Franchising Opportunities
Traditionally when you start a business you have to do everything for yourself, but there is another way. A franchise means you start up with help from an experienced company.
So what is a franchise? - a franchise is an agreement or license between two parties which gives a person or group of people (the franchisee) the rights to market a product or service using the trademark of another business (the franchisor).
When you take up a franchise the franchisor gives the right to run a business using its name and tried and tested business format. You own and operate the business, but the franchisor retains control the way you market and sell the products and services. They also set the quality standards and targets with the franchisee.
There are some great statistics to consider:-
UK Franchise Statistics Highlights from The 2007 Natwest/BFA Franchise Survey Summary
In 2006 the industry grew twice as fast as the UK economy.
The proportion of franchisees reporting profitability in the survey was 93% (compared with 70% in 1991 and 88% in 2004). This is encouraging when looked at in conjunction with the low failure rates.
The Advantages To Me Of Buying A Franchise
A properly run and proven franchise will almost certainly be a less risky, more straightforward and structured way of going into business than setting up independently. This is because:
- The business concept and existence of a market have been proven.
- The ways to approach that market and operate the business profitably have already been worked out and tested.
- The know-how is passed on to the franchisee through initial and ongoing training, advice, guidance and support. Specialised knowledge in the proposed business activity is therefore not a pre-requisite for the prospective franchisee.
- The Franchisor should provide ongoing market intelligence, being in a position to monitor and analyse trends, opportunities and threats to the business. The Franchisor is therefore better placed than the individual operator to determine the overall strategic direction of the business.
The risks of business failure are thus substantially reduced. Other business advantages can also be attained:
- Finance may be more readily available to franchisees than to those setting up on their own because of the proven success of franchising and track record of the Franchisor.
- The lead-time in making the franchise business successful may be reduced as franchisees have immediate use of an established name and the reputation already built up by the Franchisor.
- Franchisees are able to make use of the Franchisor's purchasing power, and there may be benefits arising from the size of the network operations.
- Regional and national advertising and promotion may be afforded and undertaken.
- Franchisees may receive territorial protection.
- Franchisees are the owners of their own business although restrictions are imposed by their franchise agreements.
Being part of a franchise network offers the further advantage of being in contact with like-minded individuals who are 'friends' in the same business. This may be of particular comfort if you have a need for companionship in your endeavours, and can help alleviate a feeling of being out on your own.
Of course, Franchisors also benefit by the arrangements. They can generally expand their trade name and activities more quickly through investment from franchisees than solely through their own resources. They too will gain by the increased purchasing power for their own activities, while passing on responsibility for cash and stock security in each 'branch' to the local franchisee. Above all, the Franchisor wins local commitment to the business and its customers from the investing franchisee.
The Disadvantages To Me of Buying A Franchise
If the Franchisor's business and its franchise operations are not correctly structured and ethically managed, the franchisee may not gain the benefits of franchising. Other aspects to be considered are:
- A franchisee is subject to substantial control from the Franchisor.
- An initial fee is payable to the Franchisor, adding to the amount of start-up capital required before launching a new business.
- Ongoing management services fees or royalties are payable to the Franchisor, the business must be able to support these and continue to be profitable for the franchisee.
- Restrictions may be placed on the franchisee's ability to sell the franchise, or to pass it to a relative. It is usual for the Franchisor to insist on assessing the proposed buyer's suitability and apply its normal selection criteria before approving a transfer of ownership. Further, the Franchisor may require a substantial payment should the franchise ownership be transferred. Franchises cannot normally be assigned.
- The franchisee's business may be adversely affected by the actions of the other franchisees and operations will be directly affected by the actions, or insolvency, of the Franchisor.
Of course, the Franchisor too faces uncertainties, particularly in divulging its business know-how and entrusting its business name and reputation to others.
What Will Make Me Successful?
Whether you can build a successful business, even from a franchise opportunity, is going to depend on the quality of all the assembled and developed component elements, combined in the right proportions as ingredients for the venture as a whole. When taking up a franchise, you are not buying a business, rather, you are assembling the ingredients by which you can build a business.
These ingredients for success may be summarised as follows and you can then assess each one in more detail.
YouThere are essentially four questions for you to ask yourself at the outset: Where am I now? Where do I want to be? How do I plan to get there? Will it be worth-while?
