After overcoming two redundancies during the recession, Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands. In 2012 she started Bright & Beautiful Aylesbury & the Chilterns and has in turn created a business that is making a substantial difference within her community.

Over the course of her career, Sarah has picked up some valuable skills to take into business. She has received management training within large retail companies, accounts and payroll experience working within a printing company and enjoyed learning the ins and outs of HR, marketing and legal compliance whilst working as a company secretary.  Now Sarah is utilising a career in business to grow a successful Bright & Beautiful franchise.

“I started my business in March 2012” Sarah began “I had previously been made redundant twice in my career, but always wanted to run my own business. I had mooted the idea of this type of business several years prior to finding Bright & Beautiful and knew it was a much-needed service but was unable to give up a full time, well-paying job. Just as I was in the throes of being made redundant my Grandmother died and left me an inheritance. It was a now or never moment, I had the funds, found Bright & Beautiful online and have never looked back.”

Sarah has now positioned her business for growth taking her business out of her home and into a dedicated office. In addition to this, Sarah has created senior roles within her growing team “Our manager has reduced her work load so that she can focus on the teams & quality control. We have also appointed a Senior Team Leader to provide backup for the Operations Manager.” Sarah’s business emphasises scalability of the Bright & Beautiful franchise model, with each franchise owner encouraged to create a structured business capable of consistent growth.

Life as a business owner has proved a rewarding challenge for Sarah she explained “You will have good and bad days, have a back-up solution if you can for everything. You will work like you have never worked before initially, but this is all for you not anybody else. Be decisive, you employees look to you to be a strong leader but always take their opinions on board.”

Going Above and Beyond

Sarah and her team have become a trusted partner of the local area council by providing essential cleaning services to vulnerable patients. They currently look after several people with conditions such as schizophrenia, Asperger’s Syndrome, autism, dementia and hoarding tendencies.

The services that Sarah and her team deliver include laundry, ironing, deep cleaning and much more. The team aligns their work with the schedules of nursing and mental health teams, who are providing a unique package of ongoing care, psychological monitoring, safety assessment and counselling during their weekly or fortnightly visits to their clients.

Sarah’s team’s engagement with their customers is both transforming their lives and also enabling Sarah to recruit and train more like-minded housekeepers to meet the ever-growing demand from the council.