Know good advice

With the annual London exhibition taking place in April, many of you will be thinking about joining a franchise. Here are some sound words of advice from top franchisors and franchisees, as compiled by John Bensalhia...

Sharron Davis, Kingsmaid, franchisor

Choose a franchise that will offer you a blueprint for running your business including clear guidelines and advice to help you make a success out of it and tips to help you avoid any pitfalls you might come across, particularly in the early days. Look for a franchise that provides full training and dedicated advice. If you choose to manage your own team of staff, find out what training support is offered to get the best out of them too. Finding a franchise that encourages communication between its franchisees is also good for sharing ideas and experiences.

Select a franchise with a hands-on head office team that still runs its own master franchises. Franchise directors that are doing the same job as you are far more likely to understand your needs and offer you ongoing best practice advice. This is an important driver in a franchise business which should deliver continual improvements in the business practices, products and services offered by the franchise.

Don't just pick the franchise that offers you the most money: it's important to find a business that suits your talents and interests. If you're good at motivating and leading people, select a management franchise that allows you to employ and manage a team of people who will carry out the practical work.

Good franchisors will offer you an exclusive, clearly defined territory, with the option of extended this patch and taking on more territories if you do well. This is crucial to enable you to develop your own customer base and grow your business in the future. The terms of this agreement will be laid out in the contract between you and your franchisor and it's your responsibility to make sure you're happy with them.

Getting your name out there and telling your potential customers what you do is crucial, particularly in the early days. Make sure you know what marketing advice and assistance the franchise provides and look for one that offers liveried vans, templates for flyers and advertisements for your local paper.

Lynne Lister, X-Press Legal Services, franchisor

When you visit a franchise exhibition for the first time you are likely to be amazed at the huge and diverse range of franchised businesses looking for people to join them. You may also be surprised by the many 'household name' companies that are franchised operations. There is so much attractive and exciting choice that it can be difficult to know where to begin.

My advice would be to start before you get to the show. Do some research first into the concept of franchising and then compile a shortlist of the companies that appeal to you the most and you would like to meet.

Contact the British Franchise Association (bfa), read all the magazines and newspapers you can, check the bfa's website and whichfranchise website for news and information, talk to your bank manager and see if Business Link can help you.

It's vital to understand exactly what you are buying when you become a franchisee and what is involved. To do that you must be completely sure that you will enjoy being self-employed, which is entirely different to being an employee.

As a franchisee, you will have your own business but under the umbrella of a much bigger one. You have to be open-minded and prepared to follow someone else's proven system so abandon any ideas that you can go into the business and change things you don't like about it.

Many people think that franchising is like a marriage - make sure yours ends up in heaven!

Peter Croney, énergie, franchisor

Entering the franchise sector makes business sense and many people make a lot of money through their franchises. If I had to give one bit of advice to a franchisee about to open their business it would be this. You've bought a franchise so follow the systems. They're proven, they work and that's what you are paying for so follow them to the letter!

énergie Fitness For Women has a strong track record of success. This is because franchisees are sensible enough to resist the temptation to try systems that are outside the business model. Our franchisees understand that for us to deliver the income levels that we have projected on the business model we need to work together. The reason you buy a franchise is because the franchisor has been through the pain of finding out what works and what doesn't so that you can go straight on to success!

Another key area for franchisees is to choose a franchise that they can afford.Franchisees need to understand that this is an investment and as with all investment planning we need to be sensible about what we can afford. There's no point in overextending the finances to buy a franchise as this will add to stress which, in turn, can lead to poor decision. Think carefully and pursue what you can afford.

It is key for franchisees to choose businesses that they are interested in as, for many, they will work in these businesses every day. You have to select a franchise not just for the return, but because it gives you a chance to do something you genuinely have an interest in. Our franchisees love people, high levels of customer service and get a real kick out of helping people improve their lives, which adds up to a pretty great way to make your living.

Lloyd Evans, chief executive, ChipsAway, franchisor

The longer a franchisor has been in operation, and the larger the number of well-established, successful franchisees in the network, the more comfort you can take. We always recommend that potential ChipsAway franchisees take the opportunity to chat to existing franchisees - from our own and other franchise networks - to check what their experience has been over the longer term.

The best franchisors are those that provide ongoing support for your business development, with regular training sessions to refresh, update or extend your skills. Those first few months out on your own are undoubtedly the toughest and can be the loneliest too; therefore a good business developer, who can provide one-to-one mentoring and practical hands-on help, can be invaluable in the early days.

Good communication is crucial too. Regular contact with the franchisor - and with other franchisees in the network - means that you benefit from up-to-the-minute information from the management team and are able to feed back issues from 'the sharp end'. It also provides opportunity for you to share ideas and experiences with fellow franchisees that operate in the same marketplace and face the same issues as you. A good franchisor understands that a successful franchise network is key to the success and long-term future of the company. So find out if and how the franchise company is prepared to invest back into your business. Such reinvestment may well be linked to performance, so that your success triggers a package of benefits to enable you to build and develop your business, as well as contributing further to the overall success of the franchise.

