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Founding CEO of Award Bookkeeping and Franchise Woman of the Year, Deb Shugg has come along way in eleven years. A survivor of horrific child abuse, Deb has had to overcome some huge personal challenges, in order to take her place in Business Review Weekly’s list of the top 50 female entrepreneurs in Australia.
Eleven years ago Deb Shugg was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and agoraphobia. Unable to leave the family home, the former bookkeeper started a home-based business to earn an income whilst she battled her inner-demons. An advertisement in the local paper helped her to establish the business and within five years, Deb and Award Bookkeeping were ready to move out into the world and give others the flexibility of running their own business from home.
When Deb Shugg was forced out of the workforce with PTSD, doctors told her she would probably never be able to work again. Deb told Australian Women Online, “It got to the point where I couldn’t leave my own home and I couldn’t go to work.”
“After I left the workforce I spent a fair bit of time going through the recovery process and coming to terms with what I can do. Then as I got better the business turned into a franchise – mostly because I wanted to help other people,” she said.
After experiencing the benefits of owning and operating a home-based business, Deb Shugg wanted to share her good fortune by giving both men and women the flexibility of working from home. She franchised the business in 2002 and today, Award Bookkeeping has more than 50 franchisees across Australia, most of whom work from home.
“One of the reasons behind my decision to franchise the business was I thought women needed more flexibility. If they follow the model they can work half the hours they were working in a full-time job and earn the same or more money,” said Deb.
For the past six years, the company has been operating out of business premises in Melbourne, but Deb and her husband are thinking about moving the company back to a home-based operation.
“I get around quite well now, but I also think you should be able to run your own business in a way that satisfies you and fits in well with your lifestyle,” she said. “I think it’s quite outrageous that if you are working from home it’s not seen as a legitimate business.”
Steve Wright, Executive Director of the Franchise Council of Australia agrees, “With the growth in the home services market there are lots of niches and people can certainly run their businesses from home and, like Deb, step up without even stepping out of the front door”.
When asked to comment about her being awarded the title of Franchise Woman of the Year Deb Shugg said, “There were some incredibly commendable women nominated for the award and I’m not really anybody special.”
For more information about Award Bookkeeping visit the website www.awardbookkeeping.com.au
Main photo credit: Franchise Council of Australia. From L to R: John O’Brien – FCA Chairman; Deb Shugg – Award Group and Tim Reed – CEO, MYOB