With exclusive franchise territories being awarded every month, the ‘it’seeze’ promotional website has been given a make over to show case its unique features which clearly differentiate it from the ’also-rans’.

With a slick new design, easy navigation and national brand imagery, the new ‘it’seeze’ site really does show off to potential businesses what an ‘it’seeze’ consultant has to offer. Not only relying on its fantastic design, the new website also incorporates case studies, an overview of industries in our client list, ‘how to’ guides, testimonials and a free resources section to make it a useful and effective selling tool for franchise owners.

As well as the national ‘it’seeze’ website being upgraded, the local franchise sites have been given the same make over to ensure the quality of the brand image is consistent throughout the group.

This is what just a hand full of our franchise owners have to say:

‘What a lovely job. Well chuffed with it. Big pat on the back for all who worked on it!’ – Steve Elliott

‘By the way absolutely love the new marketing sites…a real step forward that will make our selling much more effective…well done all concerned.’ – Jonny Kirk

‘This is a vast improvement and I love the new design, please pass my thanks to all that have been involved.

Great work, gives us a more competitive edge and a much more professional look.’ – Ian Stoney

‘Please thank the whole it’seeze team, the new updated sites look amazing’ – Michael Wheatle

‘They are a big improvement on the last ones, thanks!’ – Jim Thomas

Take a look for yourself by reading more about the Spoton.net franchise.

Franchising can be really beneficial to a huge range of people. At the moment, more and more people are considering franchising after they have been made redundant.

Having been made redundant, most people don’t want to risk starting their own business as there is quite a high chance of failure and losing money. With franchising though, the chances of success are much higher and it’s easy to use your skills from your previous job to get a franchise going.

Women and men with children also benefit from getting involved in franchising. That is because franchise opportunities are really flexible and parents are able to organise their work around their personal lives.

Another set of people that can benefit from franchise opportunities are recent graduates. People who have just left college or university have plenty of skills to offer a business. But of course, they may not have the finance or the confidence to start up their own business. And that is where franchising comes in. When you get involved with a franchise, you have the support and backing of the franchisor and this can be really comforting and helpful.

Franchising can suit a huge spectrum of people from a variety of backgrounds. There are so many advantages to becoming a franchisee and that is why so many people are choosing the form of business to get involved with.

Franchising appeals to different people for a variety of reasons. For Gavin Teasdale, who runs Autovaletdirect in Wakefield, it was the amount of support that came with franchising that attracted him to the prospect. He liked the idea that, as a franchisee, you could rely on the franchisor for backing and support every step of the way.

Gavin was also attracted to franchising because of the fact that there was already an established brand name to work with. Customers already knew that the company could be relied upon and that it did the job effectively, so Gavin did not have to build up a reputation on his own.

Having been a retail manager for 20 years, Gavin had a lot of skills to transfer over to his franchising job. But to get him up to scratch, he also benefitted from two weeks of training from his franchisor as well as other franchisees.

Gavin points out that there are certain risks associated with beginning a franchise, but that the benefits of it really outweigh these.

He is really enjoying his adventure with Autovaletdirect and is looking forward to developing to even further by building up a regular customer base.

Deciding to get involved in franchising is easy. It’s what comes next that’s the difficult bit. It is well known that with franchising, the risks are fewer than with starting your own business from scratch. But there are certain things you can do to ensure success for your franchise.

The first step to ensuring that your franchise is a success is ensuring that it is legally protected. The franchise agreement details the terms and conditions of the franchise, listing the rights too and this means that you have everything down in a legal document.

You should always make the most of the support offered by your franchisor. Remember that they are experienced in this and can therefore offer you specific advice and help with any decisions you have to make.
At the beginning of your franchise venture, you may need help and support on a regular basis, but you will find that the need for help from your franchisor will decrease as you become more experienced.

Once you are established, you should look at expanding your business. Don’t feel as though you are restricted as you could even invest in multiple franchises in order to grow within your business.

Becoming a franchisee is what you make it. So take the opportunity and really get everything you can from it. Then you are certain to find the experience extremely rewarding.

Franchises are considered as one of the most successful business methods available today. But it is beneficial for you to get acquainted with the different features of franchising before arriving at a decision. Here are some of the different types of franchising methods you can choose from.

Retail franchise:

A retail franchise is basically a store in which customers walk in to purchase a product or service. Food retail outlets or fashion boutiques are examples of this. Location plays an important role in the success of any retail franchise. These franchises are operational for stipulated working hours. Skilled sales-staff play an important role in the success of such franchises.

Management franchise:

In this franchise, the employees sell the products that are offered. The office site or functional premise is not necessarily situated in a shopping mall. A parcel delivery firm or a hire-a-car service is an example of this particular type of franchise. In a management franchise, the business is managed from different depots or regions.

Single operator franchise:

As the name suggests, this franchise involves a single individual. However, the individual can later hire additional employees if the business progresses. Security and cleaning services are examples of a single operator franchise.

