Franchise Focus Business News…

Recently we carried out a survey amongst our visitors to get a better idea of who is visiting our site and what they are looking for. The results are now in, and we’ve had the chance to digest the results and get a good idea of who’s on our site.

Franchise Direct was started over 10 years ago and in that time, we’ve grown from a single site serving the US market to now host 8 international sites (with rumblings of even more sites) featuring franchise opportunities for the UK, US, Irish, French, German, Spanish, Canadian and European markets. We now have two offices – one Atlanta, Georgia for our US staff and one in Dublin, Ireland for our European operations staff, and even though we work hard all day bringing the latest information on franchise opportunities to our visitors, we rarely get the chance to speak with or meet our visitors.

So we decided that that was a bit rude of us, and we carried out a survey to find out more about who visits our site and what they are interested in when looking for a suitable franchise.

We got a great response to the survey, with almost 300 respondents (294 to be exact) and the results make for interesting reading.

Sometimes franchisors find it difficult to step back from the franchise they’ve been working on for many years and see exactly what makes their franchise a great opportunity to a franchisee, and also perhaps the parts which make it not so great. In this regard, the survey is very valuable for franchisors looking for the franchisee’s perspective on what’s important in a franchise and a franchise package.

For the novice franchisee, the survey is helpful to see how other franchisees evaluate franchises and get some ideas of what to look for in a suitable franchise. As anyone knows, deciding to invest in a franchise is a big decision and picking the right franchise for you an even bigger one. We highly recommend that potential franchisees have a look through the “What Franchisees Want In A Franchise” section to see how others asses franchise opportunities.

To read through the results, simply click on this link: http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/information/survey/225/ and explore the results and graphs to find out more about who is looking at franchises on Franchise Direct, and very importantly, what criteria they are using when looking at franchise opportunities.

From little acorns grow great oaks and this is true for many entrepreneurs. Many businesses are started from home as an experiment, a hobby, to satisfy a curiosity or as a serious business venture and grow from there. In fact, Apple was started in the garage of Steve Wozniack and grew from there to become one of the most recognised and revered brands in the world.

Starting a business part time from your own home can offer you the flexibility of starting small and growing from there without the worrying overheads of office rental and staffing and you retain the choice of remaining in secure employment whilst spending your free time on your new business.

Of the 300 franchise and business opportunities listed on Franchise Direct, exactly one half (150) of these opportunities offer the potential franchisee the option of operating the franchise part time.

It is a commonly held belief that part time franchising is also franchising for stay at home mums, but with such a wide variety of part time opportunities available, almost anyone can find a concept to suit them which they can operate part time.

With the property crash, the male population has been the most affected by increasing unemployment figures, and as a result, the franchise industry is looking towards providing opportunities suited towards the male saturated unemployed population. However, because of a lack of funding, starting a business can be a financially invalid option for many. Remaining in paid employment if possible and starting your own business part time is a very wise decision.

Part time franchising can also offer households with a much needed additional income during lean periods. There are many benefits to doing this including the added income, the chance to try out the market before going it alone on a full time basis, as well as your own growth as a business owner while the business is still small rather than diving in the deep end. In fact, some franchisors encourage new franchisees to begin their business on a part time business to easy cash flow during the difficult early months and then enter full time operation when the business has grown.

Examples of Part Time Franchises

As mentioned before, a huge number of franchises today offer part time options. Some of the more successful and “workable” part time franchises can be in retail distributorship, which can easily be worked in the evenings and at weekends, and for current business owners, taking on a distributorship relevant to your industry can add to your existing business, for example taking on the licence to carry out an exclusive hair removal method in your existing beauticians business.

Other viable part time franchises include kids’ party franchises can be operated at weekends and online business franchises which can be operated in the evenings and weekends.

With the obvious benefits of course comes the stress of working in paid employment as well as on a new business venture, however if the business grows to become an enormous success then it will all have been worth the while and if not? Part time franchising can often work out cheaper than full time so the initial investment at risk is a lot lower and you can fall back on your paid employment salary if needed.

To explore the options available to you in part time franchising, why not visit our directory of part time franchise opportunities.

Franchise Direct, the UK’s leading online portal of franchise opportunities, is excited to announce the launch of their Exclusive Franchise Direct UK Offers campaign. The campaign, exclusive to Franchise Direct, features discounts and special offers from some of the UK’s leading franchises, including APS Legal & Associates and Husse – the highly successful Swedish pet franchise.

