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Performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (to give it its proper title) are usually associated with up and coming Beckett wannabes, soul searching thespians and struggling comedians however this year’s festival is currently playing host to an interesting combination between stage and SME.
Rachel Bridge (pictured right), Sunday Time business journalist has brought her very own one woman show, entitled How to Make a Million Before Lunch, to Edinburgh this year in order to give budding entrepreneurs a quick tour through the ins and outs as well as the do’s and don’ts of starting their own business.
In an article in last week’s Sunday Times, Bridge explained her reason for doing the show, “Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur these days, thanks to shows such as Dragons’ Den, and the one thing I do know a lot about is entrepreneurs [...] what people really wanted to know was how successful entrepreneurs such as Simon Cowell and Peter Jones had managed to make it work, and how they themselves could make a fortune – ideally in the shortest possible time. I could tell them some short cuts so they didn’t get bogged down in the time-wasting stuff.”
If you’re in Edinburgh this week, you can catch Bridge at Pleasance Courtyard at 12.30 pm daily until Sunday, August 29th. If you won’t make it all the way up there, you can also get your hands on Bridge’s new book also entitled “How to Make a Million Before Lunch” from Virgin Books available on thesundaytimes.co.uk/bookshop. For more information on Rachel Bridge, visit her personal website: http://www.rachelbridge.com/
I decided to go back to basics with this blog post, and explain some basic franchising terms. So I got a little creative, and created this infographic which hopefully will explain franchising to those of you who are new to the industry. For more information on franchising, why not visit our franchise information centre?!
Some people think that franchisees are not entrepreneurs; however my fellow US blogger recently argued otherwise and I have to agree, investing in a franchise does not eliminate risk or nerves when it comes to starting and operating your own business.
Even though traditionally franchisees have a lower rate of business failure than unique businesses, that is not to say that franchise businesses cannot fail and the onus is on the individual franchisee to ensure that their business is able to compete to the highest standard. In fact, a lot more pressure can be on certain franchisees who have to meet certain targets as part of their franchise agreement.
That being said, when I say this video on AVC recently I was impressed by the video content but also intrigued by the discussion going on in the comment section about the nature of entrepreneurship. There are a lot of great opinions about what should influence your choice when deciding what kind of business you want to start, along with concerns about going it alone, away from the safety net of being an employee.
What are your views on working for yourself? Does anything scare you about becoming your own boss and starting your own business?
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.”
Who had ever heard of a vuvuzela before last week? Now it seems to be all that we can hear, even the players on the pitches during World Cup 2010 can’t hear each other plot their attack because of the almighty roar of the vuvuzela and when you look into the crowd there are vuvuzelas dotted everywhere – so where did they all come from? Someone somewhere has got to be making lots of money from the sale of the vuvuzela!
Today, the UK Premier League announced it would not be enforcing a ban on the vuvuzela during matches in the UK venues which means the instrument could very well be here to stay. Even though some have voiced concerns over the effect the instrument can have on hearing and others have complained of the nuisance it causes for players and referees, there are a number of entrepreneurs who are definitely very thankful and not in the least annoyed by the presence of South Africa’s most famous musical instrument.
Since the 2009 Confederations Cup which was also held in South Africa, the vuvuzela has grown in popularity as a supporters call at matches. The Times Live writes:
“The ubiquitous plastic trumpet, embraced as an emblem of the World Cup by South Africans and visitors alike, sells for between R20 for a simple Chinese import and R60 for a more contoured instrument, produced locally. ”Our vuvuzelas have the purest sound and they are the easiest to blow. A two-year-old could play it,” said Cape Town-based Neil van Schalkwyk, who claims he developed the vuvuzela seven years ago. Sales have grown from 500 a month to 50,000.”
That’s a pretty impressive increase in sales, even with the influx of the World Cup spectators. The sale of vuvuzelas has really been a retailer’s dream, with more and more producers creating merchandising options for teams and businesses to emblazon their logo or crest on to a suitably coloured vuvuzela – wouldn’t we just love a nice blue one with the Franchise Direct logo along the side!! Merchandising is something which can really boost brand prominence and is a great way to get your name out there. Emblazoning a business’ name onto a vuvuzela won’t necessarily help if they’re being handed out at a dignified business conference – unless you think the clients would be into “that kind of thing”, however personalised pens, sticky notepads and other office stationery can often be a welcome gift for clients and will mean that a business’ name stays on their desk all day long…each time they go to write a sticky note, the business name can be what they see on the top of the page!
So if you think you may like to sell personalised vuvuzelas, or maybe just settle for personalised pens, take a closer look at some merchandising franchise opportunities available on the UK market today. Here’s a video on how to play a vuvuzela - maybe turn the speakers down!
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Rachel Bridge (pictured right), Sunday Time business journalist has brought her very own one woman show, entitled How to Make a Million Before Lunch, to Edinburgh this year in order to give budding entrepreneurs a quick tour through the ins and outs as well as the do’s and don’ts of starting their own business.
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