As the price of childcare soars by 20% in a year, a new survey finds that 65% of mothers want to work from home. The Direct Line for Business research showed that the dramatic rise in childcare costs mean that the annual expense of full-time childcare for two children under the age of ten is an incredible £11,700 per year.
But it is not just costs that are leading more mums to crave working from home, one in five British mothers say they also believe they’d be able to spend more time with their children if they didn’t have to go in to an office every day and one in seven mums are motivated to start a business from home by the flexibility of being their own boss.
Claire Blower, mum of two young daughters has found the perfect compromise with her Razzamataz Theatre School business, which launched in September 2011 when her daughter Holly was six and Freya had just turned one.
“It was difficult in the early days and involved lots of late nights and grabbing bits of time as and when I could.
My business has grown as my girls have so now my youngest is at nursery I have two full days in the office. Not that I am wishing the time away, the early years are so precious and running my Razzamataz School has allowed me to combine being a mummy and running a business. The best aspect of being my own boss is flexibility. Although having structure is important the majority of the work can be done at anytime. If things don’t go according to plan I can always be there for them. If they are poorly or something special is happening at school, I can be there – without having a boss to answer to! With Razzamataz only being open during term time this also allows me to spend school holidays with my children. Not only having quality time with them but also avoiding extra childcare costs.”
In response to the growing demands of both mums and dads who want a more flexible approach to working, for a limited time only, Razzamataz is reducing its franchise fee to £7,999, plus Razzamataz will waive the management fee for the first term. This is a total saving of around £5,000 and significantly more affordable than many businesses in the franchise performing arts sector. When you consider actual schools can produce a yearly net disposable cash figure of £73,888 this is a fantastic return on investment.
Unlike many competitors, Razzamataz does not charge any additional franchise fees for extra classes, schools, Razz Parties or Razz Minis classes.
“We encourage and support growth of our franchise schools without penalising them with extra costs,” explains Denise Hutton-Gosney, MD and Founder of Razzamataz. “We are looking for dedicated, ambitious Principals and for the right candidates we are also offering our Finance Deal on top of the reduced fees to enable the most talented people to join our team.”
The Finance Deal allows Principals to pay a 30% deposit of £7,999 and the remainder can be paid over two years. Franchisees would still require launch funds of around £3,000 and working capital of approximately £2,000.
