entrepreneurs who have ‘been there’, offering valuable insights and advice. With over ten years of experience working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin has distilled his learnings into a practical guide called the Entrepreneurial Scale Up System (ESUs), which serves as a helpful handbook for navigating the scale-up journey (buy a copy here).

About this podcast episode

Kate Chastey, our franchisor, was delighted to be asked to talk with Kevin on his renowned podcast. This episode delves deep into Kate’s remarkable journey and uncovers the ins and outs of the franchising world.

Kate’s infectious enthusiasm for her work shines through as Kevin explores her diverse experiences and the pivotal moments that led her to embrace the franchising model. They uncover the challenges she faced and the lessons she learned while experimenting with various business approaches before finding her calling in franchising.

This episode stands out as an invaluable resource for anyone interested in franchising or considering it as a viable business model. It’s also a great insight into the ‘human behind the business’ for any potential franchisees! Kate shares her personal insights and expertise, highlighting the advantages and opportunities that franchising can offer. It can help you gain a comprehensive understanding of how franchising works, its potential benefits, and how it may align with your own business aspirations.

Kate’s candid storytelling and the lessons she learned during her 13 years in business provide valuable takeaways for all listeners.

Key Takeaway #1: Buying into a franchise can lead to quick success
Starting a business from scratch can be a daunting and time-consuming process. But with the right franchise, you can benefit from a tried and tested business model that can catapult you to success within the first three months. Kate highlights the advantages of investing in a franchise rather than going it alone and explains how franchisees can recoup their initial investment in a short period of time with the Passionate PA.

Key Takeaway #2: The evolving role of Personal Assistants (PAs)
PAs are often misunderstood as solely administrative professionals. However, Kate sheds light on the extensive range of services that Passionate PAs provide for solopreneurs and SMEs. From marketing and business development to strategy creation and process automation, PAs offer a game-changing level of support for ambitious business leaders on their growth journey.

Key Takeaway #3: Cultivating a unique franchise culture
Kate emphasises the importance of creating a connected and supportive franchise culture that focuses not only on profit margins but also on a fulfilling work-life flow. With a strong emphasis on client happiness, mentorship and accessible support, franchisees of Passionate PAs have the opportunity to shape their own success while being part of a nurturing and connected team.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Further blogs from The Passionate PA: 

The Disenfranchised Podcast – Don’t ever have a Plan B

By on July 2021 in Our Team

In the Disenfranchised podcast series, Ed talks with entrepreneurs, experts and leaders from across the franchise community discovering their life stories and their tips for success away from the typical 9-to-5 grind.

The #Disenfranchised was created to showcase a community that offers a different career path and lifestyle for people who have become disenfranchised with the world of employment, inspiring them to take control of their lives and start earning more for themselves.

About this podcast episode

Kate Chastey, our franchisor, was delighted to be asked to talk with Ed Purnell on his renowned podcast.

Making the decision to leave employment is one of the toughest decisions you can make in your career, but you need to commit to it fully! A plan to return to employment if it all “goes wrong” might seem like a good idea, but it could determine the outcome before you’ve even got the business off the ground.

In this episode Ed speaks with Kate Chastey of The Passionate PA and learns how, despite the odds, she repeatedly committed to her plan A and created the career she desired. We enjoy a fun conversation that also included:

  • How she found work experience with a TV celebrity
  • The fear of stepping off the corporate ladder
  • Kate’s dedication to helping people to build great careers
  • The common misconceptions of the franchise industry
  • Strange requests from clients
  • And of course much, much more!

Click here to listen to the podcast

Or watch the recording below!

 

Further blogs from The Passionate PA: 

Kate’s quoted in the Mail Online

By on July 2021 in Our Team

I didn’t quite “declare war” – trust the Daily Mail to exaggerate 🤪 – but I’m pleased to be quoted in this article. This is a really important read for all PAs, VAs and freelancers.

In response to over 500 secretaries at Deloitte being told their jobs were at risk last week, the Daily Mail has picked up on the huge wave of PAs and EAs moving into the freelance world due to the difficulties in finding suitable roles for their skill sets, post covid. The article talks about whether the role of the EA is dead and how successful start-up VAs really are.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Firstly, we (the whole Business Support industry and recruiters) all need to work harder to educate the business community and news reporters on the difference between a Secretary, VA, PA and EA. But I’ll leave that for another blog!

Secondly, making a successful career out of freelancing is not easy – this was my point, which has, to some degree, been lost in the article. Becoming a Virtual Assistant just because you’ve lost your job is not the right thing to do. (Note the word ‘just’.)

I have spent over 10 years honing my skills as a freelance PA and helping others carve out successful businesses for themselves too under The Passionate PA brand.

Here’s the reality; being a successful freelancer or VA takes more time, energy, dedication and stamina than most full-time jobs ever do!

