3 Franchise Myth Busters

Despite the growth, success and diversity of franchising, there are still myths around what franchising is and isn't and whether it's the right route to scale your business.

Sue Moore founded a franchise and grew it from the ground up to deliver consistently high standards of service across 12 locations - launched, grew, exited.  She then grew a domestic cleaning franchise network from £2m franchise network to £10m.  As a sought-after franchise consultant and advisor Sue was engaged by GreenThumb where she led the strategy for growth, franchise engagement and franchise support, this mature and successful national franchise delivered network revenue in excess of £30m.  Sue's experience doesn't stop there, she also developed the franchise support team and support system at Anytime Fitness who operate more than 200 gyms in the UK.   

Sue understands the myths and has been working hard to educate people in both the benefits and challenges of franchising over the past 30 years based on significant franchise experience and being at the helm of many leading brands.

Here she shares her thoughts on 3 franchise myths.

Lots of people want to consider franchising their already successful business, but when Sue explains the reality of franchising, those who thought it was a get rich quick scheme soon leave the conversation.

Why?

Franchising is hard work, nobody sees 'everything' the original funder put into the business way before they franchised and during the early years of franchising.

Firstly, they created a brand, a service, a system and took a gamble that it would work.  They invested in websites, social media, marketing and won the first customers, proved their service worked, invested in training, technology and invested in people.  Their hard-earned money and their time - eventually proving their business worked and started to generate decent profits.  

People forget the journey the founder took before they even considered franchising their business - they took all the risks and built the right systems.

So, you don't have to.

Once they decided to franchise, another journey started with more investment needed and more challenges along the way.  They consulted with financial advisors, lawyers, franchise consultants, built out the systems ready for franchisees to use, no doubt invested in more sophisticated technology and figured out the territory plans (and probably paid for that too) and over time launched their franchise.    

One thing is guaranteed - they continued to invest in the franchise way ahead of the franchise delivering a return for them.

When you consider that they have proven the brand and de-risked the system and should be able to share performance numbers with you and get you off to a great start with training, support, marketing collateral, an established brand and your local launch support - it represents exceptional value for money.

One fact which has changed little over the last few years is that UK businesses don't always make it - if you've done your research, you'll know that only 39% of SME's launched make it to year 5.

That is a stark statistic and what we don't know is how much that cost the founders who folded, not just financially but emotionally.

When you look at franchising to find out whether a franchise could be the right opportunity there are key facts available to you:

The number of years it's traded

Profit levels

Success levels of existing franchisees

The systems that work to be win and retain customers

You have a very real chance to research, do your due diligence and find the brand that fits your goals and aspirations and passion.

When you buy into a franchise framework it's already proven, and you are buying so much more than a business, you are buying ongoing support, the knowledge of the entire franchise community and a proven model.

You would have to go back to the 1950s for this to be true.

Today, franchising has many successful 'big brands' but also many emerging franchise brands and diversity has never been stronger.

Don't write franchising off - it's a serious alternative to a corporate career, university or building a business on your own with no prior business experience.

Want a Dog Walking Franchise?  Accountancy?  Consultancy? Hairdressing? Drainage? Lawn Care?  Dance Classes?  Wellness?  Cat Sitting?  Children's Nursery? Loft Fit Outs? 

Take a closer

 look at the opportunities franchising offers, with more than 1,009 brands available - you are sure to find something which matches your ambition - but be prepared - you still have to work at it!

The difference is you're not doing it alone.