Joyce Batten is a woman on a mission. Not content with one Tutor Doctor franchise she has taken on another three territories under the company’s “Empire Builder” programme.
However the task does not daunt Joyce. Prior to buying her first franchise in September 2011 in Bromley, Kent she held senior management positions in the social housing sector as chief executive of a housing association and non-executive director of a housing charity as well as being involved with the Chartered Institute of Housing.
“It was during my time at the housing association that I realised how important education is to personal wellbeing and how a lack of education is linked to unemployment,” explained Joyce.
She added: “I was thinking about where my next career move should be and I attended a franchise exhibition in February 2011. I didn’t see anything, which immediately appealed, but I met with a franchise match making service who gave me information on Tutor Doctor. I found the idea of being involved in education exciting and believed I could make a difference for children and their families. I subsequently attended a franchise seminar held by one of the major banks and they had a checklist of criteria for choosing a franchise. Tutor Doctor seemed to tick most of the boxes.”
“My initial faith in Tutor Doctor has been justified. The support we get from head office and the UK field resource is great. They are very proactive and always looking at ways to improve the offering and encourage the sharing of best practice.
Joyce gets a lot of personal satisfaction from running the business: “It is great to receive positive feedback from students and seeing them succeed. Tutor Doctor carry out independent client satisfaction surveys every three months and this gives us a good indication of how we are doing. I have an excellent group of 100 tutors and we consistently get 9 out of 10 ratings.”
“The future looks very bright. I am expanding under the company’s ‘Empire Builder’ programme by taking on another three territories. I have two part-time ladies who help me with admin plus another part-time education consultant who carries out initial student assessments. I would definitely recommend the franchise to others but I think it is important to have some previous management or commercial experience as it is a business and requires a fair degree of organisational ability. However, besides making a good income you have the satisfaction of knowing you are helping students achieve their true potential,” concludes Joyce who has also received the Tutor Doctor President’s Award (2012), and was a finalist for the British Franchise Association Franchisee of the Year Award 2014 and a finalist in the Bromley Business Awards 2014.