'Getting there' relies heavily on you. Whether it is all worth-while depends on what harmony you seek between money, your relationships and your personal enjoyment. Assessing your strengths and limitations, before you start to evaluate possible franchises will help you determine the right course of action.
SupportYou should be willing to seek out and heed good knowledgeable advice and support from any source. The Franchisor should be willing to assist you in a number of ways and this should be a real strength. Once you are operating within a franchise network, the franchisees established before you can often become invaluable sources of advice and guidance.
Market awareness/market intelligence
A good business idea and a good trade name are two of the obvious essential ingredients for business success, but the fact remains that without your own customers you do not have a business at all. Your market (collection of customers) should be clearly identifiable and quantified.
You should know what sort of customers you are looking for, where they are and how to find them. You need to know how their needs are currently being satisfied, or whether there is a genuine gap in the market locally which you can exploit. If there appears to be an opportunity, research further, is there in fact a market in the gap?
Viable product/service
An essential ingredient for business success is the uniqueness of your offer to the market. The product/service must offer a unique selling proposition, i.e. a valid reason for customers to buy consistently from you rather than from other companies competing for their business in the same market.
Lastly, the product/service ought to be clearly safe and ethical, with no harmful effects on the environment.
Route to the market
Having discovered a viable product/service to offer, commercial success lies in operating along successful lines to gain turnover, a healthy cash flow and profit.
Territorial considerations may well need to be taken into account. Is it possible for other franchisees, or the Franchisor, to impinge upon your scope for activity? Where might you impinge on theirs? What are the marketing benefits to you for being in the network?
Trading name
Along with proven products/services, proven markets, and a proven route to the market, the strength in the market of the Franchisor's trading name should enable you to start trading immediately and sustain a steady flow of potential customers - a marked advantage to starting up independently. an ingredient for your success is thus the established and reputable trading name, or recognised pedigree of the parent company.
Good Franchisor
Does the Franchisor offer a properly structured and ethically run opportunity? Can you have faith in the Franchisor's integrity, reliability and professionalism? What are the longer term aims of the company - can you reasonably expect to be dealing with essentially the same management team throughout the course of your franchise?
You will want to know the Franchisor's track record in providing initial and on-going training to its franchisees, and how it achieves this. What initial and on-going training can you expect, and who pays for the costs involved?
Will the Franchisor help you to draw up your business plan? You should take responsibility for conducting your own local market research and constructing your own business plan, but realistic sales forecasts and some market research data should be forthcoming from the Franchisor. Proven results gained elsewhere and clearly showing the criteria which lie behind the figures, together with any assumptions which have been made, should be available to you.
How important is the franchise agreement to me?
Apart from the overall framework of law within which franchising operates, good franchise companies have their own way of doing business and a unique agreement constructed specifically to suit not only its own needs, but also the needs of the franchisee.
Any prospective franchisee is therefore strongly urged to obtain independent legal advice from a solicitor experienced in franchising law, before signing an agreement and committing funds. Good franchisees use only solicitors who are affiliated to the British Franchise Association, as this ensures that their franchise agreements are ethical and take into consideration the needs of both the Franchisor and the franchisee. Our solicitor is an accredited British Franchise Association solicitor.
The franchise agreement records accurately the full nature, extent and limitations of the deal that the Franchisor offers the franchisee, together with details of what is expected from the franchisee in return. It is essential that both parties commit themselves to a binding agreement. The franchise agreement sets out the rights and obligations of each party and contains provisions for certain eventualities, as well as procedures for dealing with unforeseen circumstances.
The franchise agreement is usually not negotiable, since the Franchisor cannot claim to operate a coherent network if many variations of the agreement exist. Franchisees should have no cause to believe that they have in any way been disadvantaged by the Franchisor if they compare their own franchise agreement with those of other franchisees in the network.
Some clauses in a good franchise agreement sometimes appear onerous at first sight, but these are designed to protect the franchisee's business interests, just as they are the Franchisor's. All operations in the network are subject to the same quality standards, scrutiny and guidance from the Franchisor in order to protect consistency of delivery to the customer and the reputation on which the success of the business is founded.
What does it take to be a Prosper Business Coach?
You will need
- Passion for helping and growing people and their businesses
- Business experience
- Desire to learn new things and meet new people
- Motivation to get the best out of each client
- Space that can be closed off to the domestics in life
- The ability to listen and open to share your experiences
- To be able to challenge your clients ideas, plans and motives
- To feel comfortable with yourself to enable you to just focus your attention on your clients needs
- To be able to support and guide clients
- Offer exceptional customer service
- Keep your cool even though everyone else seems to losing theirs
Business Networking Franchising Faq
What is a Prosper Business Coach and What do they do?
