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.

• Just eight percent of businesses reach or exceed their targets for cost-saving initiatives
• One of the single biggest barriers to achieving these targets is the lack of adequate processes to drive cost reduction
• Getting people to assume personal responsibility for cost management is always difficult

Cost management businesses make their profit off the savings they find for you, costing you nothing. With so many companies providing the services you need to make your business run, electricity, internet, telephone etc, it can be hard to constantly find the best deal.

If you’re interested in building a business for youself in this industry consider a franchise business, for the added support.

Auditel £36,000

Pink Connect £ 24,950

BCR Associates £29,950

Expense Reduction Analysts £39,900

Business Cost Management £24,950

Business Doctors £19,950

By 2030, over 15 million of the UK’s population will be over 65’s.

The home care industry will continue to grow for two categories of pensioners and retirees.

The Newly Retired

Over 65’s experience better health and quality of life today, than ever before. Many people who will retire at 65 are very active and healthy, and take on part-time work to boost their income.

Within the home care industry, there are opportunities for these Newly Retired to work as a home carer, calling to the houses of the sick and elderly for a few hours every week. Calling in on the elderly can involve preparing meals, helping with light cleaning and assisting with hygiene. This allows Newly Retired people an extra income in a flexible and fulfilling environment.

A survey conducted by Prudential Insurance entitled ‘Class of 2012′ has discovered that the income retirees of 2012 can expect has fallen by £3,100 since 2008 to a paltry £15,500 per year. One fifth of these people will live on £10,000 or less.

At the same time, pensioner expenditure has increased, leaving a “perfect storm” brewing for retirees, according to Vince Smith Hughes, the Prudential Retirement Income Expert.

“The impact of the credit crunch, banking crisis, recession and concerns over the eurozone, has been reflected in the fact that expected retirement income levels have hit a five year low”, he said.

The opportunity to work in the home care industry may be a possible incentive for those who want to continue some part-time work upon retirement. Over 65’s don’t have to pay tax or national insurance, and can keep all income along with their pension. If their state pension is under a comfortable level, they can defer their pension and pay ‘Top Up’ national insurance which will increase their pension when they decide to take it.

This year alone there are 22% more retirees than in 2011.

The Golden Aged

The average life expectancy of British women is 82.6 years and 78.4 years for men. For those who are a almost a generation older than the Newly Retired  (although unfortunately illness can strike at an age) care in the home is an option preferred to residential care homes, both personally and by families.

Emotionally, the bonds and ties the elderly have to their home and way of life have immense pull. The average cost of a single room in a residential care facility is £24,292 and in times of such economic hardship, many families cannot afford to pay for residential care for elderly relatives, even if they come to make this heart wrenching decision.

Care at home allows the elderly to retain some independence in the comfort of their own homes.

The home care industry offers a solution to concerns raised over Britain having and elderly population. For many Newly Retired, the realisation that they may not be able to give up work can be hard to face, but helping their older counterparts and working in their homes can provide a gentle transition and opportunity to keep earning.

If you are approaching retirement,and would like to operate your own home care business, we have a selection of home care franchise businesses, which can offer the guidance and support of an established and profitable business model and staff.

If you would like to start your own business, and want to invest in this growing industry, one that will continue growing within your own lifetime, a franchise can be the right model to get your business up and running.

Caremark Minimum Investment : £29,500

Everycare Minimum Investment : £30,000

Bluebird Care Minimum Investment £32,500

Surecare Minimum Investment £25,000

Abacus Care Minimum Investment £22,000

247 Professional Health Minimum Investment £15,000

A new type of franchising has developed in recent years; social franchising. Like commercial franchising, people work together to share ideas driven by a common social goal.

It’s just like a regular business franchise, without the monetary consideration.

Through the social franchising model, the health of women and infants throughout Africa has improved with Marie Stopes and Population Services International.

According to the European Social Franchising Network:

“To be a social franchise both the social franchisor and franchisees must be social enterprises (ie businesses that trade and have a social purpose) and there should be:

• An organisation that replicates a social enterprise business model – the social franchisor.
• At least one independent social franchisee that has been replicated by the social franchisor.
• A common brand under which the social franchisees operate.
• An interchange of knowledge between members.”

