New additions will bring the total number of Cat Butler franchisees up to ten
Premium in-home cat care franchise, The Cat Butler, is encountering huge success, taking on a record-breaking seven new franchisees in the past three months, with one more joining soon.
Founder Sandra James has been overwhelmed recently by enquiries from people wanting to own their own Cat Butler franchise. The new additions will bring the total number of Cat Butler franchisees up to ten.
The seven new franchisees are Jane Hotz in Radlett, Hertfordshire, Julie Dunn in Chichester, Helen Mulloy in the Wirral, Kirstie Hayes in Brighton, Sam Heggie in Thame, Oxfordshire, Clare Smith and Joanne Campbell in Derby and Sharon Bonner in Molesey, Surrey.
Sandra puts the secret of her success down to a combination of things, from the brand’s huge social media presence to the post covid effect of people seeking a better work life balance.
She explains: “Things have just gone crazy recently, but in a good way. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what has caused the boom, but we do have over 470k followers on our Facebook page, with 40k new followers in the past few months alone, which really helps with the visibility of the brand and obviously has a knock-on effect for the franchise recruitment.”
As a devoted cat lover herself, Sandra takes on the task of posting to the company’s social media sites daily with memes, videos and pictures of cute and funny cats. Sandra said: “People are always telling me they follow us and love our content which is very gratifying and a part of the job that I personally love.”
Alongside the fun element lies the very serious investment Sandra has made into the business, investing heavily in a strong brand and web presence. She has also retained PR and digital marketing professionals to help promote the franchise opportunity.
“I was determined to build the franchise with very firm foundations; people tell us they are impressed with our website, franchise page and brochure which is gratifying to hear. “
Sandra’s new franchisees have all recently attended their three-day training course in St Albans and Harpenden, Hertfordshire. The training included general operations and admin training, live cat visiting with an existing Cat Butler and accredited cat care and first aid training. The rest of the training is done online and includes mentoring by Sandra herself.
“It was such a joy to spend three days with our new franchisees recently. They all come from very different backgrounds but share one thing in common, they were all looking to leave behind quite stressful jobs and do something that made them really happy. Cat Butlers are all devoted cat lovers who know from personal experience how hard it can be to find the right care for their cats. Cats can be very particular creatures who prefer to be in their own homes; none of us like putting them into catteries and asking the neighbours to pop in and feed them twice a day can be quite onerous and frankly doesn’t give the cat the love and affection they need on a daily basis. With that knowledge it is easy for them to recognise that The Cat Butler, with its premium in-home visiting model, provides a much-needed service for cats and their owners across the country.”
With training now over, the new Cat Butlers have returned to their territories to polish their silver platters ready to begin their buttling duties.
Sandra said: “Our new Cat Butlers have hit the ground running, one even taking her first booking during her first training session – so things are looking purrfect for a great start for them all. We’ve done a full PR campaign for each of them too, with some of their stories appearing in multiple newspapers, magazines and websites which has really helped to launch them in their local areas.”
With two more Cat Butlers beginning their training in September, Sandra says the future is bright for her business: “I’ve worked really hard to get the business to the point it is at today, so it is wonderful to see it taking off like this. The thing is, when you buy a Cat Butler franchise you only need two things, to love cats and to want to run your own business; I give you everything else you need, including full training and support, an online booking portal, a catalogue of printable marketing flyers and email templates and everything in between, it’s all there.”
She concluded: “Feedback from training has been great and they’ve all made really positive starts in their new businesses. 2023/24 is going to be a massive boom time for us and I look forward to helping many more people achieve their dreams of owning their own business with a Cat Butler franchise in the coming weeks and months.”
If you would like to know more about owning your own Cat Butler franchise, caring for cats in their own homes, visit the website.
The Cat Butler is a member of the British Franchise Association and was a winner of Theo Paphitis’s ‘Small Business Sunday’.