Jo Pope &'business partner Anne Wharton, Daily Poppins, Devon

'A strong brand image and good support'

I have two young children so I wanted a business that I could run from home alongside looking after my family. I knew about franchising from my business degree and I thought it would be a great way to set up a business using a tried and tested formula. My mum and I decided to run a business together as we have different strengths that compliment each other.

The fact that Daily Poppins offered the management opportunity I was looking for appealed to me, as was the fact that it has a strong brand image and a good support structure that would help us get off to a good start. To prepare us for the launch of our franchise in July this year, we went on a two day intensive training course in Reading. The course covered everything we needed to know for running our business including the software package, staffing, and the cleaning system used.

Our target turnover for our first year is a minimum of £65,000. We were already making a profit in our third month of trading and had reached a monthly turnover of £6,000 in that month. As well as the financial benefits there are many aspects of my business that I enjoy such as interacting with customers, working alongside staff, seeing the reactions of customers who are happy with the results of our service and the fact that the work is so varied.