Shuttercraft give a shout-out to all the self-employed Dads!

Shuttercraft wanted to share and celebrate all the Dad's out there this Fathers-day, especially those who are self-employed, owning their own businesses, and working hard to provide a work/life balance for their families.

Even in more ‘normal’ times, it’s not easy to be a working dad, balancing home life and work. The lockdown has made this even more of a juggling act, with homeschooling, rapidly changing rules, and worries about the economy. Being self-employed in these times can have benefits and drawbacks, so we had a chat with two of the many dads who manage Shuttercraft franchises, to understand how they’ve met the challenges, and how being a franchise owner affects their home lives.

It is important to acknowledge the great strains that have been imposed on many businesses and the fathers who have worked hard to achieve that balance, supporting their families both financially and physically, while growing their own business. All the while during a global and economic crisis!

At Shuttercraft we are proud to have hard-working self-employed dads as partners in our Shuttercraft network across the UK. The home improvements industry has boomed during this past year, so it has been a busy time for our franchise partners and Shuttercraft experts, alongside the extra changes to home life with lockdown restrictions. Working within an industry where we have been able to grow despite the pandemic has been a great position to be in, but that didn’t come without pressures on home life and long working hours to keep up with the influx of sales. Our partners and experts have done an amazing job growing their businesses and finding alternative methods of working, to keep the business growing.

Our partner Martin Jones, working in the Warwick, Worcestershire, and Monmouth area, had to balance his career with the challenges of homeschooling during the months of lockdown.

“We’re over the moon to announce our ‘23 Local Campaigns in One’ project has won the prestigious ‘Local Campaign Martin Jones “During the month of May, I have had to home-school my children 2.5 days (plus Sunday) of each week, which has resulted in only 12.5 survey days during the month. Homeschooling and phoning clients to book appointments has been a challenge – but I have a system and going with it. The 12.5 survey days have been at the back end of each week and that has worked really well.”

Shuttercraft is a management franchise where we support our partners in growing their businesses, creating a strong business model and a legacy franchise. Often our franchises are family businesses, with relatives doing admin support, fitting shutters, or making sales calls; even where they’re not, the teams that are formed as a small business grows often come to feel like a family.

Charlie, who owns and operates Shuttercraft franchises in Nottingham and Derbyshire, has recently employed his son to his Shuttercraft team. During the pandemic, William [Charlie’s son] was looking for an apprenticeship, which was difficult during the current climate. It had been a long-term vision for both Charlie and William to have William working within Charlie’s Shuttercraft business, but his plan was to gain some initial working experience prior to joining the team. With the level of business Shuttercraft has been experiencing, during the home improvements boom, it made sense for William to join earlier. Both Charlie and William are glad that he did.

Charlie “Whilst it has happened earlier than we expected it to because of COVID, the opportunity is still great!”

With amazing growth and success in his franchise, Charlie has built the company up over the last 4 years. It is great for Charlie to have the opportunity to share this success with his son, and pass on all of his knowledge, as well as the company’s legacy.

Charlie “I would like to see William running the business, absolutely that’s my goal! If then we do some sort of split on equity, so he has some ownership then that is fantastic. If he turns round and says, I want to do something different, then that’s great too! Working at Shuttercraft, he’s learnt how to run the accounts, to do some marketing, how to manage people, how to recruit, and all in his first five years of employment. At 23, he’s in an amazing position to set up his own business with some amazing experience."

Shuttercraft provides window treatment services across the UK, with our local experts working closely with their customers to offer a unique and personal touch. Our partners and team members are dedicated and, as management franchise owners, have the flexibility to decide how to focus their efforts. They have pushed themselves through the challenges of this year, figuring out how best to manage a work/life balance. Ranging from fitting home-schooling into the work week to welcoming a son into the team – we want to shout out to the hard-working fathers!