Justine Sellmann

I started my Swimtime franchise in 2015 but before that I was working for Swimtime. Initially I started teaching for Swimtime South Yorkshire and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get enough hours at the time so I left and got myself an admin job elsewhere for a while.

I was then approached by the owner of the South Yorkshire franchise at the time who told me they were looking for someone to run their office at Swimtime Yorkshire and, because of my admin background, I got the gig. This gave me a bit more of an inside perspective of how the business operates.

I then moved down South and the opportunity presented itself to buy the South Coast territory. With my previous knowledge of the company and a regular income from doing admin for Yorkshire to support me I felt like the time was right and I had a good footing to go for it. I continued helping with admin for the Yorkshire franchise for the first 12 months, along side running my own franchise and gradually reduced that so I was purely running my own business from 2016.

I decided to start my own business because I felt like I was already doing it anyway, running someone else's business, so when the opportunity came up it felt like a natural progression to get my own business going. 

I chose franchising over setting up my own business because I was already familiar with the Swimtime brand, the people and the support that was available within the network. I felt like I was joining a family I had already been introduced to and had felt welcomed and valued by. I’ve always enjoyed swimming and working with children so it made sense to go with something I know rather than start with something completely new.

I still teach swimming lessons as well as I believe it’s important to stay in touch with the customers and what we have to offer. It’s still so rewarding for me to see the smiles on the children’s faces because they've swum their first length, it feels great to know I've made a difference and that is important to me and how I run my business.

I didn’t have the easiest time when I first started but, with the support of management and my peers, I’ve gotten through every time and all the challenges along the way have made me stronger. I’ve learned so much about being a business owner and I’ve been pushed to learn new skills in order to be successful on my own. This has been my greatest accomplishment since starting my business. Getting through all the tough times, when it would have been easy to throw in the towel, is something I’m really proud of.

It’s onwards and upwards for me and my Swimtime franchise. Despite the challenges my business is now at a point where I know it's working and I can make it bigger and better. I will continue to learn and grow my business, no looking back.

To anybody considering starting a Swimtime franchise, I would say just do it. Bite the bullet and do it. I think it’s important to have a passion for swimming, teaching, working with people and the drive to do something for yourself. You have to understand what the business is about and it's about the kids and the people we're teaching to swim; it's about giving a skill to somebody else and there's nothing more rewarding.