Calling all Franchisors: Save Time and Effort and be Inspired All in One Day?
The Business Booster Conference and Supplier Showcase 2011
This year’s Business Booster Conference and Franchise Supplier Showcase takes place on Thursday 17th November in Birmingham. The purpose of the event is to save franchisors the extensive time and effort it takes to source good suppliers that can help make their businesses more efficient and profitable, by bringing them all together under one roof for a day.
The event is organised by The Franchising Centre and Managing Director Brian Duckett commented “A frustration for many franchisors is knowing that there are good products and services out there that can help them develop their business, but they don’t have the time to go through the whole process of searching for and interviewing potentially good suppliers. The purpose of this event is to gather together lots of suppliers under one roof that know and understand the franchise market so that franchisors can speak to a number all on one day.”
The event provides a nice relaxed atmosphere in which franchisors can speak to suppliers to learn about their offering without the stresses involved in a more traditional sales environment.
The event also aims to provide information which is useful and interesting to franchisors with a number of guest speakers and presentations. Back by popular demand this year will be Brody Sweeney with more inspirational words about his own experiences in the world of franchising – anyone who saw him last year will tell you that he is not to be missed!
All proceeds from the event will go to the Trussel Trust’s Foodbank project which provides an immediate source of emergency food for those who unexpectedly hit hard times here in the UK.
More information about the event is available at www.franchisesuppliers.co.uk
Questions to ask a Franchisor when considering a Franchise Business
Joel Caws - Technical Director, Select Your Franchise
One thing is for sure: if you are looking for a franchise you won’t be spoilt for choice! There are around 900 franchise systems operating in the UK and several hundred of those franchise systems are looking for new franchisees at any given time. So with all those options to choose from it might seem a bit of a challenge to find the one that suits you best.
The initial stages of searching out your franchise match can be fairly straightforward. You can use online franchise directories, franchise magazines and exhibitions to effective research and whittle down your selection to those that are within your budget, have availability in your preferred trading location and that appeal to you as someone who will be running the business. Beyond that you are faced with the task of talking to those franchisors you believe represent the most suitable options for you and finding out which one suits you best. Given that you may have no experience in franchising or how a franchise operates, how do you know what questions to ask the franchisor? Well, here’s a few good options to begin:-
How did your pilot businesses perform?
A franchisor will usually have setup some initial pilot businesses to test their franchise business model. In this way they have ‘proved’ their franchise model works and can turn a profit. Finding out how well they did, and their turnover/profit figures, should give you an indication of its potential if you were to run the franchise business.
May I have a list of some of your franchisees as references?
Existing franchisees are an important reference of how well the franchise business performs ‘on the ground’. Take the opportunity to call up, or visit, a few of the franchisees and ask them how well the franchise business works for how well supported they feel by the franchisor.
What is the total investment I will need?
The franchise fee that you will see on any documentation may not be the total cost to start up the franchise. There may also be premises costs, initial stock, vehicles, staffing costs. These will obviously be dependant on the type of franchise but almost every business requires some initial finance even if it is to fund your own wages for the first month or so while you build up your initial revenue. If you do not see any mention of start up costs in the franchisors information pack make sure you ask.
What training and support will I receive?
An important part of running a franchise business is that you operate it in-line with the proven franchise system. This makes training and support important to ensure a) you are trained initially in the correct way to run the business, and b) that you are able to pick up the phone and call the franchisor if you experience any problems that you could use some advice on resolving in the course of running the franchise business.
How do I feel about working with these people?
This is not a question for the franchisor so much as a question you should ask yourself during the research process. You should have opportunities to meet and chat to the franchisor so: How do you feel about them? Do you feel enthusiasm from them about you coming on board as part of their network? Do you feel that they would be supportive to you in your new business venture?
Ultimately, the success of any business venture will come down to your own determination and commitment to make it work. You can, however, benefit from the experience of a franchisor and the proven business model of a franchise.
Tags: franchise business, franchise opportunities, franchise research, franchises, franchisors, joel caws
How ‘The Cloud’ could help your Franchise
Jat Mann - Managing Director, PC PAL
Well, by now most people have heard of the mystical thing called ‘The Cloud’ and how it’s going to magically revolutionize IT and the use of computers in homes and businesses.
But the question most people are really asking themselves is what exactly is ‘The Cloud’ and am I really going to be left behind if I don’t use it?
The truth is that many of us are actually using the features and benefits ‘The Cloud’ brings. An obvious example is e-mail. Where many large companies have huge servers and temperature controlled, air conditioned rooms dedicated to running the IT systems (as well as teams of techies who generally don’t like users), most small business and individuals typically use Hotmail, Yahoo or G Mail as their main email addresses.
And where are these emails stored for you before you access them? Well, the answer is on other people’s servers and computers on the internet, aka ‘The Cloud’. The idea is really simple and a bit like using a PO Box service in the real world – somebody else gets the messages delivered to him or her and you can pick them up when and where you want.
The other concept to grasp is that because the emails are stored in a central area in ‘The Cloud’ (i.e. the internet), you can access these emails when on the move or via your PC, Laptop, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and smartphone – both in the UK or abroad. This is great for homeworkers and ‘road warriors’ or even travellers who don’t have a dedicated place of work.
The vast majority of people are actually using ‘The Cloud’ without realizing and without cost as the main Email providers like Gmail (Google) provide their services for free.
And it’s not just about email. Services such as Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube are all examples of the uses of ‘The Cloud’. The general theme being that information is stored on the Internet and not on each individual’s computer and can be access from any internet connected device, anywhere, anytime.
Now with the concept of ‘The Cloud’ tackled, lets focus on where it could help your franchise. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you knew in real time your franchisees performance, their customer lists and be able to send e-mailshots out to them to generate more business? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you didn’t have the headache of looking after IT servers and associated maintenance costs (as well as worry of backing up your critical data and wondering what you would do if your HQ building was destroyed).
Well, by using ‘The Cloud’ services, you can store your data on the Internet, allow your franchisees to use on central CRM system and also know in real time their performance and turnover figures. You could also have a worry-free existence as the backup of your data would be all taken care of. And if the worst did happen, and your HQ was destroyed, you would still be able to access your information from home, abroad or alternative premises swiftly by logging onto the Internet.
Some people might be familiar with Salesforce.com (which is a Customer Relationship system such as Azura’s www.webchise.co.uk) and online accounting software (such as the ones provided by Dennis & Turnbull: www.xero.com ) or even shared document hosting such as www.dropbox.com.
Well although these services aren’t completely free when used for larger business teams, these services are now mature, robust and cost effective enough to be used by businesses – especially for franchises. We use these technologies ourselves and couldn’t imagine being without them!
The costs saving are quite large as well as the ability to work where you like, when you like and how you like!
The future’s bright… the future really is ‘The Cloud’!
Jat is the founder & Managing Director of PC PAL, UK’s leading on-site Computer Repair and Support franchise network providing rapid, reliable & affordable IT support to homes and small businesses.
