As the UK moves away from economic meltdown towards recovery, the franchisors that excelled, innovated and succeeded under financial pressure are being put forward to go to the industry awards for franchising. The BFA and HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards 2010, backed by Express Newspapers, is welcoming inspiring stories of success and examples of brilliance from franchisors who have conquered the odds in the past year.

Presently celebrating its 21st year, the awards identify and celebrate the best in franchising. The year 2010 seems to be more exciting than ever, as competing franchisors will be demonstrating how they rose to the challenge of securing, growing and managing a franchise network during the recession period.

For the award winners, the honour not only crowns them the best in industry for suppliers, customers and potential franchisees, but also offers a welcome opportunity to inspire franchisees and staff, through recognising their hard work.

Countrywide Ground Maintenance, 2009 Gold Winners, said that it was an honour to win the BFA Franchisor of the Year Award. It is also evidence of the dedication and hard work of the franchisees and the head office support staff.

Applications are invited for three awards, namely, the Express Newspapers Brand Builder of the Year Award, the HSBC Franchisee Support Award and the BFA & HSBC Franchisor of the Year Award backed by Express Newspapers.

HSBC’s Head of Franchising, Cathryn Hayes said that as we move into recovery, it is now time for businesses to make sure they are well placed to thrive and survive.

John Davidson, a businessman with 47 years of experience in the finance industry, has recently bought a CityLocal franchise. He is now launching CityLocal Tunbridge Wells which will help in lifting the profile of local businesses. In addition, it will also help them be in touch with the customers and local public.

CityLocal is a community platform which works online and has recently been awarded the company of the year title by Business and Industry Today.

CityLocal is offering optimised profiles for all local businesses. They are giving them an opportunity to be found easily on the internet. CityLocal helps local businesses to stand against competitors.

New franchisee, John Davidson, understands that the market has been more competitive. Many businesses are willing to spend money to obtain visibility in the market. Now, local businesses can easily gain web presence in the market at reasonable prices.

John is all set to spend time helping local businesses which have been facing many challenges of late.

As a part of focusing on England’s future social care, experts from the industry recently interviewed the director of the UK’s popular care at home franchiser, Bluebird Care. Simon Dalziel joined other experts as BBC Newsnight put England’s social care under the spotlight. The feature examined the various issues that future governments will face in financing care for older people.

During the interview, Mr Dalziel pointed out the increasing pressures that are faced by NHS primary care trusts and social service departments. He also highlighted the subsequent challenges that private care-at-home providers are facing. These, he said, are making it difficult to offer affordable first-class service to individuals and the public sector.

BBC Newsnight featured one of the customers of the care-at-home franchise. The customer, who was a former wartime pilot and successful engineer, was shown getting one-on-one care from an employee at Bluebird Care.

The daughter of the former pilot told the BBC that the service provided by Bluebird Care was perfect for her father. The franchise company has given him two care workers who are with him most of the day. They provide practical support, food that he likes and company. At the same time they help him maintain independence in the comfort of his home.

UK’s leading signs and graphics franchising company, Signs Express, recently teamed up with Sheffield Forgemasters, global engineers, to show support for Jessica Ennis. Both Sheffield-based businesses decided to honour the leading sportswoman by stretching a banner across the Sheffield Forgemasters’ Brightside Lane foot bridge.

The banner announces Jessica as the Sheffield Forgemasters International Personality of the Year. The heptathlete who won gold at last year’s World Championships recently broke the British record in the 60m hurdles. Following her success in the 2009 World Championships and shortlisting for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Award, both businesses wanted to publicise the achievements of the local sports star.

Signs Express was more than glad to provide its long standing customer, Sheffield Forgemasters, with the huge banner free of cost so that it could be positioned at a high traffic place. In the build up to the 2012 Olympics that will be held in London, the steel and engineering company has a local workforce that is committed to supporting Jessica Ennis.

Carol Morris, owner of Signs Express, said that they were very excited to be part of the production and installation of the banner. She is sure that the size and position of the banner will gain a lot of attention.

Ian Fidge, one time management consultant, has deemed the opening of his latest Ovenclean franchise a ‘spectacular success’.

Ian said that after launching he was booked solid for the next three weeks and his phone was just ringing thereafter. He really did not expect his business to take off so quickly. This is the reason he is extremely pleased. Initially, Ian looked for business-to-business franchises that suited his background and experience. However, Ian said that all those looked very complex and sometimes he was unable to see how he could make money.

By comparison, Ovenclean provided a simple business model and a strong and well-known brand name. It also seemed to have the best package, products and a massive potential marketplace. Ian said he could easily recognise how he could make good money from the job.

Ever since the impressive launch of his franchise, Ian has never looked back. Ian also said that he now has a better lifestyle with more flexibility and control, along with tremendous job satisfaction and growing income.

Ovenclean is one of the longest established and most successful household oven cleaning franchises in the UK. It offers a specialist oven cleaning service to a huge and virtually untapped marketplace. Due to the above reasons, Ian Fidge chose to work with the Ovenclean franchise.

