Franchise Focus Business News…

With more people living longer, and pension incomes falling, the home care sector is an area that will see considerable growth in 2012 and coming years.

By 2030, over 15 million of the UK’s population will be over 65’s.

The home care industry will continue to grow for two categories of pensioners and retirees.

The Newly Retired

Over 65’s experience better health and quality of life today, than ever before. Many people who will retire at 65 are very active and healthy, and take on part-time work to boost their income.

Within the home care industry, there are opportunities for these Newly Retired to work as a home carer, calling to the houses of the sick and elderly for a few hours every week. Calling in on the elderly can involve preparing meals, helping with light cleaning and assisting with hygiene. This allows Newly Retired people an extra income in a flexible and fulfilling environment.

A survey conducted by Prudential Insurance entitled ‘Class of 2012′ has discovered that the income retirees of 2012 can expect has fallen by £3,100 since 2008 to a paltry £15,500 per year. One fifth of these people will live on £10,000 or less.

At the same time, pensioner expenditure has increased, leaving a “perfect storm” brewing for retirees, according to Vince Smith Hughes, the Prudential Retirement Income Expert.

“The impact of the credit crunch, banking crisis, recession and concerns over the eurozone, has been reflected in the fact that expected retirement income levels have hit a five year low”, he said.

The opportunity to work in the home care industry may be a possible incentive for those who want to continue some part-time work upon retirement. Over 65’s don’t have to pay tax or national insurance, and can keep all income along with their pension. If their state pension is under a comfortable level, they can defer their pension and pay ‘Top Up’ national insurance which will increase their pension when they decide to take it.

This year alone there are 22% more retirees than in 2011.

The Golden Aged

The average life expectancy of British women is 82.6 years and 78.4 years for men. For those who are a almost a generation older than the Newly Retired  (although unfortunately illness can strike at an age) care in the home is an option preferred to residential care homes, both personally and by families.

Emotionally, the bonds and ties the elderly have to their home and way of life have immense pull. The average cost of a single room in a residential care facility is £24,292 and in times of such economic hardship, many families cannot afford to pay for residential care for elderly relatives, even if they come to make this heart wrenching decision.

Care at home allows the elderly to retain some independence in the comfort of their own homes.

The home care industry offers a solution to concerns raised over Britain having and elderly population. For many Newly Retired, the realisation that they may not be able to give up work can be hard to face, but helping their older counterparts and working in their homes can provide a gentle transition and opportunity to keep earning.

If you are approaching retirement,and would like to operate your own home care business, we have a selection of home care franchise businesses, which can offer the guidance and support of an established and profitable business model and staff.

If you would like to start your own business, and want to invest in this growing industry, one that will continue growing within your own lifetime, a franchise can be the right model to get your business up and running.

Caremark Minimum Investment : £29,500

Everycare Minimum Investment : £30,000

Bluebird Care Minimum Investment £32,500

Surecare Minimum Investment £25,000

Abacus Care Minimum Investment £22,000

247 Professional Health Minimum Investment £15,000

Mumpreneurs

Maternity conditions have improved dramatically in the last two millennia, as has the role of the mother.

Many women are now choosing to open small businesses for some extra dosh (always handy at this time of year!) and a better work life balance.

With crèche costs becoming prohibitive for many who would return to the workplace, running  a business from home can be the perfect opportunity to avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

We’ve selected eight franchises which can be run from home on a part-time basis with low investment requirements, perfect for those would-be mumpreneurs out there.

With a franchise or business opportunity, the business has been proven to work for others, so you can get on with making money instead of trying to find and test out a new idea.

Highlight what skills you have and play to your strengths.

Mitchy Titch is a business providing yoga-based fun and fitness classes for babies and toddlers in children’s centres, nurseries and similar venues throughout the UK.

Big Local App is a dedicated local resource directory bringing together businesses, local news, events and information to provide real value to members of each of its edition areas in a way that national directories cannot.

Snak Appeal is a local franchise business opportunity in the charity sector providing a service to business and leisure premises with our quality sweets and snacks.  Dropping off and collecting the honesty boxes, you can fit this around the school run and take time off for the summer holidays.

Laser-It Technologies is an affordable, easy to operate with huge consumer demand. This unique franchise system uses cold laser technology to reduce wrinkles and eliminate body fat.

When The Music Stops If you can’t help but try and marry friends and family off, use your matchmaking skills to run a dating business organising fun events, online dating or both.

Link Telemarketing With this telemarketing business opportunity, your clients will be provided for you, leaving you to concentrate on running your own business successfully. All you need is a telephone and laptop!

