Rainbow International is a disaster restoration franchise. Ian and Linda Clarke, a team of husband and wife, have won the title of being their best franchise of the year for the second time. This has happen for the first time in history that a franchise has won an award twice for being the best. There were 117 other franchises in the nominations.

Since last year, the couple had twice the revenue from their commercial and domestic work. They were also nominated to help other businesses in the Rainbow network.

The couple are also entitled to enjoy an all expenses paid trip to represent the UK in Las Vegas. Rainbow International is specialised in restoring businesses and homes that are affected by flood, fire or any other accidental damage. Apart from this, they also provide a domestic and commercial carpet and upholstery maintenance service.

Managing director of Rainbow International, Phil Else admires their ‘can do’ attitude. He said that Ian and Linda were an excellent example as they know how to get success in business and they clearly deserve this award.

Ian said that they were successful because of their excellent customer service. He also added that they were spread out to win this for the second time and it is clear evidence of the dedication and commitment of their entire team.

For a moment, consider the environment we are living in. You will notice the drastic improvement in the IT sector. In the western world, almost each and every person has a computer either for their business or for home use. Computers require printers, printers require cartridges and cartridges require toner or ink. They are interlinked with each other. Here is where the role of Cartridge World comes into consideration. Cartridge World is an ink cartridge franchise.

The core business at Cartridge World is in remanufacturing laser cartridges and refilling inkjet cartridges to meet this high demand. Cartridges are filled using high quality toners, components and inks. This is not only a cost effective approach (i.e. consumers save approximately 60% compared to the cost of a new cartridge) but also an environmentally friendly method. In 2000, seven million laser printer cartridges and 40 million inkjet cartridges ended up in the UK. These cartridges take more than 450 years to decay.

In February 2001, Cartridge World opened its first UK store in North Yorkshire in Harrogate. Now Cartridge World has more than 250 stores functioning across the UK. Cartridge World has also been opened in more than 63 countries such as Singapore, USA and Australia.

After taking the decision to become a franchisee, individuals are often confused when selecting a market to operate in. Hence it is wise to select a business that still has a high demand or is enjoying an increasing demand which can last for a longer duration. The Local Bookkeeper franchise is the best example of a business that is experiencing high demand even during recession. The main aim of this franchise is to help small to medium sized businesses manage their finances in a better way. These days, small and medium sized businesses need better management for their finances in the form of professional financial help since banks are limiting facilities for small and medium sized businesses.

Business finances are taken care of by The Local Bookkeeper by providing a value based and highly professional financial management service. These services include management accounts, bookkeeping, payroll services and a credit control service.

Paul Dawson worked as an account manager for a law firm but realised that his job was not too challenging. He was looking for an opportunity and finally decided to join The Bookkeeper since he was impressed with their franchise’s values and philosophy.

The franchisees receive constant support from The Local Bookkeeper to overcome their problems.

In 1970, The Equal Pay Act was approved in a bid to settle the gender related pay gap. Now in 2008, research shows that the pay gap situation is still not solved. Women continue to fight for equality in the workplace.

According to the TUC, The Trades Union Congress, in recent years the pay gap between men and women has narrowed, but it is noticeable that men are earning nearly 17.2% more that women when holding the same position in a firm. It was calculated by Equal Opportunities Commission that an average woman, working full time, loses approximately £333,000 in her entire lifetime due to the gender pay gap.

Therefore, women are becoming self-employed in order to secure their futures and control their finances. Franchising is an excellent route for women who need a position that fits around family commitments. Being their own boss will help women to work at flexible hours convenient to them. They can also enhance their skills and utilise their experience.

Prokill offers a specialised pest prevention service to the industrial, commercial, agricultural, marine and private sectors. They are well experienced in treating all types of arachnid species, insects and rodents. Their consultants are also highly trained to specialise in bird control.

Prokill as a company is at the forefront of treatment and baiting techniques. They not only provide technical support but also provide measures such as proactive pest prevention, government legislation, housekeeping and health and safety.

Franchising opportunity with Prokill

Franchising with Prokill is an ideal opportunity as they motivate you and make you confident enough to step into the market to be a secure, strong and a profitable business.

Possibly you will be functioning in the healthiest marketplace. Your operating place will be your territory. Due to ever growing EU and government legislative with regards to health and safety, the business of pest control is continuously expanding.

Being a Prokill franchise, you will provide a discreet and welcome service to your clients. You do not need to get involved in hard selling practices since you will be welcomed by your local customers. The Prokill franchise is definitely an enjoyable business and provides you with enough work from residential household to national household.

