£109,000 in revenue last year marked a turning point for Melissa Clee’s Lincoln Pass the Keys franchise, which has expanded from nine properties to 35 since she took it over in 2022.
£5,000 from her mother helped launch her first serviced-accommodation business, and profits from that funded the franchise’s £12,000 startup and training cost after she left neonatal nursing for more flexible work.
14 properties in the portfolio come from one large Lincoln developer, while Clee now manages marketing, bookings, cleaning and maintenance with a growing part-time team, including remote guest support staff in Kenya.
Half of that revenue is her estimated take-home pay after wages, a 3.5% franchise fee and £1,400 a month in marketing; she has also repaid a £20,000 loan used to add properties and stop casual nursing shifts.
60-plus properties is her next target over the next few years, alongside plans to build more social-purpose projects, including YMCA support in Lincoln and sustainable holiday lets in Uganda.
How can she fund an ambitious Ugandan social enterprise while pursuing aggressive growth for her UK property franchise?
How will her business's growth affect housing affordability for other essential workers, like nurses, in her hometown of Lincoln?
Did swapping nursing shifts for a 24/7 startup truly deliver the promised work-life balance from day one?