Second Careers Testimonials

Welcome to Our Place’s work testimonials. This page will be regularly updated with your stories of working.

Our Place’s content manager Elliot would love to hear from you and you can contact him here but for now, we present Richard, who sparkles with new career at 70

At 68 years old, Richard Yoffey finally realised his ambition of starting his own business.

Two years ago the former company director was at breaking point – both financially as the credit crash dealt a blow to his life savings and personally as he struggled to fill the void that had opened up since retiring from corporate life.

But two years later, now 70, Richard, who used to live in Knowle near Solihull before moving to Devon, has literally ‘cleaned up’ and is running a successful franchise operation called Maid2Clean.

He explained: “As my wife said to me, I married you for love not for lunch. She was desperate for me to get out from under her feet and do what I enjoy, working.

“A friend of mine who was in a similar situation was running a very profitable franchise with Maid2Clean and I thought I can do that too. It’s proved to be the best decision I’ve ever taken in my working life; my only regret is not doing it 10 years ago!”

Entrepreneur

Maid2Clean is an agency, providing cleaners for domestic clients. The company is operated as a franchise with individuals buying a region for as little as £10,000.

According to Richard a franchise is the ideal solution for any budding ‘grey’ entrepreneur as it’s a proven business formula and you get all the training, systems and marketing support you need as part of the investment package.

And with eight out of 10 franchises being successful compared to eight out of 10 business start-ups failing, he seems to have a point.

Cost Effective

“It’s a very cost effective way of starting a business,” he added. “I didn’t know anything about the cleaning profession, but for me it’s the thrill of developing a business that I enjoy.

“We don’t employ anyone, all our cleaners are self-employed. They don’t necessarily have the financial backing and business acumen or time to find their own clients, worry about insurances and arrange cover when sick or on annual leave, so that’s where we come in.

“I earn my money through a nominal monthly service fee, which clients pay by direct debit as part of the cleaning contract. My business is building steadily; it is financially very rewarding and I predict my turnover will double in the next 12 months.

“The job is part of my life rather than taking over my life; I play tennis regularly, take holidays and even enjoy the occasional lunch with my wife!”