Franchising is being looked at as the best way to have a business of your own in these bleak economic times. With a franchise, you get the support of the franchisor and a network of like-minded individuals who have franchisees of their own. With such support, mistakes are avoided and that is the main reason why franchisees have such a low failure rate. This is why banks prefer investing in franchisees rather than investing in any other small business.

Netstationers, a prominent company that has been franchising, has a lot of success stories to tell and one of them is the story of Ross Edmond.

At the age of 27, Ross Edmond owns a company that has turnover of £1.1 million in its first year itself. The expert franchisor that Netstationers is, Ross is now looking to top the £1.5 million mark this year. As Netstationers deals with the suppliers directly, the franchise can bag big accounts, which is what Ross did.

The training provided by Netstationers is comprehensive and extensive and hence neither prior experience nor a stationery background is needed to have a Netstationers franchise. What is required is dedication and a little bit of sales inclination. Netstationers are looking for such people and if you are one of them, just get in touch with them.

Roxanne Neekoi is all set to open a Cheadle Hulme franchise of a website company that helps small to medium enterprises have a presence on the internet with creative, affordable websites. Prior to this, Roxanne worked as a project manager with the corporate banking division at HBOS. With ten year experience in the finance sector as a business consultant she now wants new challenges.

She now operates the Heald Green, Hazel Grove, Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall franchises of ORCA websites. Her role is to find clients from the local area who need help improving or launching a website.

Due to her previous job as a project manager, she is well equipped to pursue her present job with ORCA. She does not feel hindered due to her lack of an IT background as that does not relate to her present job where she interacts with the web designing team and the client.

She also feels that every big business has a slow start. She is happy that ORCA gives her an opportunity to work with local firms who get to rub shoulders with big brands by using the internet.

Jani-King is introducing a new flexible franchise to deal with the unpredictable global financial conditions. Jani-King is a leading contract cleaning franchisor and is the first franchisor in the UK to react to the current situation.

The highly successful Jani-King franchise will allow the new flexible franchise to offer investments which are significantly lower at the entry level.

Ian Thomas, chairman of Jani-King explains that the traditional management franchises have become unaffordable for the franchisee despite their having all the right qualities. The banks have reduced available finance which in turn has driven down the lending that is needed to start a new business.

He further elaborated that since the cleaning industry was recession proof, it would be an ideal time to invest in a contract cleaning franchise. He also stated that the current problem of bank funding should not hinder those people who have the right skills and are motivated to fulfil their ambition of setting up their own business. Therefore you have to move along with the current market conditions and develop a product that responds to them.

Thomas also spoke about how they could adapt the product to suit the financial requirement of an individual. The new flexible business would be ideal for people with a commercial background and who are motivated to set up a business within a well proven structure, but are not looking for the similar levels of sales that were guaranteed by their standard offer products.

Jani-King wishes to expand their franchisee base nationwide, so they are carefully selecting the new entrants for the new flexible franchises. The new entrants will have access to all the support programmes and training systems as per the recognised industry standards. He also said that although they believed in integrity they were ready to bring a new enthusiasm to their franchisee base.

Thomas concluded by saying that due to the cost variability and the low overheads for operations, the Jani-King franchise is highly attractive. It has been seen in the past that the sturdy nature of the cleaning industry in times of economic pressure has always brought an upswing in the demand for this franchise.

At the National franchise exhibition held in October in Birmingham, Filtafry exhibited their brand new vehicle with the latest machinery. Damien Slater the franchise manager stated that throughout the exhibition they were in constant talks about their one of a kind business opportunity with potential franchisees.

He also elaborated that there was so much of interest in the service because of the advantages towards the environment and the fact that the business was entirely recession proof. He also emphasised that the year 2008 was very successful for them as it brought in a lot of new national accounts and the franchisees already with them were servicing the independent customers on a weekly basis.

Damien Slater also reported that during the exhibition there were a lot of women who showed interest in owing a franchise independently, while there were other women who wanted to involve their husbands along with them. They were keen to work both as a team and in multiple shift operations.

His conclusion was that it was their article on women being franchisees with Filtafry Plus which was published in the exhibition edition of the Franchise magazine that motivated the women to take up the challenge owning a franchise. Filtafry Plus would pick six new franchisees from the people who had registered during the exhibition.

A Venture franchisee was declared the franchisee of the year at the BFA awards and walked away with the gold medal for building a multi million pound business in just two years. While Angie Baynes, a Venture franchisee was presented gold, Craig Harrison of the Pirtek franchise and Lisa Tobias of the Domino’s pizza franchise were awarded silver and bronze respectively.

The theme for the year was ‘managing change’ and candidates had to demonstrate how they would react in different business situations. There were nine candidates in total and apart from the top three, there were participants from Auto Smart international, Dream Doors, Fastsigns, McDonalds, OscarPetfoods and Western Provident Association.

All the three winners were ecstatic at their victory. Angie Baynes said that she got into the Venture franchise after managing her father’s own portrait venture studio and is a managing director today with a turnover of two million. Cathryn Hayes of HSBC applauded Angie for her determination and success.