Sing Your Name is a distributorship offering a wide range of hugely popular personalised children’s products unlike any other company in the world. Put a smile on someone’s face with story books and audio tapes

LCF Jazz Mataz is an educational music and fun club for children. It is both a social event for both parents and pre-schoolers and a programme using music, rhyme and song to enhance development.

View more home-based franchises

View more part-time franchises

View more children’s franchises

View more health and beauty franchises

Choosing to invest in a franchise business is one of the biggest steps you will take in your lifetime. Just as you know what you like when looking for a romantic partner, or what facilities you want when buying a new home it’s vital to know what ingredients to look for in the right franchise for you.

Mamma Mia!

The brand: It is more reassuring to commit to a brand that is widely known and which reputation is not in the process of being built. It is a bit like when you order a Margherita. When your plate comes, no surprises, you know what to expect on your pizza. But this does not mean that the least famous pizzas on the menu are not appetizing. The same goes for lesser-known franchises: they might be full of potential. For the latter, what matters is that the brand and the logo have to be catching and attractive and have to reflect the product or service of a franchise.

The concept: A concept which has proved itself may be less risky – when you invest money in it – than a new concept. However, some new concepts are worth franchising and selling worldwide. Let’s take the example of the Hawaiian pizza. According to the Pizza Marketing Quaterly, it’s the favourite pizza of the Australian. Pineapples on a pizza! This is something that would have shocked the most famous Italian pizza chefs of the beginning of the 20^th century. The concept has to be of good quality and has to be adapted to the needs of the market. You cannot put ham on pizzas sold in Muslim countries and you should always have a vegetarian pizza on your menu.

The type of industry: It is hard to choose a particular industry. Catering is an industry that has always worked well as far as franchising is concerned, but this doesn’t mean that all the franchised restaurants are successful. Most importantly, you have to choose an industry that you are interested in. You wouldn’t put anchovies on your pizza if you don’t like them!

The know-how: Generally passed on to the franchisee through training and the franchise manual. The know-how can make a difference between two franchises of the same industry. A pizzeria with a wooden oven will have a better reputation than a pizzeria with a regular oven. It is therefore essential this expert knowledge is passed down to the franchisee.

Experience: All of us can’t make good pizza dough, especially not without practice and experience. This is however not a handicap for a franchise to be new on the market. In this case, the experience of the franchisor in his field matters.

The size: Pizzas aren’t judged by their size, but by their taste. Little pizza does not mean bad pizza. The same goes for franchises: a small franchise does not necessarily mean it is a bad franchise.  It’s more important to focus on the development plans of a franchisor. It is better to invest in a small franchise with a big growth potential rather than in a non-viable big franchise.

The geographical location: A pizzeria will not be very profitable if it is surrounded by pizzerias that have been there longer and sell better pizza. The same goes for your franchise unit: you will not be able to develop it if you have too many competitors in your area. Make sure that the location of your franchise unit is adapted to the product or the service that you sell. Try to sell pizzas to a Massai tribe, and you might not be very successful.

Communication and transparency: Before buying a pizza, you want to know what its ingredients are. The same goes for franchises: you should want to know a maximum about the franchise you are interested in before buying a unit. It should not be a problem to get information from a good franchise.

Franchisees: The cheese on the pizza: committed franchisees! The biggest franchises would not be as famous without the hard work of its franchisees. All good franchises should have in their team hard-working committed franchisees ready to get their hands dirty.

Ingredients of the Franchise Direct special: tomato sauce, cheese, mushrooms, olives, artichokes, chorizo, ham, corn and seasoning oil.

Sometimes it’s good to do some digging around in the past. Meeting your boyfriend’s ex-wife at a party would be hailed foolish by many, but if you’re seriously considering starting your own franchise business one of the most valuable tools at your disposal is current franchisees.

Most franchisors will introduce you to some of their successful franchisees, or invite you on a tour of their premises, where you will get to ask question and see how things are done, although this might be ‘censored’.

We’ve put together some tips to learn the nitty gritty about the franchise business that may change your life.

• If you are invited on a tour with a current franchisee and the current franchisor comes along, try to come back later so the franchisee won’t feel under pressure to present a perfect image of the business.
• Be aware that the frachisors may give bonuses to current franchisees that help get newbies on board, so try to figure out if they are being totally truthful.
• The more franchisees you talk to, the better the information you will get.
• If the franchisor supplies you with a small pool of contact details, get out the phone book and ring around other franchisees. Use Google to research what news and events the franchise has been involved in.
• Try to get in touch with a wide variety of franchisees, from the most successful, to the struggling. This way you can assess whether the business is flourishing or failing because of the business model or the franchisee themselves. Talk to the oldest franchises and the newest ones. The guy who is just scraping by six years in will be as valuable to talk to as the star new kid in town who has already broke his first million.
• Use your gut, and try to get a feeling for the motivations of the franchisees you talk to.