Sadly, the ‘quick-fix’ freelancers and VAs that are popping up daily, only to disappear within a few months, are really making it so difficult for the business world to understand the value a professional outsourced business support solution can offer. I appreciate going freelance is sometimes out of desperation. Of course. But sometimes it’s just pure naivety and rose-tinted glasses.

The whole reason I franchised my business was to help talented, ambitious individuals have an easier route into self-employed success. If you’d like to know more, visit our Join Us page.

I’ve heard so many horror stories of business owners trusting start-up freelancers and VAs, investing valuable time and energy into their on-boarding, only for them to quit when they find suitable employment. This leaves the business in the lurch and feeling very burnt by the whole experience.

➡️ My best advice to business owners – if you are serious about using freelancers to help you structure and grow your business, invest in people that make it their business to ensure you succeed. Check out Karen Murray‘s latest podcast where I talk about how to do this.

➡️ My best advice to employees staring down the barrel of unemployment or experiencing job loss – UPSKILL, invest in your own professional development and commercial awareness and really, really, really delve deep into your own values, passions and strengths.

Freelancing and being self-employed is NOT the easy route that so many gurus try to persuade you it is. Only embark on becoming a freelancer when no plan B will do! By that I mean, when your soul is hungry for choice, fulfilment and awesome clients and you are ready and willing to give your new adventure the focus it needs. You need an awesome support network and it you really want to thrive, an experienced, hands-on mentor that will open doors for you and help you navigate the challenges from day 1.

I’m very happy to talk to anyone thinking of doing so who’d love some unbiased and very honest advice.

Kate

Further blogs from The Passionate PA: 

Kate on the Evolve to Succeed Podcast

By on May 2021 in Our Team

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For the first time ever, our Director and Franchisor has spoken publicly about how she came to take over The Passionate PA at just 26, and the effects that choice has had on her as a person.

“Starting a business is never easy, but doing so at just 26 with the weight of the world on my shoulders was probably one of the hardest challenges of my life. It’s a choice that has made me ultimately very happy, but the initial years were a rollercoaster of emotions, challenges, excitement and continuous feelings of not being ‘enough’.”

Kate Chastey was delighted to be asked to talk to Warren Munson, long-time supporter of The Passionate PA. The team at the Evolve to Succeed Podcast did a superb job of creating the finished recording.

Kate said “this was a wonderful opportunity to share my business story and talk so openly with Warren about the things I hold so dear. Creating a life I don’t need a holiday from is 100% my personal definition of success and it was great to discuss that with Warren.”

In this episode, Kate and Warren also talk about:

  • How Kate’s early work experience with an entrepreneurial celebrity shaped her belief in what a PA could be and what she now feels a modern PA should be for entrepreneurs
  • How her early career in advertising agencies helped her learn so much about people, leadership and performance – and gave her the grounding for the leader she is today
  • Kate’s experience of Imposter Syndrome when she took over the business and found herself with very big shoes to fill
  • Our route into franchising with Kate’s ‘build it as we go’ approach and her fierce commitment to the people that choose to partner with her as Passionate PAs
  • How Kate’s father influenced her view of corporate life and financial security, and to this day still thinks she should get a ‘proper job’
  • And, of course, how all this has effected Kate’s personal life and given her a truly unique mantra to live by… “Create a life you don’t need a holiday from.”

“My definition of success is being able to enjoy every single day whilst adding real value to the people around me. It’s not about money. Success, to me, is about fulfilment – and understanding that it is all about NOW rather than one day in the future.”

Happy listening.

 

Further blogs from The Passionate PA: 

Trisha Lewis Podcast – Trust who you are

By on April 2021 in Our Team

We are so thrilled to share a podcast recorded recently with Trisha Lewis – Communication coach, speaker and author.

Trisha invited Kate to talk about the things she holds most dear; leading with an open heart, the unique and exciting opportunity of franchising and the role of the freelance PA in today’s business world. Oh, and her crazy life on Dartmoor!

Kate and Trisha had an absolute blast recording this, as it evident from the outset. If you want to know more about Kate and how our business is just so different from corporate life – this is the perfect place to start!

Click here to listen

 

Further blogs from The Passionate PA: 

Why I chose franchising…

By on November 2019 in Kate Chastey

Recently, The Times newspaper did a double page spread on the strength of the franchising industry in the UK, with a lead story about how women are thriving in this arena. 

Kate Chastey is the lady behind the growth of The Passionate PA. In this blog she shares why franchising is right for us.

Well, I guess myself and The Passionate PA are proof of that!  

But, unlike the huge brands The Times talked about, such as TaxAssist Accountants, ActionCoachUK, Subway and Wiltshire Farm Foods, my journey into franchising, along with my vision for the future, is quite unique.

