Happy Birthday To Us, Happy Birthday To Us! Happy birthday dear Extra Help …

Yes! We are 3 today! Extra Help started out life as an idea my friend Sarah Jackson had. Sarah had a cleaning franchise and lots of her clients were asking for other services such as shopping, meal preparation, small gardening jobs and trips to appointments, especially the elderly clients …

We’re three today! What an amazing journey it has been so far!

I had a business producing A5 size magazines in the area Sarah had her franchise and we became friends as Sarah advertised her cleaning business with me. One day Sarah came to me with her new idea, Extra Help for the elderly.

Sarah was disillusioned with the cleaning franchise she had and the way the franchise was being run. This was Sarah’s idea for a new business and a way out and I’m so grateful she came to me first! At the time my life was changing, I was moving to the South West so this was a great opportunity for me too; a new business to go with my new life!

We got together as much as we could in the early days between May and September when I moved to Cornwall. We got the business up and running in Milton Keynes, the website was built and ready to go live, bank account etc. all set up and everything fell into place.

On the 10th October 2010, the website went live and we were off! We always knew we would franchise the business; as it was a great model and Sarah and I were so passionate about the aim of the business to keep the elderly in their own homes for as long as possible.

And we wanted to spread this service across the whole country. There are lots of personal care companies out there and domestic cleaners but, at the time, nothing the same as we are doing now. Providing domestic home help for the elderly.

“People are living longer and wanting to stay in the home where they bought up their children and spent most of their lives. They just need a little extra help to do so!”

So Extra Help was launched. Our first franchisee was in Milton Keynes and we have grown quite quickly since then. Adding in Extra Help for Everyone aimed at working professionals providing housekeeping, ironing, dog walking services etc.

Mothers Help was next, designed to help busy Mums (or Dads), especially people working from home. When we launched the business Sarah was pregnant and really needed Mother’s Help as she also had a toddler. My children are a little older but it was still a struggle juggling the school run and working, especially when training away from home. Finally we launched the domestic cleaning side of the business as it seemed silly not to with all of Sarah’s knowledge in that area.


It’s been a great 3 years, although it’s not always easy! Like any new business, it takes a lot of time, money, passion and dedication. Thankfully, the latter two were in abundance so with a lack of money and not enough hours in the day, we always got around one way or another.

Our business is living proof where there is a will there is a way. If you believe in something enough and have that passion and desire to be successful you can do it.


Are you interested in starting your own business? An Extra Help franchise may just be the thing for you! Call us on +44 (0) 845 618 2904 or click here to ping over an email and we’ll get right back to you. You can also read more about our franchise opportunity on our website.

Until next time …

CLAIRE ROBINSON