Dave Brough is the owner of an Apollo Blinds franchise shop in Pwllheli, North Wales. Initially he used to work with Apollo Blinds. After his school days, Dave started working in an Apollo Blinds showroom owned by his uncle. Later, he started working with another franchise and managed three showrooms in Merseyside and Cheshire.

Just growing up with Apollo Blinds is not the reason behind his success in owning a franchise business. The secrets behind his success are his skills, personality and his relationship with customers. Dave not only gives the customer an opportunity to see the entire range of products but also helps them to find an ideal product for their home.

According to Dave, selling window blinds is the greatest secret to being successful. Success in this field is all about offering the customer with the best environment, giving them choices and most importantly listening to them.

Dave noticed that a lot of customers wanted to purchase something else and ended up purchasing altogether different products due to the salesperson. Hence it is very important to know the needs and taste of the customer.

Dave had a pleasant experience working with Apollo Blinds due to their excellent support and ever improving brand recognition.

These days people engaged with any industry are getting nervous due to the recession. IT industries are no exception to this. In fact, some IT professionals might be feeling a higher sense of fear compared to people engaged in other industries.

A couple of tips will help you to keep your IT business on the way to success and make it highly recession resistant.

• Give attention to non-technical skills: Good customer service is the key to positioning a business for post recession business opportunities and for getting through a recession. A technician of a franchise must be able to install hardware enhancements and correct computer malfunctions with speed and skill. This work should be performed with a courteous smile and a personable demeanour to be outstanding in the client’s eye.

• Concentrate on lower level jobs: According to some IT students and professionals, there are few jobs which should be outsourced. It is cheaper to have an in house technician rather than hiring outside consultation.

NXO is a franchised network of strategic marketing consultancies that deals within the whole of the UK. This franchise network was developed out of an existing agency that had a successful track record of twelve years. The agency has grown tremendously since then with outlets all over UK. NXO provides international brands with a full agency service at a strategic and tactical level. They do the same with public sector organisations and small to medium enterprises.

As NXO is the only strategic marketing franchise in the UK, they provide people with an unrivalled opportunity. In order to qualify for the conditions of NXO, people have to have marketing experience of at least 10 years, either through an agency or client-side that will enable them to not only set up but also run their own consultancy. NXO Creative Hub provides these consultancies with full support via marketing communication services.

The NXO strategic network also provides links between fellow franchisees. These franchisees have individual experience over a wide area. This not only helps provide an important support network, but also gives an opportunity for exciting and new collaborative projects. The NXO offering to their clients has an added value with marketing specialties and an exclusive pool of knowledge regarding industry sectors.

Kitchen and Bedroom Transformations (KABT) specialise in renovating bedrooms and kitchens. They are getting high demand from many customers hence they have decided to expand to provide a better customer service.

Many KABT franchises have had their personal best monthly sales over the last three months. In October, Oxford branch broke all records by making £85,000.

According to Michelle Peters, Director of KABT, people are renovating their homes instead of moving because of the current economic condition and its consequence on the housing market. It has been difficult to buy or sell property. Hence people prefer to continue to live in the same house while making some essential changes according to their lifestyle.

KABT franchisees specialise in the renovation of existing bedrooms and kitchens at very reasonable costs. This service offered by KABT helps customers to save 70% of their money which would have been spent if they purchased a new house. KABT are capable enough to supply, design as well as fit a complete new bedroom or kitchen at minimum price. KABT can provide whatever renovation the customer wants.

KABT is offering franchise opportunities for people who are able to manage a team and have good people skills. They also provide full support and training to the franchisee holder.

La Salsa Express can be found in colleges and universities, theme parks, food courts, casinos and airports. La Salsa’s approach is personal and it has a reputation of serving fresh and healthy food. This provides a consistent and unique experience to a wide range of customers. This leads to positive word-of-mouth and repetitive growth in business.

La Salsa first opened in 1979 as a chain of Mexican taquerias. They were restaurants in local neighbourhoods and the locals and gourmets would gather around to enjoy the specialty of the restaurant which was the soft tacos – an integral part of the identity of Mexican culture. Today, La Salsa operates and owns a chain of quick and casual restaurants that specialise in burritos, tacos and several other eatery items served in the authentic style of Mexico.

The success of the franchisees is the number one priority at La Salsa, along with the satisfaction of guests who visit the place for a dining experience. The franchise investor buys into a system and some of the support services you can receive as a La Salsa Franchisee are marketing support, management training, on-going operational support and restaurant opening support which all goes to making this franchise a big success.