Franchise Focus Business News…

The Subway Franchise aims to target 600 new stores in Britain and Ireland by 2015, creating about 6,000 new jobs.

There are currently 1,423 Subway stores in Britain, nearly a fivefold increase on the 2004 level, and 99 in Ireland.

“We find that no matter what country we’re in, if we hit the right economic notes and appeal to the mass market, we’re able to build the business very, very rapidly,” Subway’s president and founder Fred DeLuca told Reuters in an interview.

As well as traditional high street store development, the firm sees huge potential for non-traditional settings such as stations, convenience stores, hospitals, airports and petrol stations, mirroring a strategy being pursued by British baker Greggs, which currently trades from about 1,550 stores.

DeLuca said sales at British Subway stores open over a year were up 10 percent over the last 13 weeks.

Globally Subway has over 36,000 outlets in 98 countries from Afghanistan to Zambia. All stores are independently owned and operated by franchisees.

DeLuca dismissed the suggestion there was a danger the firm could reach overcapacity in Britain.

“Everybody eats three times a day; it’s only a question of where they choose to eat. The longer-term trends are people eat out more often,” he said.

“When we get to 2,000 stores, we’ll have about one store for every 30,000 people (in the UK). That’s actually quite low density for us. In the U.S. and Canada we have one store for every 12,000 people”

Will you be one of the 600 new stores in the UK and Ireland?

You can view Subway’s franchise opportunity.

Despite being faced with some challenges, the franchise sector has had cause for celebration on numerous occasions in the past year. Of these milestones, we’ve compiled a sample of them to illustrate the opportunity for success that is out there as we enter 2012, and continue climbing out of the current economic malaise.

Revive! has helped out on the music video for Charlie Simpson’s new single ‘Cemetery’. They are the country’s leading specialist in removing scuffs and scrapes, and they helped touch up the cars in the shoot.

The estimated value (in billions of pounds) of the UK franchise industry.

Number of years that Caremark home care staff member Patricia Hemper has been working in the home care industry.

Percentage of franchise units, including new businesses, that are profitable in the UK.

Number of schools across England, Wales and Scotland who sent entries in to Recognition Express annual Schools Road Safety competition. Recognition Express is the leading European franchise in promotional products, branded gifts and school uniforms.

The number of franchise systems in the UK in 2011.

Approximate current client base in the UK for Auditel, the largest cost and purchase management franchise.

The minimum investment of starting a 247 professional health franchise, a leader in the growing home care sector.

The number of franchise outlets in the UK.

The estimated number of people employed in franchising in the UK

The amount in Pounds that BCR Associates, cost reduction specialists, have saved their clients in 2011. Their hard work has meant that business have made large cost reductions and become more economical as a result.

If we could get our hands on all of our readers and franchisors, we would give you a big hug and smooch, mistletoe or no mistletoe.

But you might not like that, so we thought we’d wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and hope that you have a great time over the festive season and the new year.

Thank you for visiting us over the last year and we hope to see you again in January.

Love,

The Franchise Direct team

Need to russle up some capital to launch your franchising business? Here are our top eight tips for preparing to talk to investors.
Remember many banks, such as NatWest have special financing programmes for franchisees.  If you are looking to raise investment from private investors remember the following:

1. My, what a great figure! You need to know your profit projections, balance sheet and basically every figure and margin to do with your business proposal before you go anywhere near investors. Ensure that the numbers all add up, and get at least one or two mathematically-minded family members or friends, if not an accountant, to review them. Make sure you can explain that £1m projected turnover after three months.
2. Know Your Audience. Look into your investors’ pasts. Don’t drag any skeletons out of the cupboard or ex-husbands from under the patio, but see what they have invested in in the past. Research their career history and hobbies, ask around any friends in common you might have. Definitely Google them or look up local newspaper archives. If you can get inside their minds and tailor your delivery to them you have a far better chance of walking out the door with that all-important cheque.
3. First Impression You should go into every sales pitch as if it were your wedding day, with perfectly ironed clothes, clean and polished appearance and perfect manners (no, not hungover and nervous). Smile and act confidently, but avoid being cocky. Talk slowly and calmly.
4. The First Touch Give your investors something tangible. If your business will sell a certain product let the investors touch and play with it. At the end of the presentation give them print outs of your plan, but avoid too much detail.
5. Death by PowerPoint Not necessary to making a great sales pitch, this Microsoft muddler can hinder your pitch. Useful for graphics and diagrams, avoid for large bodies of text. If you must use text, stick to the 6 X 6 rule; no more than six bullet points per slide, and no more than six words per bullet point.
6. Short and Sweet Avoid sending your audience on the one-way express to Snoozeville, don’t waffle and keep your speech to the point, and concise. There must be a purpose to every single word you use. It might be helpful to write out your patter and see what excess waffle can be cut out.
7. Risk Averse All business ventures come with risks, so don’t bandy the term ‘risk-free’ around the boardroom table. Honestly acknowledge the risks, but reassure your investors to why YOUR business will be different, with facts, figures and statistics. Ensure you practice possible responses to questions investors may throw at you, like “Why has no one else invented a premixed salt and pepper mill?”
8. Front Load the good stuff You need to collar your audience’s attention like collaring a thief on the Bill. Grab their attention with the boldest statements, most unusual facts and mind blowing statistics. Follow the sales mantra AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action), that action being an autographed cheque from your investor.

The Dragon’s Den is a great example of how to and how not to pitch to potential investors, watch and learn!

According to Prof Roy Seaman, managing director of Norwich-based Franchise Development Services (FDS) “We are talking next year of creating 100,000 new jobs through franchises,” he said. “Franchises are a solid foundation with which companies can expand and new jobs can be created.

“We are looking at about 2,000 new franchises over the next five years which means by 2016 it will mean an extra 70,000 new businesses. That means 500,000 new jobs and that’s being totally realistic. What would happen if we could increase that by 10pc?”

Speaking to a group of bankers and UK Trade and Industry  officals over the weekend Prof Roy Seaman extolled the virtues  of using a tried and tested business model when starting a new business.

If the government accepts the recommendations, potential franchisees are set to receive even more support and recognition in an economy that urgently needs a boost in employment.

Currently franchises have shown to be more successful than ordinary start-ups in a number of areas.

According to the NatWest bfa franchising report 2010, franchises contribute over £12.4bn to the British economy annually, with more than 520,000 employed through franchises, with franchises employing more than 11 people.

With London and the South East getting the benefit of the highest number of franchises, and the highest number of franchises per population, there is great scape to expand this benefit to other areas of the UK suffering from high unemployment.

With insufficient capital cited as the number one roadblock facing potential franchisees from starting trading, any endorsement or encouragement the government could give to banks would help boost the industry.

Mark Scott, director of franchise development at NatWest, said all banks were eager to lend to franchisees, while a £100m fund set up by NatWest this year has already seen more than half of the funds drawn.

“We are definitely in this for the long-term, and we are very committed to the sector,” Mr Scott said.