You should have your own questions for franchisees depending on which industry you’re investigating, but here is a checklist of must-ask things to quiz franchisees on:

It might be useful to rate these questions on a scale of one to ten:

1. Are you happy with how the business is working out? If not, what issues are affecting you?
2. How is your experience different from what you expected?
3. Have you made your initial investment back yet? Did it take longer than you thought?
4. How many hours a week do you work? Has this impacted on your personal life?
5. Was the training what you expected it to be? Was it intensive or tailored to your own needs and abilities?
6. Does the franchisor put any restrictions on products/services you can supply? How has this affected you?
7. How would you rate marketing and advertising? Does the franchisor do all you expected or they promised?
8. What support do you receive now? When problems have arisen how responsive was the franchisor?
9. What did it cost you to build and start the franchise? Were there any hidden costs?
10. What are the best and worst moments since you started?

If the average score of the franchise interviews is coming in at more than five out of ten, it could be an indication that this could be the right franchise for you!!

Ever wondered what happens when you discover a franchise opportunity on our site, get all tingely with excitement and submit an enquiry form?

You have already taken the first step on the path to being your own boss so congratulations!

Your Lead

We let the franchisor know you’re interested straight away, so they can take a look at your details, and see if you’re a suitable candidate. At this early stage, the information you provide about the amount you have to invest and the areas you are interested are important to let the franchisor know a little bit about you.

Contact You

When the franchisor gets your details, their next step will be to contact you, by the channels which you indicated. This could be a quick phone call or an email and will usually provide you with extra information about the opportunity. This initial contact is vital to ensure the franchisee, franchisor and the business itself suits all involved.

Face to Face

If both parties are still interested, the next step will usually be to meet in flesh and blood. A meeting may be arranged for a public location; you might be invited along to a discovery day or you may be invited to take a peek around head offices or another franchisees premises. Any additional information you receive about the company at this stages may be subject to a confidentiality agreement.

Evaluation and Research

At this stage, it’s import that you research the business model, the market and previous franchisees. The franchisor will assess you to make sure you’re the right person to take on as a franchisee, and offer you the opportunity to meet some franchisees.

The Agreeement

When both parties are confident about going ahead with the franchise, you will be provided with the franchise agreement. This is the contract which will set out the terms and conditions of your new business, and it will outline the rights and responsibilities of both parties. This can often be a very long document, and you will be given time to seek legal advice. You may have to pay a deposit to the franchisor at this stage, which may be non-refundable.

Financing

If you require lending assistance, either through the franchisor or a high street bank, you will have to arrange this finance, usually before the franchise agreement is signed. This may involve creating a business plan, and one or more meetings with a bank manager. Franchisors can usually provide support and documentation, or will attend any bank meetings with you. If you are using your savings, you may need to give your bank or building society notice that you intend to withdraw the funds.

Payment and Signature

Both you and the franchisor will sign the franchise agreement, and at this stage you will usually be expected to pay the the full licence fee (or a portion of it).

Congratulations, you are now officially a franchise business owner!

Training

The training provided can vary from franchise to franchise. It can last anywhere between a few days and a few months.

• Hands-on training where you are invited to an existing franchise location to learn the ropes.
• Residential training, where you will receive focused and concentrated training.
• Head office training, where you will attend head office to take part in a training programme.
• Trainer comes to you, where the franchisor will send a trainer to you for one-on-one training.
• A combination of the above, which may include classroom or hands-on learning.

The Launch

The franchisor will usually provide significant support to help you launch your business and get trading. This help may include advice on marketing and event-planning. Members from head office will usually attend, as well as local people, small business owners and even the media.

Your Own Boss

Once you’ve launched, you are officially your own boss, you’ve finally made it! As you are still learning at this early stage, the franchise team will be on hand to provide advice when needed, whilst giving you the space and freedom to get to work. You will usually be provided with guidelines and operations manuals, and you may be contractually obliged to use these.

Year One

After twelve months, the hardest graft has been done, but you’re not finished yet. You will be operating without the need for constant support from your franchisor, but they will be available to help you grow and expand your business. Many franchisees will have made their initial investment back by this stage. Many franchisees may be obliged to pay franchise fees and follow the outlined systems.

By now, you will be working the hours that suit you, and you as a successful franchisee!

Take a look at our success stories. It could be you this time next year!