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/

The main goal of Franchise Direct is to support franchisors in their search for suitable franchisees. Since the company was founded in 1998, our main goal has been to steadily increase the quality of our services for our clients and users. We are proud of the fact that over 1,000 clients are highly satisfied with our services, which proves that we are on the right track!

In order to be able to provide a wider range of information for our readers and customers, we are looking for interested guest-authors for our blog at:

http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/

Our readers’ expectations:

-    a high content of accessible information

-    text that is not overly complicated and easy to read

-    substantial information with a high degree of practical relevance

It is for those criteria that our editors read and approve every single article before we publish it on our blog. We only publish articles that provide substantial information on a topic that is of interest to our readers.

Perhaps you have recently read a book that provides interesting information on a relevant topic and would like to write a short review about it? We will be glad to publish your review on the book as one of our blog-posts.

Due to legal requirements, we have to inform you that the person who provides us with an article for publication has to be the holder of all copyrights (both texts and images) for all material that is related to the article. If your article complies with these requirements and we have decided to publish it in our blog, we will ask you to confirm the possession of all copyrights by email.

The publication of your article on our website is fully free of charge for you and for our readers.

In order to comply with our standards of quality, your basic layout of your article should follow some basic guidelines, such as:

I)    Your title:

Keep your title short but catchy. The reader should develop an interest in the main article just by reading the title. Please note: The higher the significance of your title, the more readers will be interested in reading your article.

II)    Introduction:

You should begin your article with a short paragraph at the beginning that serves as a short summary for the main content and the most important aspects. Use your introduction to lead your readers to the main content and to make them interested in reading on. The introduction should not be longer than 5-6 lines in total.

III)    Main body paragraph:

This is the core-paragraph of your article. Try and divide the single aspects into individual text-passages. In doing this, you will provide a clear structure that makes it easier for the reader to follow you all the way through. The use of subheadings can also help to structure your article.

IV)    Conclusion

Write a short summary of the most important aspects of your article. Should you plan a series of articles, you can also use this section for cross-references to previous or upcoming articles.

To make the reading of your article as captivating for your readers as possible, the overall-length of your article should not exceed 800 words. Should the topic you are working on require longer articles, you might want to plan it as a series of articles.

Here are two examples of the types of posts that we think are particularly interesting to our readers.

This guest blog post was written by our US Franchise Editor - Donald Cranford on his trip to India and the differences and similarities which he saw in the Indian franchise industry: http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/franchising-in-india-part-1-the-context/

This is an article which we recently published on up and coming young entrepreneurs in the UK and the schemes and support services put in place to help the UK’s young entrepreneurs: http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/the-young-entrepreneurs-of-the-y-generation/

If you want to, you can add a short paragraph to the end of the article. You can use it to introduce yourself or state some professional facts that our readers might be interested in (your job, your professional background etc.).

If you have an article that you like to publish on http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/, please email it to me at the following address: kate@franchisedirect.co.uk

We are looking forward to working with you.

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?

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/

Following controversy and negative media which resulted from a series of productions such as the SuperSize Me movie and the book - FastFood Nation, McDonald’s overhauled their image and menus. This has led to a number of other food franchises following suit including Domino’s Pizza, Subway and KFC. This hasn’t protected them from receiving criticism however. Michelin Star chef Anthony Bourdain has called McDonald’s “The Evil Empire” and has taken drastic measures to discourage his two and a half year old daughter against the franchise by demonising Ronald McDonald and is also threatening to “dip something decidedly unpleasant in an enticing chocolate coating and wrap it carefully in McDonald’s paper”, leaving this somewhere he knows his unsuspecting daughter will find it so that she can experience “an early, traumatic, Ronald-related experience [which] can only be good for her.” The first time I heard about Bourdain was when my brother, a chef, gave me his copy of Bourdain’s autobiography Kitchen Confidential to read. So yesterday when I saw Bourdain’s comments, I immediately contacted my sibling chef via SMS who replied “K*&b end. Can’t beat the occasional big mac. Been known to slip one past the lips”. He later went on to cook for 50 people on a fancy yacht in Sydney Harbour, but refrained from serving them Big Macs.

So, is it the view of all food snobs that if food is “mass produced” then it is therefore completely unworthy of consumption? In saying that, McDonald’s meat is 100% Irish which is saying a lot more than other burger outlets in Ireland. I would never suggest that a trip to your local franchise restaurant is anything like a trip to Maxim’s, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be an example of bad eating.