Executive franchise:

An executive franchise is basically a consultancy firm. It usually involves a financial service. Accountancy or cost management are some common examples of executive franchise.

Therefore, budding businessmen should select a franchising type that meets their requirements aptly.

When Sam Giddy initially saw unemployment looming, he considered it as the perfect opportunity to realise his dream of running his own business. After three months, along with his wife Runa, Sam is all set to open Recognition Express Birmingham Tamworth. It specialises in providing an extensive range of personalised clothing, badges, promotional giveaways, branded products and simply anything that you can put your logo on.

Sam will be running his business full-time and his wife Runa will initially help him by working on a part-time basis, while caring for their 3 year old twins, Ria and Arun. Sam said that they wanted to operate a business that both of them would enjoy working in. After looking at franchise opportunities, they thought that it would be an ideal option for them. Being less risky, they would eventually have more support and hopefully, more chance of success.

Sam has been working in Birmingham for almost his entire life. He was initially working as a self-employed IT contractor with an engineering consultancy for a period of 9 years. Runa used to work as an accounts assistant with one of the major pharmaceutical companies in Coventry. She will also be handling networking as well as the business accounts for their franchise.

When the couple came across Recognition Express, Europe’s leading supplier of branded clothing, promotional products and corporate gifts, they felt very comfortable with the concept of running their individual Recognition Express franchise. The couple will initially be running their business from their home but will eventually take their own property in Birmingham.

It’s amazing how quick a franchise can grow. With the successful franchisor’s backing, support and training, it’s very easy to build up a successful franchise and very often, this franchise will grwo and expand at a fast rate.

That’s certainly been the case with Molly Maid, which is a domestic cleaning franchise. This franchisor has recently signed six new franchise deals in America.

The success of this particular cleaning franchise is all down to the fact that more and more people are now relying on professionals to complete their household cleaning. Most people have to go out to work and usually have hectic lifestyles outside of work too. This leads to very little time being left over for the cleaning.

Franchises such as Molly Maid are perfect for this. They provide professional cleaning services performed with professional equipment which is exactly what people are looking for.

The franchise owners at Molly Maid are always really carefully selected so that they meet the standards and the criteria of the franchise and that is why it continues to provide a quality service.

It’s the perfect example as to why it’s always important to ensure that you match your skills and your interests to the franchise that you choose.

It’s a highly recognisable brand name and the logo is seen all over the world. And it seems that Burger King’s marketing campaign continues to soar as the franchise has seen huge success with its Bluetooth advertising campaign.

There was recently a trail of the Bluetooth campaign for Burger King at Luton Airport and this resulted in 2265 people downloading the offer sent to their phone from a billboard in the check in lounge.

It was decided to try to use Bluetooth to attract customers to a franchise which was difficult to find and tucked away in the airport. The Bluetooth offer was sent to 20,000 people who passed by and 2265 of those downloaded the offer.

This was a trial to see how effective using Bluetooth marketing would be and it was used in conjunction with newspaper and television marketing campaigns.

Having seen the success of this campaign, it is thought that it won’t be long before other franchises use this technology too. As technology progresses, there is a constant need to update the way in which franchises communicate with their potential customers. And it looks as though Bluetooth technology could be one way forward.

Franchise opportunities are becoming increasingly popular with youngsters who are looking for a way to get a successful career going when they leave college or university.

One example of this comes from 25 year old Gemma Field. When she left school, she had a feeling that she might want to get into catering or hospitality, but she never expected to take on a franchise.

She now oversees a group of shops within one of the UK’s fastest growing sandwich chain, Baguette Express.
The youngster manages a busy branch of the store in Glasgow but to add to this, she is also helping to develop and train two new stores in Harlow and Camden in London.

Gemma studied travel and tourism at college and worked as a waitress when she left. She planned on working her way up from being a waitress but she was introduced to a Baguette Express franchisee called Amjid Bashir.
He saw her drive and determination and immediately made her a supervisor, giving her plenty of responsibility. She was given two weeks of training and then opened the Queen Street store in Glasgow.

She was quickly promoted to manager and asked to help out with the openings of some of the new London stores.

It’s been a fast learning curve for Gemma, but one that she has really enjoyed every minute of.

Once you have decided to get involved in franchising, you need to ensure that you consider your options very carefully. It’s a big decision to make, so you need to ensure that you choose the right franchise opportunity for you.

The first thing to do is to check that the franchise you are considering is established and is successful and not under any threat. Consider whether the market for the products or services offered by the franchise are improving, decreasing or staying the same. If there is a decrease in demand for the product or service the franchise is offering, then you may wish to re-consider your choice.

Make sure that you look at the competitors to the franchise that you are considering. Consider whether the franchise has any advantages over its competitors and what makes it stand out from the rest.

Consider the market that the product or service fits into and research where it is going. Take a look at the market within the area that you want to open your franchise and see how the products or services would fit in here.

Overall, it is worth carrying out a lot of research before you commit to anything because this could mean the difference between failure and success.