Providing sexual and reproductive health care, there are Marie Stopes franchises in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Sierra Leone.

Population Services International may be the social franchise equivalent of McDonalds with clinics all over the world. Providing malaria, child survival, HIV and reproductive health services throughout India, Pakistan, Lesotho, Swaziland, Togo, Uganda and other areas in Asia and Africa.

The social entrepreneur is a creature which has become more prevalent in the developed world since the recession with the search for meaningful work. Borne from the idea of corporate responsibility, where businesses work to give back socially to the community, the social entrepreneur focuses mainly on social change, with profit making a secondary consideration.

Social Franchising demonstrates how successful the knowledge sharing element of franchising is. Starting off a new business can be so daunting but the knowledge available from franchisors is what will get you through the tough times, and make sure you’re in the know from your first morning in action.

We can’t offer you opportunities to treat malaria in Africa, but several of our franchises and business opportunities have socially responsible approaches to trading.

Snak Appeal: Supports 25 children’s hospices throughout the UK and Ireland. The franchise distributes and collects ‘honesty boxes’ of sweets, with a proportion of the profits going to charity.

DE Photo: Has donated more than £800,000 to grass roots sports, charitites and schools. You can become a photographer, even with no experience, within an organisation thatis responsible about social growth in the community.

Juice Community: This network of Fairtrade franchisees  distribute ethically-produced fruit juices. You can participate in a profit sharing scheme on all orders supplied directly to major retailers by the company.

Maternity conditions have improved dramatically in the last two millennia, as has the role of the mother.

Many women are now choosing to open small businesses for some extra dosh (always handy at this time of year!) and a better work life balance.

With crèche costs becoming prohibitive for many who would return to the workplace, running  a business from home can be the perfect opportunity to avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

We’ve selected eight franchises which can be run from home on a part-time basis with low investment requirements, perfect for those would-be mumpreneurs out there.

With a franchise or business opportunity, the business has been proven to work for others, so you can get on with making money instead of trying to find and test out a new idea.

Highlight what skills you have and play to your strengths.

Mitchy Titch is a business providing yoga-based fun and fitness classes for babies and toddlers in children’s centres, nurseries and similar venues throughout the UK.

Big Local App is a dedicated local resource directory bringing together businesses, local news, events and information to provide real value to members of each of its edition areas in a way that national directories cannot.

Snak Appeal is a local franchise business opportunity in the charity sector providing a service to business and leisure premises with our quality sweets and snacks.  Dropping off and collecting the honesty boxes, you can fit this around the school run and take time off for the summer holidays.

Laser-It Technologies is an affordable, easy to operate with huge consumer demand. This unique franchise system uses cold laser technology to reduce wrinkles and eliminate body fat.

When The Music Stops If you can’t help but try and marry friends and family off, use your matchmaking skills to run a dating business organising fun events, online dating or both.

Link Telemarketing With this telemarketing business opportunity, your clients will be provided for you, leaving you to concentrate on running your own business successfully. All you need is a telephone and laptop!

Sing Your Name is a distributorship offering a wide range of hugely popular personalised children’s products unlike any other company in the world. Put a smile on someone’s face with story books and audio tapes

LCF Jazz Mataz is an educational music and fun club for children. It is both a social event for both parents and pre-schoolers and a programme using music, rhyme and song to enhance development.

View more home-based franchises

View more part-time franchises

View more children’s franchises

View more health and beauty franchises

]]> http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/becoming-a-mumpreneur/feed/ http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/under-the-mistletoe/ http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/under-the-mistletoe/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:34:29 +0000 Fiona Sherlock http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchisefocus/?p=1280 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

Getting to hear what our friends and families have been up to can often encourage us to think about where we are in our lives, and what we might like to change.

As the world’s largest franchise directory site, we often find more traffic at this time, as people begin to think how they might go about changing their lives.

Last year, we experienced nearly a 20pc boost in enquiries to franchisors over the Christmas and New Year period.

More free time- Unless you’re in cooking mode or off to splash around the Mediteranean, more people are off work, with free time to think about their hopes and dreams, and to browse the internet.

Comparing to family and friends- Getting to catch up with old friends and family can often lead us to question where we are in our own lives. Your school friends have all found themselves in wellpaid successful careers, when you are still slogging for someone else, just getting through life.