The Passionate PA is a labour of love for me. If you’ve taken a peek at Our Story on our website you’ll know this was not really how it was meant to be. Our founder, Sarah Howells, started The Passionate PA over 12 years ago after realising she wanted to be her own boss. She set out to change her own career because she could see small businesses would buy pockets of time and skills from her. She was well ahead of the current Virtual Assistant trend, and definitely one of the first to recognise that branding and networking really matter! 

I met Sarah in 2009 when she had developed the business to a ‘busy’ point. She wanted another Passionate PA with complementary skills to hers, and so together our plan was to take Dorset by storm (that’s where I lived back then). She was the career PA, I was the marketing PA; we believed clients would love the double act.

I would never have jumped off my own corporate career ladder without Sarah holding my hand (insert “giving me a push!!”). But, she was proof that being a freelance PA could be rewarding, and as I was only 26 at the time, risk was something I still felt pretty comfortable with. With the support of my husband, I quit my well-paid, sensible job in marketing (which I did love to some degree), in order to experience something new. I was to be self-employed but under the wing of someone who’d been doing it for over a year, and could sell ice to Eskimos! 

What could possibly go wrong…? 

Cancer. Sarah lost her battle with Cancer just 16 days after I officially joined The Passionate PA in Feb 2010. So, in amongst all that grief and sadness, I was left to run, market and build a brilliant business that I felt had only really been brilliant because of Sarah and everything she was. 

This was one of the lowest points in my life. I was 26, knew absolutely nothing about running my own business and knew even less about being a freelance PA; in fact, I hadn’t even had ‘PA’ as a proper job title before! Panic set in and a pretty turbulent four years followed. Throughout all the personal doubt though, I managed to find amazing clients, deliver exceptional work for them and make decent money, so something was working, it just took we a while to pin down exactly what! 

Throughout those early years, freelance PAs and VAs were be-friending me all the time with the goal of getting to know what it was I was doing so differently. In honesty, I didn’t really know – I was just doing what I thought was right with a keen eye on client happiness and my own profitability. Looking back now, this was a period that shaped me and my life hugely. At the time it just felt like a constant rollercoaster ride of building a business, filling Sarah’s shoes and wondering what the hell the future had in store. But, my knowledge and confidence developed – and so did my vision. 

If the early days of being a Passionate PA taught me anything, it’s that every so often, we all need someone to hold our hand. I would never have set up my own business without Sarah’s initial push and a recognised brand to hang my hopes on. I would never have continued that journey without the unwavering support of my husband and the Dorset business community.  

And that, in a nutshell, is exactly why I franchised The Passionate PA. I wanted to give other people the opportunity to be brave in setting up their own business, with me holding their hand. I love helping others identify their truly valuable skills and experiences and working with them in a partnership to shape a business that empowers them and delivers financial rewards and personal fulfilment. 

Franchising isn’t an easy option. It’s scary at times, can be incredibly lonely as a franchisor without a head office team, and obviously it needs pretty deep pockets to create a business worthy of investment from franchisees. But, there are so many advantages! It suits my life goal, which is not to manage people through employment, but to help them develop themselves to be the best they can be. Franchising enables me to create partnerships with each of my franchisees – and for them, there is complete clarity on what they are investing in and what they will receive in return. 

All of my future growth plans revolve very much around my chosen lifestyle on Dartmoor – the house of my dreams with 2.5 acres and a life full of family, fur babies and baking. Unlike the global franchises of this world, I don’t want an empire with a huge head office team and all the associated stress and cost that goes with that. I’m committed to spending my working life helping honest, passionate and skilled individuals create businesses they love under The Passionate PA’s brand. I am building a team of freelance PAs that are unrivalled in terms of skills, outlook and team spirit. It’s that simple. 

There are so many ambitious business owners out there that need/want a Passionate PA and relish the fact that we are very different from the option of employing a PA or Project Manager, or in some instances, using an alternative freelancer. The power in The Passionate PA comes from our team – together we can tackle just about ANYTHING a business owner needs, due to the variety of skills, knowledge and experience within our growing team, and our little black book of contacts full of experts in their field. That is added value and clients love it!

Being a freelance PA wasn’t what I dreamed of when I was a child, but running a business certainly was. Franchising wasn’t part of my plan when I left employment, but because it gives me and the franchisees a partnership where both are responsible for our success, it has always felt so right. 

Happy clients! Happy Passionate PAs! Profitable businesses! It all makes my heart skip a beat. 

Having built a great platform to franchise from, I am now committed to growing the brand and business at a pace that I am comfortable with, together with a clear focus on delivering exceptional value to the team as it grows. I will only grant franchise territories to those that share my passion and vision. It’s incredibly exciting to have finally defined what success looks like to me, and be well on the path to achieving that.

Further blogs from The Passionate PA: