Founder of Digs for Dogs Debbie Pomfret keeps her family close, working with her son Oliver to run the business. But when it comes to Debbie’s family, we’re not just talking blood relations; all franchisees have close relationships with both her and one another, and with many franchisees involving their own relatives, the brood just keeps on growing.

Here, Debbie talks about her Digs for Dogs family…

Has your son always worked with you at Digs for Dogs?

Oliver’s always been involved in the business, especially since he left college. Once his studies were finished, he bought a dog walking franchise – at full price. There was no family discount! He owned this franchise for 18 months before selling it on to pursue his own career.

But, after a stint in phone sales he realised that the grass isn’t always greener, and soon came back to Digs for Dogs. Now he works in head office with me, overseeing the accounting and social media for the business.

Has working together changed your family dynamic?

It has definitely brought us closer. It also makes you view your relatives in an entirely new light: I have a new-found respect for Oliver as a colleague. We make a great team.

Who else in your family is involved with the company?

My husband came in and assisted with the business whilst it was growing, but he’s now retired from his career and having a well-earned rest.  I honestly now regard my family as everyone at Digs for Dogs, so I could say my entire family is involved in the company! From customers to franchisees, to their friends and families, everyone is one of the gang in our close knit community.

How do you and your franchisees connect with one another?

We have two Whatsapp groups that enable quick, frequent communication between everyone under the two franchises (dog boarding and walking). In these chats we have lots of banter and franchisees are always offering one another help and support. For example, if someone is struggling to house a dog, if they are having difficulty getting out and about in the snow, or if they need to borrow a van, they just pop it in the chat and help is soon provided.

In these chats, franchisees also alert one another of any current issues (such as kennel cough doing the rounds), and we have a vet nurse at hand who can be contacted with any medical concerns regarding the dogs.

How about the social side of the business?

We all love socialising together and do lots of different things. We go out for pizza and we like a few drinks, we meet up for our big annual conference and of course, our legendary Christmas do. Everything we do together is genuinely good fun, and it’s so rewarding to see franchisees developing close relationships with each other.

The Digs for Dogs family is fun, close knit and ever growing. Having this support network in place makes being a Digs for Dogs franchisee a truly enjoyable and rewarding career.

If you’re interested in joining the Digs for Dogs family you can find more information at https://www.digsfordogs.uk.com/petservices-partnership-opportunity/