New Year Changes -The festive period has always lead up to a spate of New Years’ resolutions, after the indulgence orgy that is Christmas. Along with kicking the fags or binning the chocolate, many people may want to change their career, or lifestyle.

So if you’re bored for a few hours before dinner on boxing day, or plodding around the house trying to avoid rows, take some time to see what you could do to change your life, and career.

From business consultancy to beauty, handyman and tshirt franchise businesses, you might just find what you’re looking for.

“With almost 1,400 different franchise opportunities available in the UK, prospective franchisees are faced with an overwhelming challenge when trying to find the very best franchise opportunities,” said Steven Frost, Partner at Smith & Henderson.

“What makes these awards unique is they are based on what the real experts think – actual franchisees who work in those businesses day-in-day-out and their first hand experiences. The four franchisors recognised in this year’s awards are in an elite group and represent the very best franchise opportunities in the UK today.”

The industry-wide study of franchisee satisfaction, known as the Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark, involved gathering feedback from over 1,000 franchisees. Questions included everything from training and support, the actual franchise system, the relationship with their franchisor, the value of the franchise and ongoing management fees, and how the rewards on offer compared to their expectations.

Franchisors from all corners of commerce participated, ranging from children’s sports coaching to business coaching; from lawn care to domiciliary care; and from retail to accountancy.

Presented with the awards were:

Best Training & Support: TaxAssist Accountants
TaxAssist Accountants provide tax accountancy services and advice through over 200 offices in the UK and Ireland. Recognised as having the Best Training & Support, TaxAssist franchisees rated the quality of its initial training and support, head office, marketing and franchisee-to-franchisee support the best in the UK.

Most Recommended Franchise: Puddle Ducks

94% of Puddle Ducks’ franchisees would recommend its franchise to a prospective franchisee – the highest in the UK.

Best Growing Franchisor (franchisors with 8-14 franchisees): Jasper’s Online
Jasper’s Online provides corporate catering throughout the UK. It was rated the best franchisor with less than 15 franchisees (a minimum threshold for entering the main awards).

Nathan Siekierski, Director, said, “Being able to compare your franchise model to the industry standard is something new and refreshing in the franchising world. Winning an award based on franchisee opinions is the icing on the cake and makes the hard work of the Jasper’s team worthwhile.”

Best Franchise Conference Seminars

As well as the awards, franchisors benefited from seven best practice seminars from:

• Smith & Henderson
• The Franchising Training Centre
• O2
• The Alternative Board
• Puddle Ducks
• Home Instead Senior Care
• Coconut Creatives

These were attended by over 50 franchise professionals and designed to help them improve franchisee satisfaction and develop even stronger franchise networks. Matt Trevor-Roper, Tony & Guy, summed up the day: “A fantastic opportunity to go behind the scenes and find out other businesses’ approaches to running a successful franchise operation,” while Dan Archer, Home Instead Senior Care said, ““A really valuable discussion of franchising best practice - book next year now!”

With a dozen additional franchisors already registered to participate in the 2012 Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark that did not take part in 2011, Smith & Henderson is on target for 80 franchisors to participate in 2012 as the programme becomes a key feature in UK franchising.

McD’s have:

• Experienced positive growth for the last 22 consecutive quarters
• Including more than 5% last month alone
• 1,196 UK outlets
• Serve 2.5 million people per day
• Experienced an increase of 90 million visits on last year

A McDonalds Franchise

However the franchise route is narrower with other companies, and requires a large cash investment

In 2006, only 40% of McDonalds were franchise-run, compared to 65% today.

McDonalds open two to three franchised restaurants every year.

As Jill McDonald said in the article “We are inundated and would have 5,000 applicants for one position - it is that sort of scale of interest.”

What McDonalds look for in franchisees is similar to other food and restaurant franchises, although with a larger cash injection.

• Strong people management skills
• Experience running a kitchen
• Understanding of finance

The total cost of opening a McDonalds franchise runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

• One off fee - £30,000
• Training courses (can last up to a year) - £5000
• Cost of restaurant (at least 25% must be financed without a loan) £125,000 - £325,000

That’s not it though; franchisees must be able to cover costs like monthly rent of machines and service fees.