A Prosper Business Coach has become synonymous with performance and growth.
It is far broader than Executive or Life Coaching it focuses on the business, its team, its processes and its sales and marketing as much as it does on the business owner.
You will utilise your existing business knowledge and experience that will be fully supported by our tools, techniques and ongoing support.
At your fingertips you will have access to our leading edge library of business forms, systems and training programmes that can enable you to hit the floor running, feeling assured that the systems you are working with are tried and tested.
The role of the Prosper Business Coach is to create the right conditions for learning to happen and to generate excitement and enthusiasm. They will be instructor, assessor, friend, mentor, facilitator, chauffeur, demonstrator, advisor, supporter, fact finder, motivator, counsellor, organiser, planner and the fountain of all knowledge.
Why should I Buy a Franchise from Prosper Instead of Going it Alone?
Purchasing a Business Coaching Franchise from Prosper offers you a very unique model for making a success from you becoming a business coach.
You will be able to:
- Establish you Business Coaching Business quickly, efficiently, with a low investment cost, whilst having at your disposal a wealth of support and materials to ensure your success.
- You will belong to a team of professionals who have your success on their agenda, who will support you and your growth.
- Alongside speeding up the process of you building a client base you will be supported to establish a Business Referral Network that will not only feed you leads, but it will also act as a secondary income stream for you.
- You will be provided with a solid platform and one that's based on years of experience, proven systems and ongoing training.
- The Prosper Business Coaching Franchises are profitable and fulfilling and in no time at all you will find yourself part of a very successful brand and team sharing experience tools and systems and you won't be recreating the wheel at every turn.
How should I market my services and who will my customers be?
Being a Prosper Business Coach you will be equipped with all the latest lead generation and sales techniques.
You'll be using the full suite of the Prospers' most powerful, tried-and-tested marketing tools available to develop your business. On-line you will have access to the very latest thinking on a host of business related subjects, and this will keep you ahead of the pack.
You will be fully supported to enable you to develop and support your very own Prosper Referral network around you that feeds sales leads to you, creates an income stream for you and your members via commission based referrals being transferred not only between your members, but also between other groups.
How much will I need to invest in being a successful Prosper Business Coach?
Your initial outlay can include what you will need to get your Prosper Business Coaching Business started.
Your investment will include the purchase and provision of:
- Integration into our Prosper website of activity. You will be perceived as having your very own Prosper website that is fully resourced with a host of facilities to simply make running your Prosper Franchising business easier.
- You will be fully supported to enable you to develop and support your very own Prosper Referral network around you that feeds sales leads to you, creates an income stream for you and your members via commission based referrals being transferred not only between your members, but also between other groups.
- Your Prosper Business Planner that includes a powerful and highly regarded library of materials, programmes and resources that will enable you to learn how to be successful in life, in business and in your own Prosper Business Coaching franchise.
- A comprehensive 10-day training program, which will teach you how to use the Prosper Business Coaching systems and how to sell your services to clients.
- We will aim to deliver to you our very best for you on an ongoing basis, however, you will also need to have additional funds in as working capital for marketing, networking and other general office set-up expenses.
What will I get for my investment in a Prosper Business Coaching Franchise?
In short - when you invest in a Prosper Business Coaching Franchise, you purchase proven turn-key fully operational business, complete with systems and rights to operate a Prosper Business Coaching Business that's taken more than ten years to develop that provides you with:
- Integration into our Prosper website of activity. You will be perceived as having your very own Prosper website that is fully resourced with a host of facilities to simply make running your Prosper franchising business easier.
- You will be fully supported to enable you to develop and support your very own Prosper Referral network around you that feeds sales leads to you, creates an income stream for you and your members via commission based referrals being transferred not only between your members, but also between other groups.
- Your Prosper Business Planner that includes a powerful and highly regarded library of materials, programmes and resources that will enable you to learn how to be successful in life, in business and in your own Prosper Business Coaching franchise.
- A comprehensive 10-day training program, which will teach you how to use the Prosper Business Coaching systems and how to sell your services to clients.
- We will aim to deliver to you our very best for you on an ongoing basis, however, you will also need to have additional funds in as working capital for marketing, networking and other general office set-up expenses.
