The Right Opportunity To Make A Difference

For years I had a burning ambition to run my own business.

Early in my career I was a self-employed golf coach in Bromley, although coaching for me never felt like a business, it was more like a hobby. I hugely enjoyed working with clients one-to-one, hearing about their lives and often helping them succeed in their golf, but deep down the ‘control freak’ in me knew I needed to be in a role where I was organising – making a difference to an organisation.

Fortunately opportunities came my way which gave me the chance. I was given administrative roles which were more up my street, allowing me to learn about marketing, customer service, business and management. Then latterly I even had the amazing experience of running golf & leisure clubs, and all the new skills that that entailed, such as learning about crèche childcare, understanding the highly pro-active sales nature of health memberships, and most challenging of all, managing beauty therapists!

And these roles gave me great enjoyment for many years (nearly 20 in total!), but still I harboured that desire to be the master of my own destiny.

Earlier this year, my life changed. I didn’t feel that the management job I was in was going anywhere, and more than ever I felt the time was right to make the move, but still couldn’t see how the skills and experiences I had learnt over the years could be applied to my own venture. My parents, who had been in the care industry themselves running respected residential homes in Burgess Hill, alerted me to a franchise opportunity with Right at Home.

Straight away, I realised it suited me – it was the right company, with the right ethics at the right time.

I left my previous life in March, and have had the absolute joy this Summer of setting up the office, learning about the social care industry, and getting to know the hugely supportive team at Right at Home HQ. Starting from scratch, and being given the licence by the franchisor to develop as I see fit, I can develop a working culture to be proud of from day one. I don’t have the frustrations I’ve often felt in previous incarnations. It is my business and if I want to support and invest in my staff I bally well will!

That brings me to the present time. We are already building a great team, who I hope will thrive in the positive environment we have created. We will have challenges along the way, but we will overcome them together. Everybody will have a say in the direction we are heading, and can enjoy the ride sitting alongside the driver. As a team, we will all have the privilege of supporting the lives of individuals throughout the Bromley area.

So this is it – it’s my opportunity to really make a difference. To make a difference to the lives of my staff by mentoring them, supporting them, and giving them opportunity to flourish. To make a difference to the community by instigating and participating in local care initiatives. And ultimately to make a difference to those who need and deserve quality care.

I know I’ve made the Right choice.

Andy McNiven
Managing Director