The Maid2Clean franchise has come up with a new online marketing resource for all its franchisees. This is a unique method of marketing which is offered to the franchisees at no cost.

Franchise Connect, a print shop, helps franchisors design marketing tools. They have helped Maid2Clean with the online marketing resource. All the franchisees can get access to the website with the help of their user ID and password.

The franchisees can make use of the Maid2Clean online tools while ordering marketing, advertising, web services, print and other materials. This portal has been specifically designed in such a way that it offers convenience, security and also quick service to the franchisees.

One of the best things about the Maid2Clean portal is that it guarantees the franchisees will receive the products on time. In addition to this, the online tools also offer a satisfying shopping experience.

Moreover, Franchise Connect also provides a helpline for Maid2Clean franchisees which will help in supplying the goods which are listed in the portal.

All the Maid2Clean franchisees will now have access to a wide range of products through this online resource.

At present, you will find that the franchising industry is booming in the UK as greater numbers of people are investing in franchise outlets over self-owned businesses. This is because franchising involves less investment and a low amount of risk. At the time of investing, you need to make sure that you are going with a proper working plan and a marketable product.

In addition to this, before investing, you also need to know more details about the franchise so that you can run the business successfully. Once you have purchased a franchise then you have to do lot of work to earn more profit. As a franchisee, you have to run the business and sell the products under the franchisor’s trade name. For this, you need to pay some amount of money or fees to the franchisor.

Why purchasing a franchise store is beneficial

When compared to other types of businesses, franchising is the easiest and it offers a higher percentage of success than others. One of the best things about franchising is that the customers already know about the existing products and services, so there is not a major requirement to focus on advertising and making the products or services familiar in the eyes of the public. In addition to this, the franchisees are also benefited by training, financial assistance, managing guidance and marketing plans.

Other than this, the franchisor or the owner of the company will also help in advertising the products or services nationally. Most of the franchisors have a nationwide advertisement campaign which will help in increasing your sales to some extent. This will also help the franchisors earn extra profit. Thus, through franchising, both the franchisees and the franchisor are benefited.

Investing in self-owned business is a good idea but most of the time, it is very risky. This is because it involves large amounts of money and there is no guarantee that the customers will buy newly launched products. This is not the case with franchising, as it involves less risk and there are more chances of success.

If you are planning to invest some money and want to earn quick profits then go for franchising. Once you have purchased a franchise outlet from the franchisor then you can proceed with the business activities under the franchisor’s trade name.

After paying fees to the franchisor, he/she will offer you with various benefits. This includes training for running the business smoothly. In addition to this, the franchisors also provide assistance with accounting, marketing strategies, customer base and other details about the company and products.

Why franchising is the right option

In the process of training, the franchisor will help you with all the important plans and business ideas. This will help you to make some more profit by increasing sales. One of the best things about franchising is that you do not have to spend on advertising, as the franchisor will take care of advertising campaigns.

In the case of self-owned businesses, you might take longer than two years to establish your brand name in the market. With franchising, the company is already known in the market.

Lastly, the franchisors also offer assistance in day-to-day business, as it will ultimately help the company to increase its market share to a great extent.

Many individuals are looking for ways through which they can meet their financial goals in business. A good number are opting for franchise opportunities.

Some of the most popular franchise sectors are known to be the retail sector, the fast food sector, restaurants, real estate etc.

Cost – One of the essential things you need to look into is the cost you will incur when starting up your franchise. You do not have to worry about the finances, as you can get a loan from the bank or get sufficient help from franchise associations.

Time – Apart from the cost, you need to take into consideration the period of time it will take you to run the franchise business. Most people wish to start up a franchise business just to get away from the confines of a nine to five job. A franchise is very flexible and lets you divide your time as you see fit.

Compensation – This is something that you have to carefully and attentively look into while you research franchise opportunities. Find out the period of time it will take the average person to bring in profit with the franchise. Most franchises tend to take at least two to three years to bring back the initial investment.

It does not matter which type of franchise you opt for, it is necessary to carry out a bit of research.

At present, there are many people who are buying a franchise rather than starting their own business. If you want to invest and you are expecting good returns then make sure that you buy a franchise outlet. By paying a specific amount of fees, you can run a business under the trade name of the franchisor.

In addition to this, you will also get the format of the parent company which means that you come to know about it and its products and services. One of the best things about franchising is that you will always find the franchisor by your side for assistance. This way you can run the business smoothly.

How franchisors help the franchisees

Other than providing the trade name, the franchisor also provides training to you and your employees. This helps you to conduct business activities smoothly and attract new customers easily. In addition to this, the franchisor also offers you help in finding a location to open an outlet. Moreover, they will provide you with accounts, marketing strategies and a customer base, which will help you in selling the products properly. Sometimes, the franchisor also offers help through a website, newsletters, free phone numbers and exhibitions or seminars.

If you are still wondering whether franchising is the right option or not then you need to know that with franchising, you can easily get associated with established companies. This means that you do not have to spend any extra money on advertising, as the franchisor will take care of the promotion.