My franchise story: on a mission to teach lifesaving skills

Saving a child from choking transformed mum of three Jenni Dunman’s career from police officer to national award winning business woman

Jenni Dunman’s company, Daisy First Aid, provides baby and child first aid classes to parents and carers. Her thriving business has over 90 franchise territories across the UK and trains around 100,000 parents a year.

The idea for the business came when Jenni was in a coffee shop and her friend’s little girl choked on a cookie. With her mum frozen in fear, Jenni leapt into action and using her police first aid skills saved the little girl’s life.

GAP IN THE MARKET

With her mind buzzing, Jenni went home and began her research. Quickly realising there was a lack of first aid classes aimed at parents and carers, she designed a two-hour lesson plan that covered common first aid accidents and emergencies.

Soon after, Jenni launched Daisy First Aid, offering lifesaving classes in homes and venues in her local area. She made the classes fun and friendly and invited babies to come along too. Within weeks word had spread and Jenni was getting enquires across London, Surrey and Kent. She had found the perfect business to run alongside her family and shortly after resigned from the police.

Her own success meant Jenni was unable to fulfil the huge demand for these classes, so she made the decision to franchise the business. The mission was to give other people the opportunity to offer Daisy First Aid classes in their local areas while fitting them around their family life.

PHENOMENAL RESPONSE

In September 2014, Jenni launched her franchise business and the response was phenomenal. Today, she has an incredible team of franchisees across the UK who love the flexibility of running their own business, but with the support of Jenni and a head office team of PR, marketing, social media and first aid experts.

You only need to Google ‘Jenni Dunman’ or ‘Daisy First Aid’ to see the impact this company is having on the children’s market. It’s been credited by numerous parents, who have used the skills learnt to save their children’s lives.

HIGH PROFILE

Jenni has won Encouraging Women into Franchising’s New Women Franchisor of the Year Award, among many others, regularly appears on stage at baby shows and has been featured in national newspapers, magazines, radio, podcasts and TV programmes representing Daisy First Aid.

The company has trained a significant number of celebrity parents and high profile public figures and has a big presence on social media.

Jenni is extremely hands on when it comes to running all aspects of the business. It’s important to her that every customer leaves their classes feeling happy, confident and empowered. It’s equally important that all members of her team love what they do and are passionate about their role in supporting parents.

At a glance

Established: 2014
Number of franchised outlets: 93
Location of units: UK wide
Investment range: £4,995 (plus VAT)
Contact: franchise@daisyfirstaid.co.uk, 0203 7429867