What training and support will I achieve to ensure my ongoing success?
A comprehensive 10-day training program, which will teach you how to use the Prosper Business Coaching systems and how to sell your services to clients this will include:
- You will be trained on how to deliver our unique approach to successful business coaching that has taken over ten years to develop.
- You will be trained on how to utilise our Resource Library that contains on-line and off-line coaching and training videos, DVDs, programmes.questionnaires, self-assessment and business assessment tools, systems and techniques.
- Training on your integration into our Prosper website of activity. You will be perceived as having your very own Prosper website that is fully resourced with a host of facilities to simply make running your Prosper Franchising Business Franchise easier.
- You will be fully trained and supported to enable you to develop and support your very own Prosper Referral network around you that feeds sales leads to you, creates an income stream for you and your members via commission based referrals being transferred not only between your members, but also between other groups.
- You will be coached and trained on how to use our Prosper Business Planner that includes a powerful and highly regarded library of materials, programmes and resources that will enable you to learn how to be successful in life, in business and in your own Prosper Business Coaching franchise.
- By the time you finish your training you'll be a master of most powerful business secrets available. You will know the keys to attracting and retaining clients, multiplying business profits and generating wealth that will translate into you being fully equipped to achieve sensational results that will amaze your clients.
- However your initial training program is only the beginning of your journey. Do remember you will be on a continual learning curve, with reading, seminars, workshops, conferences and internet-based chat groups and forums all part of the process. It's stimulating, exciting and it works.
How Can I Make Money from my Prosper Business Coaching Franchise?
Your income stream will be through:
- Mentoring Clients, each of which will provide you with monthly revenue.
- Running and delivering seminars and workshops that can be used for lead generation you'll use to source clients, and considering you'll be consistently aiming for at least two Mentoring Clients from each seminar.
- Establishing and supporting your Prosper Business Referral Network.
How many hours do I need to work?
Like all new businesses the first 12 months will be the hardest, not because of the amount of work you'll do, but because the work will be different.
You could see yourself working between 30 to 60 hours a week in the first year of the development of your new Prosper Business Coaching Franchise, especially if you are keeping office administration, marketing, financial accounts all in-house.
At the six month stage you will start to choose the hours of work that suit you, your clients and your prospects. And as you settle into your Prosper Business Coaching Franchise you should find that you will be working around 2 hours per week per client with one hour spent coaching and the other doing behind the scenes preparation work and another hour spent on running the business.
What is the ongoing support from Prosper and what are my ongoing costs for being a franchisee?
Your Prosper Business Coaching Franchisor is responsible for the overall administration, direction, development and marketing of the network, this will include initial and ongoing support and guidance. This ensures that help is always at hand.
Can I work from home?
When you start up your business we recommend working from home with a separate space designated just for your business.
You will find that you will need to be able to lock yourself and clients personal records away and switch off at night. Then when your business has grown, you may wish to take advantage of serviced offices or your own office suite.
What geographic area can I operate within?
You can offer coaching services anywhere within the territory assigned to you, the size of the territory varies, but it will cover a pre-prescribed post code area.
What contracts do I have to sign and are there any guarantees?
You will be required to sign a full legally binding Franchise Agreement in line with local Franchise and Contract Laws.
The usual term for a Franchise Agreement is three years. You will be eligible to renew for an additional three year term provided that you have conducted your franchise in compliance with the terms of your agreements and that you comply with certain conditions, sign our updated form of Franchise Agreement, and pay a Renewal Fee.
There are no guarantees it is up to you to make it work. We cannot promise any specific results, nor will we guarantee that any of your goals will become a reality.
We will push you, support you, help you, be there for you and even do some things with you - but at the end of the day you still need to do the work -
Only YOU can ever be truly accountable for your own success.
At Prosper we guarantee to give you the best service we can.
How do I express my interest in moving forward?
Showing your interest is the first step.
The next step is for us to arrange for you to attend a Prosper Business Coaching Discovery Day.
You can then start your Due Diligence on us and we can start to assess if our Franchise is right for you. Just remember, we won't want to sell you anything, all we will want to do is to answer your questions as clearly and as honestly as we can. Several meet?ngs might follow you attendance at our Discovery Day, to ensure there is a good fit between you and us, before an acceptance interview takes place with the Prosper Head Office, when your paperwork will be completed.