While it took eight years for Craig Harrison to become a franchisee, he was responsible for bringing a combined turnover of 1.8 million. Lisa Tobias of McDonalds was thrilled with her award as she was a part time employee before owning four outlets.

Caremark, a management franchise, has been over the years helping its franchisees to grow and expand, continually increasing productivity and efficiency. It is now looking for more such potential success stories and you could be one.

A management franchise under the category domiciliary care, Caremark was established in 2005 and has been franchising since its second year. Working under the domiciliary or social care sector, Caremark sees a lot of potential in the industry which is growing at a rapid rate and is currently valued in excess of £20billion.

With a bright future, this industry is expected to grow by leaps and bounds and so Caremark is looking for individuals that have a strong team ethic, are ambitious and have a passion in them to make a difference in social care. Caremark promises its franchisees support in terms of advice and guidance which comes from specialists.

A Caremark franchise, if run with total dedication, has the potential to earn more than £300,000 sales in the first year of trading itself. The fact that Caremark franchisees are growing at a rate of 35 per cent per month, bears testimony to its success.

Card Line, one of the biggest greeting card companies in the UK is looking to franchise and if you are looking for a secure business, Card Line could be what you are looking for. Over the years that Card Line have been in operation, they have developed secured accounts with a variety of outlets, such as petrol stations, newsagents, post offices and so forth. With an ongoing tele-sales campaign, franchisees will find it even easier to make sales.

With a Card Line franchise, you could be a part of the £1billion greetings card industry – one that’s growing all the time. You would get a full range of products, exclusive trading areas and a near recession proof business as cards are priced cheaply and sell in almost any environment. With a network of over 70 franchisees throughout the UK, you can rest assured about Card Line.

With an initial package of £10,000 plus VAT that is redeemable after getting registered, Card Line offers extensive and comprehensive training and support. With a profit of 28p per card, expected gross profit depending on the number of outlets is in the area of £20,000 to £40,000 and is a near recession proof environment. Card Line sounds exactly like the head start you always wanted.

Toni Mascolo claims to be the next big franchise after McDonalds. With 405 salons worldwide, only 12 are proprietary while the others are all franchisees. Mascolo states that they have shares in every Toni & Guy franchise and get royalties too. With an overall turnover of 135m, they are still expanding.

Mascolo states that he allowed his hairdressers an option to extend the brand rather than becoming a competitor to him. He opened his first franchise in the Eighties and today he has a team of nine developers to help individuals generate business.

In the Nineties, Mascolo launched almost 20 to 30 franchises a year. However, he stopped doing so due to lack of space and the proximity of one salon to another. Other than salons Mascolo also owns a shop fitting company with the same name and produces products like scissors, hairbrushes etc. He now plans to expand in Europe, China, Russia and other eastern countries.

Mascolo also says that franchising in the UK was not heard of while it was a big buzz in the USA and though he had a five year millionaire plan, he states that the bankers were unaware. Mascolo has indeed become the pioneer of franchising in the UK and people often tell him that they can not imagine England without Toni & Guy.

If you are looking to have a business of your own then franchising could be the answer for you. In these times of recession when banks are extremely cautious in investing in new ventures, when it comes to franchisees, banks are more generous and giving.

According to the head of franchising at HSBC, Cathryn Hayes, banks are still keen to invest in franchisees because of various reasons. The main reason however, is because of the low failure rate. Since franchisees are backed by an experienced franchisor and a tried and tested business model, the failure rate for franchisee start ups is lower and banks feel more secure in investing in them.
This means that banks are more likely to lend money to franchisees as compared to normal, small businesses.

However, franchisees are not totally recession-proof and hence, Cathry advises all would be franchisees to first research and collect as much information as possible about where they would like to invest. As franchising has a wide spectrum compared to other industries, it considerably lowers and reduces the failure rate.

If you plan on franchising, remember that every business, including franchising requires hard work and dedication and hence it is very important you think before you decide to take the leap.

If you are looking to have a business of your own, specifically, a retail business, the Blazes Fireplace and Heating Centre could be the one for you. Britain’s largest and most established Fireplace and heating specialist, Blazes has a network nationwide and with an experience of 15 years, is also a full member of the BFA.

Blazes credits most of its success to its franchisees that are committed to success and the main reason behind the company’s success, no surprise then that it won the Best Franchise Launch Programme at the National Franchise Marketing Awards.
If you are looking to franchise, then take a look at what Blazes, as the experienced franchisor has to offer. Since Blazes, recognizes the contribution of its franchisees in its success story, Blazes takes good care of its franchisees.

A Blazes franchise conducts its business from a comfortable retail premises with a huge range and a wide array of fires and fireplaces coming from the leading manufacturers in the country.

You do not need any technical knowledge, if you have the drive and the desire to grow and succeed, Blazes is the place to be at since Blazes provides comprehensive training including training in administration, showroom procedures etc.

Blazes Fireplace and Heating Centre is looking for people, who are ambitious and focused, but most importantly can gel well in the Blazes network.