The campaign has been established to encourage franchises to offer discounts to potential franchisees in the UK so that the level of new business start ups in the UK will increase. Unemployment levels rose in the first quarter of 2010, and it is clear that a stimulus is needed to spur more and more UK entrepreneurs into business. The campaign will last throughout the summer months and into late September and will feature discounted franchise opportunities from a diverse range of industries including business consultancy, web design, education and children’s fitness franchises.

During an economic low, franchise opportunities offer real career alternatives to individuals facing redundancy and unemployment. Working from a proven business model, under a recognisable brand, franchises have a higher success rate than independent small businesses. In conversation with Franchise Direct recently, chairperson of the International Franchise Association Dina Dwyer Owens described franchising as “the real economic stimulus plan”. Franchise Direct hopes that the summer campaign will enable more people to start their own business and keep the British economy working towards an economic recovery.

Speaking about the launch, Director of European Sales for Franchise Direct Brian Rogan said “we hope the campaign will make more people aware of the wide range of franchise opportunities available today. The discounted franchises for sale will offer individuals real opportunities to start their own business. Some franchises are offering two for one offers on their products, others are offering financing packages or reduced franchise start up fees.”

Budding entrepreneurs interested in browsing the directory of Exclusive Offers should visit the following link: http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/exclusiveoffers/

Franchise Direct, the UK’s leading online portal of franchise opportunities, is excited to announce the launch of their summer Recession Buster campaign.

The campaign, exclusive to Franchise Direct, features discounts and special offers from some of the UK’s leading franchises, including Guardian Financial Group and EnviroVent – the energy saving home improvements franchise, who recently won a Queen’s Award for Innovation.

The Recession Buster campaign has been established to encourage franchises to offer discounts to individuals in the UK so that the level of new business start ups in the UK will increase. The campaign will last from May 1st right through the summer until August 31st 2009 and will feature discounted franchise opportunities from a diverse range of industries including financial and accounting, home improvements, health and beauty and children’s fitness franchises.

During the economic recession, franchise opportunities offer real career alternatives to individuals facing redundancy and unemployment. Working from a proven business model, under a recognisable brand, franchises have a higher success rate than independent small businesses. In conversation with Franchise Direct recently, chairperson of the International Franchise Association Dina Dwyer Owens described franchising as “the real economic stimulus plan”. Franchise Direct hopes that the summer campaign will enable more people to start their own business and keep the British economy going.

Speaking about the launch, Director of European Sales for Franchise Direct Brian Rogan said “we hope the campaign will make more people aware of the wide range of franchise opportunities available today. The discounted franchises for sale will offer individuals real opportunities to start their own business. Some franchises are offering two for one offers on their products, others are offering financing packages or reduced franchise start up fees.”

Budding entrepreneurs interested in browsing the directory of Recession Buster Offers should visit the Recession Buster Directory.

If you have limited funds to invest in a franchise or business opportunity, you can always invest in a “low-cost franchise” opportunity.  One myth about low-cost franchises is you are not going get “your money’s worth” so you won’t get the best franchise available than if you had a larger sum to invest with. This is not true, what matters are your research objectives and how you investigate a low-cost franchise.

View the following list of criteria you should keep in mind when assessing a low cost franchise or business opportunity…

• What training and support does the franchise offer? A key element in the franchise package is the opportunity to avail of training and on-going support. It is vital your franchisor offers both to ensure the success of your franchise business.
• Has the franchisor been in business for long? How many franchisees are currently operating a franchise? First thing you should ask is how long the business has been running and if it is a relatively new franchised business, you should ask for proven results for the business system, so you know you are investing in a “new” business but with a model that has been tried and tested prior to franchising.
• Second thing you should ask is to speak to all existing franchisees. You don’t need to contact all of them, but it would be in your best interests to randomly select three to four franchisees and ask them their opinion on the franchise business… Although a franchise can advertise their business as “low cost,” they can incur hefty royalty fees to make up the price in the long term.

Make sure you know all prices involved from the start of your research - initial fee, royalty fee, liquid capital fee, etc. This will ensure you will not end up paying more than you thought at the beginning.

• Compare and contrast a low cost franchise with a high cost franchise competitor and assess why one franchise is cheaper to invest in than the other.
• Consider the package that is been offered, assess vital topics such as training, support, help with marketing and location if you are buying into a premises… always research a franchise with due diligence and understanding of the key elements involved within the franchise operation.

These steps will help ensure you are investing in a low-cost franchise that will legitimately get you the results and rewards you want!