Franchising offers an excellent opportunity for you to be in business
for yourself.
When
you hear the word " Franchising" you probably think of fast
food restaurants such as Burger King, McDonald's or Wimpy. But
the truth is Franchising is so much wider than that.
There
are Franchises available in almost every business area that
you can think of in all price ranges. In addition, because franchising
has such a low failure rate your chances of success are extremely
good.
Compared
to starting your own business from scratch, franchising can
provide a relatively safer route into self-employment. The franchisor
has done it all many times before and can therefore help you
to eliminate all the mistakes you most probably would make if
you tried to do it all by yourself.
Franchising
can offer a successful business concept, proven marketing and
operational methods, ongoing support and an established identity.
A
successful franchise relationship is like a partnership. It
combines your talents with the experience and knowledge of the
franchisor. With franchising, you are in business for yourself
not by yourself
Franchisors
not only have sound training programs, but also knowledge of
financial requirements, marketing, competition & buying
contracts - knowledge that might take you years to collect on
your own.
How
to recognise pyramid selling
The
most serious frauds which have been perpetrated were described
as pyramid selling, or multi-level marketing. Often confused
with franchising by those who seek to profit from the vulnerability
of the unwary. They are presented as foolproof and tempting
methods of making easy money and are often marketed by presenting
successful participants, who speak of their great financial
success.
These
schemes involve the sale of distributorships to purchasers who
may divide and subdivide them, and sell them on to those whom
they recruit. Expansion of the enterprise takes place on the
chain letter principle.
The
objective is to build up a sales force which will sell the company's
products or services from door-to-door. In practice, selling
the goods or services is very often difficult because the prices
are usually high and there in no established market for the
products. No attempt in made to advertise and promote the sales
of the products. Selling distributorships is much more lucrative
and then become effectively the company's business.
Commission
is derived from a percentage payment of the sum paid to the
promoter of the scheme for the recruitment of participants and
on commission of sales made by other participants in the scheme.
Why
do companies franchise?
For
a company with a product or service to sell, franchising provides
an excellent opportunity for rapid expansion without an enormous
outlay of capital. It is a distribution system that allows a
business to conserve capital, and at the same time achieve fast
market penetration making it a very attractive proposition to
most business owners. One of the greatest advantages to them
is that they get 100% commitment from their franchisees who
have a stake in the business rather than staff or managers who
simply work for a salary and may be less motivated.
Why
should I consider franchising?
There
are many individuals who like yourself, want to be their own
boss. They see no long range security in working for someone
else, and feel that their potential income will always be limited
as an employee. Franchising offers these individuals an opportunity
to break free & own their own business whilst at the same
time minimizing the risk that is inherent in opening an entirely
new business from scratch. Franchising allows you to follow
a tried and tested business system, which will greatly improve
your chances of success, as the statistics prove.
What
are the benefits?
Franchising
first became a recognised force in the UK during the 1970's.
According to a survey carried out by the National Westminster
bank and the British Franchise Association, the overall turnover
of the franchising industry last year was estimated at £9.3
billion, with the number of business format franchising systems
growing to 665.
The
35,600 individual franchised units in the UK are growing to
give total employment in the sector of more than 316,000. This
makes franchising larger than the whole energy sector and almost
as big as the whole of the armed forces.
Franchising has proved to be the most successful way of starting
a new business
There
are franchising opportunities in almost every area of business
ranging from one-man operations to large multinational enterprises
employing thousands of people
It
is a sad but true fact that all of the new businesses started
in the UK completely from scratch, in five years time only one
in five will be still trading.
Compare
this with franchising which has a success rate in excess of
90%. This means there are obvious advantages to franchising
over starting up on your own.
Not
only are you more likely to succeed, but also you have the freedoms
of self-employment as well. And when you need help, guidance
is always at hand not only from the franchisor but from the
Franchised Business also.
What
should I look for in a franchised Business?
When
you take up a franchised business you are entering in to a long-term
partnership with the franchisor. It is therefore vitally important
to check the background & business performance of your prospective
partner. This is part of the service that we will help you with
together with, your professional advisors.
At
this stage, when you are just commencing your search, it is
perhaps more important to establish the basics.
The
keys to a successful franchise relationship are:
