From nursing to franchising: the skills that carried across
People are sometimes surprised to learn I trained and worked as a nurse before I built a business. It sounds a world away from wheels and franchising. But when I look back at what nursing taught me, a great deal of it is exactly what running and leading a network calls for. I share it here because I think it says something useful to anyone weighing up a career change: the skills that build a business are rarely the ones printed on a job title.
Staying calm when it matters
Nursing puts you in situations where staying calm is not optional. You learn to hold steady when things are difficult, to assess what is really happening rather than what the panic in the room is saying, and to make the right call and then act on it. Business brings pressure of a very different kind, a difficult month, a supplier problem, a decision that will not wait, but the discipline is the same. Do not react to the noise. Work out what is actually going on. Then decide, and own the decision. I would far rather take a considered decision a day later than a rushed one in the heat of the moment.
Reading the situation before acting
A good nurse does not treat the symptom and ignore the cause. The same is true in business. When a branch is finding things hard, the easy move is to react to the surface, the one number that looks wrong this month, and the useful move is to understand what is actually driving it. Is it the local market, is it a process that has slipped, is it something within the branch's control? I try to look at the evidence first and the assumptions second, and I ask the same of the people I work with. Getting the diagnosis right is what makes the treatment work, on a ward or in a business.
Caring about people and still making the hard calls
This is the part people most often misread. Caring about people does not mean avoiding difficult decisions. In nursing you can care deeply about someone and still have to do the hard thing that is right for them. Leading a network is no different. I want every franchisee to succeed, and that is exactly why I will challenge performance when I see it slip, hold to a standard that protects the brand, or have the conversation nobody enjoys. Support and accountability are not opposites. Being straight with someone is often the kindest thing you can do, because it gives them the chance to put something right while it still can be.
Attention to detail, because it protects people
Nursing teaches you that details matter, because getting them wrong has consequences. That has never left me. In our business the detail is the quality of the work, and it is something I will not compromise on. It can look like a small thing to let a standard slip to save a little time, but our standards are what protect every franchise trading under our name, and the customer who has trusted us with their car. Protecting the detail is not fussiness. It is looking after people, which is where I began.
What this means if you are weighing up a change
I share all of this because if you are considering a franchise and wondering whether your background fits, I would encourage you to look at what it actually taught you, not just the job title on your CV. Staying calm, reading a situation, making decisions, dealing with people, caring about getting things right: those carry across a good deal further than you might think. This is guidance from my own experience, not a promise about anyone's results, which will always depend on the person and how they run their own business.
I did not set out from nursing planning to lead a national franchise. But the things that mattered then still matter now. Twenty years into building The Wheel Specialist, I am more convinced than ever that the right person with the right approach counts for more than the perfect CV. If you would like to talk about whether this could be the right move for you, get in touch and find out more.
Ginny Murphy, CEO and Founder, The Wheel Specialist