The bfa and Lloyds Bank create new online course for potential franchisees
Published: 23 September 2016
A new joint e-learning initiative between the British Franchise Association (bfa) and Lloyds Bank will attempt to make becoming a franchisee easier.
The Prospect Franchisee Certificate (PFC) will deliver a comprehensive overview of what is required to succeed in the UK’s franchise sector, which is currently worth £15billion.
The free video-based course provides insights into areas such as evaluating franchise opportunities, business management, financial understanding and legal considerations.
The bfa’s CEO, Pip Wilkins, believes the course will transform the recruitment process for both parties in a franchise relationship.
She said: “Anyone who is considering starting a franchise should be taking this course as an integral part of their research. It costs nothing, is jargon-free and will help them stand out as business aware and ready to hit the ground running in their new venture.
“Every good franchisor is extremely selective about franchisee recruitment, with the most common reasons for turning down prospects cited as lack of capital, insufficient business acumen or poor meeting performance. The PFC will support people in these areas and many others.
“It’s simply good business sense, too – the more someone understands the sector, the better prepared they are for success as a franchisee.
“I invite all franchisors to make this course a key component of their franchisee recruitment process if they’re looking for the highest calibre of franchisees.”
Richard Holden, head of franchising at Lloyds Bank, said: “Everyone is looking for better-informed investors and the newly developed PFC programme will help to deliver exactly that.
“Lloyds Bank is proud to have been involved in the design and development of this programme and to encourage its adoption as the new franchise sector standard benchmark for investors researching their franchising options. This will help to ensure they are well prepared for their discussions with the franchisor.”
