Franchise Focus Business News…

I know I know, Halloween is only over and we’re already being bombarded with Christmas adverts. Each year, those Christmas jingles seem to begin their hum earlier and earlier, however for small business owners, and especially potential new business owners, now is the time to think about the New Year.

The New Year offers enormous potential business for a significant numbers of businesses. For example, calls to the NHS Smoking helpline can rise up to sixfold over New Years, which means that a significant amount of people across the UK seek help quitting smoking each New Year. So, if you are thinking of starting your own business helping others to quit nicotine or even those who wish to improve their fitness, you should starting researching health franchises, and fitness franchises.

Franchise Direct currently features a number of franchises which help individuals quit smoking and also franchises which help people manage their weight and fitness. With 8 weeks to go until the New Year, you may or may not be up and running by the New Year, but now is a good time to consider starting a health improvement franchise for more reasons than New Years. With the smoking ban on businesses across the UK and the credit crunch, many smokers across the UK are more and more attracted to the idea of quitting to save money and to escape the cold smoking areas outside the pub!

Christmas can also be a “calorific” time for all of us, and weight management franchisees will undoubtedly see a rise in business in early 2010, as we all try to work off that second helping of plum pudding!

So, why not start 2010 off to a healthy start for both your career and the UK population with a health management franchise opportunity.

Watch Results4U’s franchise video below to get your entrepreneurial tastebuds going for a fitness franchise in 2010! Happy Franchising!

Last week, head of German sales for Franchise Direkt, our German franchise portal, Patrick Marschner was a very nervous Franchise Directee indeed!

On Saturday last, Patrick married the love of his life - Emer Magee. Patrick hails from Frankfurt in Germany and Emer is from Rahtfarnham in Dublin. The couple were married in Trinity College, where Emer attended university, and celebrated afterwards in the O’Callaghan Alexandra hotel in Dublin city.

The couple enjoyed a wonderful day with all their family, friends and of course some of the Franchise Direct team. Patrick and Emer now embark on a honeymoon in Italy and everyone in Franchise Direct would like to wish the couple an enjoyable holiday and also a wonderful and happy life together.

Franchise Direct’s summer campaign, aptly named the Recession Buster campaign, has gained momentum with more and more franchises committing to a special offer on their franchise opportunities.

The campaign is designed to increase the availability of real career alternatives in individuals across the UK facing the harsh realities of the economic downturn. With unemployment exceeding the 2 million mark, and expectations that this figure could reach 3 million by the end of the year; the outlook for the UK labour market is grim.

However, much is being done to encourage a stimulus among small business start ups. Along with the launch of Business Link, a comprehensive online resource for businesses, the government has rushed schemes into place to help ease the burdens on small businesses, such as the Prompt Payment Code, Capital for Enterprise Fund and HM Revenue and Custom’s Business Payment Support Services.

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.

There are over 50 franchises offering discounts and special offers on Franchise Direct’s Recession Buster campaign, which lasts until the end of August 2009. The offers include a variety of financing options to help ease cash flow during the start up months of the franchisee’s new business, as well as discounts on the business start up costs and extra equipment in the initial start up package. Some have even done away with their ongoing franchise fees.

Some of the franchises who are offering a discount include debt management franchise – Money Smart Solutions, the David Ross Acting Academy franchise, and the UK’s biggest mobile coffee franchise – Cafe2U.

Franchise Direct’s Director Sean McGarry has expressed his pleasure with the success of the Recession Buster Campaign, saying “We believe that this Campaign has encouraged more and more franchisors to be proactive in offering real career and business opportunities to individuals across the UK and Ireland, and we hope the Campaign will help stimulate small business start up”.

In this week’s Franchise Update, we are reporting on positive news from Barclay’s as well as a new government fund for technology business start ups.

Click here to download this week’s Franchise Update, or watch in the player below:

Barclay’s has issued a report which states that small businesses are most likely to benefit from market contraction. The report found that small to medium size enterprises in the beginning of their life cycle stand to benefit most from government stimulus deals and interest rates and Barclays now believe that there is a real opportunity for entrepreneurs and SMEs in the latter half of 2009. To find out more about starting your own business – why not browse through Franchise Direct’s directory of franchise opportunities.

The government has announced a new fund of £150 million for technology business starts ups. The UK Innovation Investment Fund has been set up in reaction to warnings from the technology industry that hundreds of UK technology companies could fail due to a lack of funding. To find out more, visit the Building Britain’s Future website.

Why are businesses which are falling short of the mark allowed to continue to operate – to the detriment of smaller businesses?

This has been on my mind for a while, and I am still annoyed that the Irish government has done little to protect small businesses in Ireland. At the very least, the British government have put in place a prompt payment scheme to help ease cash flow problems for small businesses during the economic slowdown.

With so many bigger businesses closing or nearing closure, not enough is being done to ensure that small businesses are receiving payments for goods or services provided to businesses nearing financial crisis.

A perfect example of this is the closure of Renard’s, the infamous Dublin nightclub owned by Dublin businessman Robbie Fox. Renard’s is the epitome of the rise and subsequent fall of the celtic tiger. The club was a regular watering hole for many of Dublin’s rich and famous. However, after the business along with its three sister businesses starting losing money heavily in the latter half of last year the owner of all four businesses – Robbie Fox finally called in the creditors at the start of June to announce their closure, a year after the businesses started going downhill.

The four businesses leave a staggering £6.6 million in debt owed to Mr Fox as well as the Revenue Commissioners and a host of small business service providers. The announcement is yet another blow for small businesses across the Republic and will have a knock on effect with those businesses now struggling to keep paying bills to their creditors.

The reckless attitude of larger businesses which are attempting to stay in business despite the odds is exemplified by Mr Fox’s comment that “maybe I should have closed Brown’s Barn earlier, but my attitude was that it was worth keeping open so long as the leasehold value was greater than what I owed” . With property value falling rapidly, it is hard to understand how Mr Fox was calculating the worth of the leasehold which, liquidator Gerry Murray reckons he will not be able to secure anything near the €150,000 value assigned to the leasehold. Hardly worth keeping open then and especially not for small business owners who are now “a couple of grand down” each and some maybe now facing closure themselves.

The failure of the Irish government to develop a prompt payment scheme similar to the UK indicates their continuing inability to protect small business owners. Maybe in a year’s time Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan may wake up and realise that something needs to be done.