Franchise Direct Blog

As you may or may not already know, Franchise Direct does not just advertise franchise opportunities in the UK , we also operate 7 other multilingual sites (look up to the top right of the page....there they all are!). To really grow our US site, we recently opened up a US office in Atlanta, Georgia and as part of the opening of the office; online news channel Global Atlanta interviewed the founder of Franchise Direct, Sean McGarry.

Won’t somebody please think of the children? Apparently, we do! During the economic low, the UK’s young people have been busy starting their own businesses. A recent survey of 1,720 people aged 18-30 by the Prince’s Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, 41% of respondents said they aspire to start their own business, and 78% said they have a business idea. So what is the UK doing to help these exciting young entrepreneurs?

Forbes recently published a list of the top 10 counties in which to do business, and with the recent publication on our sister site of the Top 100 Global Franchises, I thought it would be a good time to explore the world of US franchises in the UK.

The British Franchise Association (bfa) last Friday, announced the finalists for this year’s franchise awards. In their 21st year, the awards celebrate franchising across Britain and in particular, highlight individuals which the bfa believe have contributed substantially to the franchise industry over the last year.

Celia Marrec, our representative for our French sister site – Franchise Directe recently attended the International Franchise Expo in Paris. I spoke with Celia about her experience at the expo and what she feels the atmosphere is like in the French franchise market at present.

Our pampered pets have begun to cost us more and more each year. A recent study by the New York Times estimated that a dog can cost its owners between $11,650 (£7,650) and $13,350 (£8,750) in their lifetime. So why are we spending so much on our pets? The industry is worth £4.3 billion annually to the UK economy, so how is the pet franchise industry benefitting from this spending?

Getting your new franchise business – in financial terms - from ‘in the red’ to “in the ‘black’ as quickly as possible must be the aim of every new franchisee.

If you’re looking to start your own business, there are a lot of factors to be considered. One of them is your local market and if you are living in a rural area or a small town, this can rule out a significant number of businesses such as large scale restaurants which simply will not attract the large customer base it will need to survive.

It turns out that the King did not die, but is very much alive and well in the form of Joel Libava – the Franchise King. Joel keeps a regular blog on the franchise world, as well as helping franchise companies grow by finding potential franchisees with innovative online and social media marketing techniques, and through direct consultations with prospective franchise owners.

Last week, Franchise Direct's UK team attended the Franchise Show in Excel, London. As we previously blogged, a lot of the franchises featured on our site were in attendance at the show and our team really enjoyed the chance to "put a face to the name" and met a significant number of franchisors face to face.