Kem Galbraith, X-Press Legal Services, franchisee

I think there are four really important things to remember when you're considering franchising. Take time to understand the implications of buying a franchise, talk to other franchisees, make sure you involve your spouse or partner in the decision and be realistic about how much working capital you set aside.

Buying a franchise means buying an opportunity to have your own business, with the emphasis on "own". You are not working for the franchisor, you are working for yourself. Obviously you conform to their blueprint but how you manage your time and run the business on a day-to-day basis is down to you and there's no-one else to fall back on. Of course, you can get help and advice from the franchisor when you need it but you don't pick up the phone for the slightest little thing.

You should involve your other half in the decision to become a franchisee, even if they are not actively involved in the business afterwards. I say this because you will need their support, especially so you have someone to discuss things with at the end of the day. Patricia, my wife, came on the training course too so she knows the business and the personalities. We also thought it would be useful for her to understand what's involved - just in case she needs to keep the business ticking over for some reason.

Have more working capital than you think you will need. When you first set up your business, you have to concentrate on marketing it, which is time-consuming and does not necessarily bring quick results. You must make sure you have enough to live on until you are established.

Jeanette Bamford, énergie, franchisee

If I were to give advice to new franchisees it would be this; first, make sure you have sufficient staffing when you start. We were much more successful than I thought I would be at recruiting new members and then had to work very hard to look after them all. Secondly, choose a franchisor that really understands support. énergie Fitness For Women are great as they understand how nerve-racking opening your first business can be.  From the start they have been there for every little query I have and they continue to do so, every day. Ask other franchisees about the support they are given and that will tell you a lot about the quality of your investment.

Richard Mason, Medics on the Move, franchisee

When you buy a franchise you also 'buy' the people that run it. It is important, for example, to ask if they are the founders of the business or the second-generation owners. Their motivation and aspirations for the future of the franchise could be quite different from each other.
I think it is essential that you must have confidence in the franchisor and really believe in them as people, as well as their product or service. When you first meet the owners, it is vital that you can strike up an immediate rapport because then you know you have a basic foundation of a solid, long-term and mutually beneficial working relationship.

I first met Medics' founder directors, Carole Stubbs and Vickie Knighton in 2005. I was very impressed, firstly, by their energy and self-belief. Secondly, I felt that they had identified not just a gap in the market but a yawning chasm and that with their vibrant enthusiasm and sound business proposal, the service would take off like a rocket.

You must truly value the franchise's product or service. When you become a franchisee you are about to form a very close personal bond with the product or service you will be selling so you must make sure you choose something you feel comfortable with. Before the first meeting with a franchisor, either at their premises or at an exhibition, be sure in your own mind that this business is something you could not only do but actually enjoy doing for at least the next five years.

Remember that when you become a franchisee you are buying into an established and proven system, so don't try to change the rules. Some offer a little flexibility that will allow you to work within the franchise system but at your own pace.

Anatol Poyer-Sleeman, Michelle Clark, ChipsAway, franchisee

My three top tips would be to find a business that enables you to make the most of your skills, ensure that your franchise package includes comprehensive training and ongoing support to grow and develop your business, then once you've decided on a franchise, give it 100 per cent commitment! 

Michelle and I invested completely in our ChipsAway business - both financially and emotionally, and that's at the heart of our success. She is an ex-graphic artist, a hands-on, very practical person, brilliant at completing tasks efficiently and effectively. On the other hand I am a blue sky man - I do the strategic thinking and business planning, and together we make a great team. Our franchisor is part of that team, and although we need less and less practical input as we gain in experience and confidence, the strategic advice we've had as our business has grown has been invaluable.

ChipsAway actively discouraged us from investing in a third vehicle and taking on an employee after just a year in business. We wanted to expand because things were going so well, but ChipsAway strongly advised us to wait until we had more experience before going ahead with our plans. We took that advice and I'm really glad that we did. We've enjoyed steady growth since and we've been able to cope well. I think perhaps if we had followed our original plans, we might well have over-stretched ourselves.

Paul Fabian, ChipsAway, franchisee

Check out the size of your market, find out what demand there is likely to be for your business offering and whether you can secure repeat business.

It's quite scary to leave a steady income in favour of self-employment, and so regular customers and continuity of work - especially in the early days - is really important. You can't rest on your laurels, new business is critical to a long-term thriving business, but it's a lot harder to be continuously seeking the next one-off job than building your business on repeat custom and recommendations from satisfied customers. That's the real difference between selling wedding dresses or double-glazing compared to carrying out cosmetic vehicle repairs or car valeting services.

It's also very important to understand who and how many your competitors are. A large marketplace and strong demand is not enough if every man and his dog is offering the same service - particularly if you're trying to compete on price! When I was selecting a franchise, I wanted to be sure that I could offer something different and better than the rest.

Steve Ogden, ChipsAway, franchisee

My advice to anyone looking for a franchise would be to make sure that on the one hand the business has a USP that sets it apart from competitors, but on the other hand has a clear appeal to customers. In other words, avoid the many "me too" opportunities, but beware of anything too "off the wall". If there's a new product or service that delivers a quicker, cleaner or more cost-effective solution to an existing marketplace, then it's probably a good bet.'