5 Reasons Why You Should Enter the bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards
Cathryn Hayes - HSBC’s Head of Franchising and member of the Awards judging panel
The 2012 bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards, supported by Express Newspapers, is open for entries until 30 March 2012. Franchising is continuing to perform strongly despite the challenging economic climate, and we would like to encourage UK franchisors of any size or sector to tell their stories and inspire the next generation of franchisors.
But what’s in it for you, as one of these successful franchisors? Here are my 5 reasons why you should enter these prestigious awards, open to bfa members only:
- It gives you a chance to evaluate your business and focus on your successes. To enter, franchisors need to provide a 1,000 word entry outlining the reasons why they should win. How often do you take the time to look at your business with a critical eye? Previous entrants have told me they have found entering a real boost as it has given them a chance to revisit successes.
- It can be a great talking point with franchisees and staff and it never hurts to tell people about the great things you do. This leads on from point 1 above – it can boost your confidence as a franchise and bring the whole network together. Preparing your awards entry will provide you with a short document to share with staff and franchisees and enable the whole network to remind themselves how successful they are!
- A chance to set yourself up against your peers and find out how other successful franchise networks operate. There isn’t always a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way – but great franchisors often look at other successful businesses and take on board some elements to suit their own network.
- Go through the judging process. It might seem strange to put that as a benefit, but for the bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year awards, there are two judging stages to go through. The first is the preparation of your 1,000 word entry as mentioned above – if this gets you through to the short-list, you get to present your entry to the judging panel and are then questioned about it. It is a thorough judging process which puts you through your paces – but it really means something to win an award in this way!
- Get positive PR for your business. As sponsors, we cover the cost of professional PR support for the awards, not just writing the releases but also ‘selling’ your success story to national, regional and trade press. The value of the Awards PR coverage last year alone was nearly £750,000 with over 55 million ‘opportunities to see’ generated – don’t miss out on your share of that great coverage!
Full details including terms and conditions and downloadable entry forms can be found at www.thebfa.org
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
