Paresh Mistry

Like 95% of Right at Home franchisees, Paresh Mistry had no experience of working in the care sector before opening his office in West Yorkshire in January 2020. But with the support, training and guidance from a trusted brand, he’s built a reputable and thriving business, even overcoming the challenges that came with the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of his franchise journey. Keen to replicate this support, Paresh now shares his personal successes and valuable insights with new owners and works with the franchisor to drive positive improvements across the entire network.

Paresh Mistry’s journey towards opening his own homecare franchise is a highly relatable one. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he spent 10 years in the banking sector before growing tired of a job he was no longer passionate about.

He thought about applying for other similar roles in the finance industry, but the budding entrepreneur inside of him held him back.

“I’d always wanted to start my own business, but not just any business - I wanted to do something where I could contribute positively to society,” Paresh says.

Paresh began to research multiple industries, and after chatting with friends in the homecare profession, this felt like the perfect fit.

Why Right at Home?

Paresh had no experience of working in the homecare sector before opening his RaH office in Ilkley, but what he lacked in expertise, he made up for in genuine passion for making a real difference in his community.

He decided that franchising was the best route for him as it would enable him to benefit from a proven business model and ongoing training and support. And after speaking with several homecare franchisors, he discovered his match.

“Kate [Dilworth, Head of Network Development] was the first person I spoke to at Right at Home, and I just had a good feeling about the business,” Paresh explains.

“There was no pushy sales pitch – Kate simply explained the process and emailed across some information for me to look at before we spoke again a couple of weeks later. This enabled me to do more research and really think about my decision.”

Paresh was later invited to a Franchise Discovery Day where he was able to explore the Right at Home business opportunity in detail. The setting for this event is friendly and informal and, as the franchisor limits the number of candidates at each meeting, there’s plenty of time to ensure all their questions are answered.

Reflecting on his Discovery Session, Paresh says he was most impressed with the fact that Ken Deary – then CEO, now Chairman - was in attendance.

“Ken was present at the event all day and interacted with me and other potential franchisees during the breaks. That gave me the sense that if I was to join Right at Home, I would feel the support of the network from the very top,” he says.

Kate then introduced Paresh to three established RaH business owners, who gave him and honest account of their experience so far.

“I found this to be hugely beneficial,” Paresh says. “All three were from different sectors and it was reassuring to know that they too had no experience in care prior to joining the network and now run successful businesses.

“They’ve proven the model does work and made me think that this is something I could get behind.”

Challenging start

Most RaH Franchise Owners find the first two years of their franchise journey to be the most challenging as they attempt to build the foundations of their business. But for Paresh, the process of recruiting a dedicated team and growing a strong Client base was made even more difficult by a global pandemic.

“We received our CQC registration in January 2020 and the whole country went into lockdown two months later,” Paresh recalls.

“We managed ourselves well financially and planned for every eventuality in terms of the usual business challenges, but nobody could have prepared for the pandemic.”

For Paresh, and indeed the entire RaH network, resilience was key to pushing through this period of uncertainty.

“We didn’t have the Client base to even break even. But we kept at it and did what we could from a community engagement perspective – delivering meals to vulnerable people and supporting local charities to tackle loneliness and isolation.

“We just kept going and didn’t give up, and eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Training and support

Paresh was met with a number of obstacles at the start of his franchise journey, but he never had to face them alone.

In March 2020, the National Office team at RaH UK sprang into action and arranged twice-weekly webinars for Franchise Owners and Registered Managers. These were used to disseminate key updates from Government into an easily digestible format and facilitate Q&As.

They also ran a 24/7 support line, arranged fortnightly wellbeing calls and set up a COVID-19 taskforce so that every decision made by the Senior Leadership Team had a buy-in from all Franchise Owners.

Paresh recalls: “I had a weekly call with my Business Support Manager, and they were always on hand if I needed them, as were the compliance team.”

In the absence of a care team, Paresh delivered person-centred care on the frontline during the pandemic, along with his Registered Manager.

But the new franchisee was fully prepared for this, thanks to RaH’s accredited training programme, which allows all new owners to move into the highly regulated care sector without prior experience.

After undergoing New Owner Induction Training, which covers business development, marketing, recruitment and financial reporting, he received face-to-face training in skills such as moving and handling, medication administration and basic life support from Training Manager Heather Graham.

“National Office provided the full training that any CareGiver would receive so that I was able to care for my clients. We also visited an existing office and sat through the induction as if we were CareGivers,” Paresh explains.

Ongoing support

Nearly five years on from opening his RaH office, Paresh has a dedicated team of over 30 CareGivers who deliver around 600 hours of care per week to over 50 Clients.

Their back office has also strengthened, with a Deputy Care Manager, Care Coordinator and Senior CareGivers now in place.

And still to this day, the National Office team continues to support Paresh to further elevate his business.

“What I have gained from being a part of this network has been amazing. There’s always someone there to support me, whether it’s with marketing, recruitment, compliance or just general business support,” Paresh says.

“I know that where there are gaps in my knowledge, the franchise is on hand, not to do the work for me – it’s my business after all – but to support me and ensure that I’m following the right path.”

Paresh also praises the support he has gained from his peers in the network.

“Just today I picked up the phone to a Franchise Owner who has made some changes to their business model over the last 12 months. Catching up for half an hour and receiving guidance and expertise from fellow franchisees has been really useful.”

Giving back to the network

Now that Paresh has built solid foundations for his business and is on track for positive growth, he is keen to give back to the network by offering his advice and expertise.

“I’ve been one of the people who new franchisees have approached as part of their data gathering exercise at the start of their journey. It’s a really good feeling to be able to give something back to them,” Paresh says.

Paresh has recently become a member of RaH’s Franchise Advisory Council, which was set up to create and maintain a constructive, open line of communication between RaH UK and our Franchise Owners, ultimately assisting the Franchisor to drive positive improvements across the network.

“I wasn’t sure what I could bring to the table at first, so I became a floating member, just observing a meeting and contributing where I could. But upon attending the first session, I felt like this is something I could get involved with over the next year or two,” he explains.

Paresh is also a valued mentor in the RaH network, having supported his former Registered Manager, Veronica Manolache, to become the new owner of her own franchise in Harrogate.

Commenting on Veronica’s new venture, he says: “It wasn’t great for me knowing she was leaving as she was an asset to the team! But if someone has the ambition to grow professionally, I will never hold them back. I supported her in the best way I could to prepare for opening her new office and said the door is always open if she ever needed guidance or wanted to share ideas.

“Now that she’s set up in Harrogate, we speak at least every couple of weeks.”

Future ambitions

With a strong office team in place, Paresh now has time to define the vision and roadmap for his franchise and make strategic decisions.

“As a business owner, you will face ongoing challenges and there will always be an element of stress, but I guess at my stage in the journey I can now think strategically about the bigger picture, concentrating more on business growth, as opposed to the day-to-day,” he explains.

“For instance, I’ve got more time to think about how we can enhance our Clinical Care offering, what research we can do into certain technologies and how we can develop local connections.”

Paresh also has exciting long-term ambitions.

“Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be a multi-franchise owner,” he says.

“If that opportunity came forward and National Office had the confidence in me to expand then that’s definitely something I’d quite like to do in the future.”

Paresh Mistry

Owner, Right at Home Ilkley, Keighley and Skipton.