Some foodies seem to believe that franchises eliminate the creativity involved in creating food and lack the diversity that a stand alone restaurant can offer, as they change menus every week in some cases while franchises tend to stick to the same menu for a longer length of time with no deviation. However, a lot of franchises adapt their menus for new markets and often source food locally and only what is in season. My fellow franchise blogger Donny recently visited India and commented that McDonald’s, after issues with the cooking of fries in beef fat caused riots outside their outlets, have become quite culturally sensitive and feature a varied menu with no pork or beef to respect religious beliefs.

I think perhaps education and moderation is key, too much of something is never good and I’m pretty sure that even McDonald’s and Domino’s wouldn’t recommend eating their products every day.  Enjoyed as a treat every now and then, food franchises offer lots of families across the UK the opportunity to eat out as a family and to eat from a relatively healthy and low cost menu.

In comparison, it’s a well known fact that a significant number of gourmet chefs add unknown amounts of butter and salt to their food to add to the flavour, except you don’t know how much because that information is not freely available in restaurants, yet it is with an increasingly amount of franchises. Visit the website of most of the leading food franchises, and I bet you will find details of the nutritional information for their products, Subway in particular have been very proactive with this freedom of information tactic. Domino’s recently carried out focus groups in the US and used the feedback to redevelop their recipes, see the video below to see the redevelopment in action:

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!

The interview below is very interesting for any of you who have ever wondered how the franchise recruitment process works and about the current atmosphere in the franchise industry.

If you are a franchisor looking to expand your franchise into the US, then click here to contact our sales team. Or if you are looking to start your own business in the US, then we may be able to help! Explore our directory of the freshest US franchise and business opportunities available today.

Julie Pottier, Services Purchasing Manager at Subway, believes that the future is contactless:

“Subway is proud to be involved with the first generation of contactless payments and pleased to be part of a payment revolution that is making life easier and quicker for consumers. Subway is sold on the innovation, and we now want to educate our customers that contactless exists, how it works and where they can use it.”

The method of payment will be especially appreciated during the lunch time rush, for those office workers who want to get their lunch and eat it while it’s hot and enjoy the rest of their lunch break. Subway have been outstanding in terms of constant innovation not just in terms of technology, but they have also really stood out as a food franchise which is dedicated towards offering a healthy alternative to traditional fast food. One of the first fast food outlets to detail the calorie counts on their menus, Subway has led the way in healthy eating and transparency between producer and customer, and the contactless feature is just another new innovation string to add to their bow!

What would you like to see your local food franchise introducing? Contactless, calorie details? Have a look at the video below to see Contactless in action!

Both McDonald’s and Continental are featured sponsors for the biggest event in international football, but at what cost and benefit to the franchisee? Commercial sponsorship has been around since the launch of radio in the 1920’s and the introduction of radio broadcasting of sports events. The growth of this media acted as a launch pad for sports games, and helped to develop mutually beneficial relationships between sports teams/individuals and business brands. The benefits of sponsorship deals such as the World Cup are obvious for the franchisee as the exposure is enormous as well as helping with what marketers refer to as “eduselling”, or the association of a brand with an entity that attracts their target market, for instance Domino’s Pizza sponsoring Britain’s Got Talent TV show attracts their target market – young, TV watchers, who sit in on a Saturday night to watch their favourite show, and perhaps order in some pizza! Notably, Domino’s association with X Factor, another TV talent show saw a reported 8.6% rise in sales in the weeks coming up the final of X Factor. And for Ella Baché Paris, their sponsorship of Australia’s newest star, 16 year old solo sailor Jessica Watson has proven extremely successful, with their logo emblazoned across this year’s most pictured sails, even Jessica’s pink yacht was aptly named Ella’s Pink Lady.

To be able to sponsor an event as large as the World Cup however requires a significant amount of investment, measured with the large amount of exposure the brand will receive, which is why only big brands such as McDonald’s and Continental can afford to enter into such lucrative deals. For franchisees, this justifies the just as large investment costs in starting up their own franchise business. For instance in the UK, the minimum investment for your own McDonald’s restaurant, is as of today, £85,000, and this is on top of ongoing fees. For a prospective franchisee, the high cost on such a big brand franchise opportunity is justified when you consider the amount of brand awareness that comes with starting your own big brand business, as for low cost franchises, the franchisee will most likely have to build up brand awareness themselves.

So while Thierry Henry’s hand will be working very hard to stay away from the ball next month, most likely many many other hands will be reaching for that Big Mac following each of the matches. Are you lovin’ it?