Franchising – is it for you?

September 13, 2015 by Andy Crow

Franchising – is it for you?

Starting up your business with everything that entails can be a long arduous journey fraught with many pitfalls despite that it could be a brilliant idea. For those that are looking to get into business relatively quickly franchising offers an alternative route.

The advantages are:

• Branding & Marketing – usually already established with public awareness, logo’s, collateral etc. meaning you can leverage off bigger more professional campaigns
• Starting up – a proven methodology for launching a new store/service will be in place. This will speed up the process and reduce the pitfalls
• Operations – a defined way that the business is to be run with centralised purchasing of goods and advertising can significantly reduce costs
• Finance – it is often easier to find funding for a new outlet of an established franchise with a proven financial record
• Training – most franchises will ensure that you will be well trained to run the franchise along the corporate guidelines. For any franchisor this is essential to maintain consistency across the various locations
• Support – with a franchise there are always people there to help
• Area – most franchises will only allow one per area to avoid self competition
• Growth – there is always the opportunity to grow by buying the same franchise but in a different area.

However there also disadvantages:

• Loss of independence – depending on how rigid the rules are in they way that should run the business it may feel like you are working for a big corporation – the very thing you were trying to get away from in the first place!
• Dependence on the system – A heavy reliance on the franchisor for many of the decisions can lead to frustration and profit not being maximized. For instance centralised marketing campaigns may not
• work in your area.
• Cost – many good franchises are expensive with significant outlay required
• Consistency – if the franchisor takes his eye off the ball they may damage the brand, meaning your investment could be worthless through no fault of your own

For any advice with Franchising v Starting your own business please don’t hesitate to contact Chorus Business Advisers Ltd on 0845 867 1263 or visit our website www.chorusadvisers.co.uk