When Amrit Dhaliwal founded Walfinch, she wasn’t just creating another franchise—she was challenging everything broken about traditional franchising. After experiencing the gaps firsthand as a franchisee, she knew the industry needed more than promises. It needed genuine support, clear systems, and a mission worth building around.
The Reality Check Most Franchisees Need
Forget the McDonald’s fantasy. Most franchise systems, especially in home care, lack the infrastructure they advertise. Dhaliwal learned this the hard way, discovering that success required external coaching to fill the gaps her franchisor couldn’t. That frustration became her blueprint: create a franchise that actually delivers on its promises.
Her advice? Investigate ruthlessly before signing. Examine the training, scrutinize the support systems, and demand proof of real-world success. Skills matter, but a franchisor who’s walked your path matters more.
Purpose That Actually Means Something
Walfinch’s mission tackles “entrepreneurial poverty”—the trap where business owners work endlessly without building real wealth. This isn’t marketing fluff. It shapes every decision, from who gets awarded a franchise to how success gets measured.
The selection process reflects this. Nearly half of the applicants get turned away. Why? Because Walfinch awards franchises rather than sells them. Values trump everything. Operational skills can be taught; integrity and alignment cannot.
Scaling Culture Without Losing Soul
As Walfinch grows toward becoming a £20 million network, Dhaliwal faces the challenge every founder fears: maintaining culture at scale. Her solution draws on unexpected sources—including her Punjabi heritage, where language connects people to their identity.
Walfinch uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System to create shared vocabulary and frameworks. Every franchisee speaks the same language, literally and figuratively. The common enemy isn’t each other—it’s unprofitability. This unites the network around mutual success rather than hierarchical control.
Who Actually Succeeds in Home Care
Dhaliwal’s ideal franchisee isn’t who you’d expect. Technical skills? Secondary. Financial resources? Important but not sufficient. The non-negotiables include professional presentation, genuine resilience, networking ability, and—most critically—authentic care for others.
This matters in home care, where you’re serving people during vulnerable moments. Surface-level empathy gets exposed quickly. The work demands someone who genuinely cares, especially when facing difficult situations that test your humanity.
Making Home Care Modern
The home care sector has an image problem. Dhaliwal’s tackling it head-on with unexpected tactics: rap videos to attract younger care workers, fully paperless operations from day one, and marketing aimed at adult children making care decisions for aging parents.
It’s working. By treating older adults as people with ambitions rather than passive care recipients, Walfinch’s “Time to Thrive” philosophy offers yoga, art classes, and social connection—not just basic assistance.
The Bottom Line
Dhaliwal’s approach offers a clear lesson: purpose-driven business isn’t about slogans. It’s about building systems that serve a mission bigger than profit. When choosing growth opportunities, she asks whether they align with her “why.” If not, she walks away.
For entrepreneurs building in traditional sectors, that’s the real innovation—having the courage to reject opportunities that don’t serve your purpose, even when they promise revenue.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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