British Franchise Pack

I received the pack and the book from the British Franchise Association today and have reviewed the information. The book is quite interesting and goes through what you need to consider to start a franchise, but I was fairly annoyed that the BFA also enclosed a copy of the book in the franchisor's pack - so I've got two copies now.

The pack is ok and has some useful stuff in it, including a video about how a franchisee thinks. Not sure it's worth the money though.

I did book myself onto the Natwest Franchise Seminar in Birmingham yesterday too, which is on the 18th October. Not the ideal time (as it is 6.45pm - 9.45pm and in Birmingham, so will take me a while to get there), but it should be useful.

Feeling quite frustrated today. There doesn't seem to be any definitive answer for anything and it takes quite a lot of research and going to different sources to get the information you need.

I hate processes!

I have a mentor, Colin that supports me in my business and told him what I was planning to do with the business. He thought it was a great idea, but also laughed as he reminded me that I would have to do processes.

Colin had been on at me for a while to set up processes for my business, but as I would need an Operational Manual for the franchisee, I would need to actually do this now.

I hate doing processes. I had to do them in a previous job and let’s face it, they’re not the most exciting thing ever, but I’m the type of person that once I know I have to do something, I will get on with it.

I’ve set myself the task of doing 3 a week and I’ll see how I get on.

Help?

I called up Carole Stubbs today. I had met her at a networking event back in March and I was really interested in her at the time as she had franchised her own business, Medics on the Move. She had mentioned that she would be happy to speak to me about franchising – or the F word as she described it – at any time.

I think she only vaguely remembered me, but she was really accommodating on the phone. She had been asked to speak at the NEC on Women in Franchising on the 6th October. I had actually intended to go to this exhibition anyway, so it was really good to hear that she was going to be there.

Carole encouraged me to come along to this exhibition and attend as many presentations as possible that were aimed at the franchisee. She said it was really important to know how the franchisee thinks and what they look for in a franchisor.

She also mentioned that Natwest run workshops aimed at franchisees where they get to ask a panel of franchisors loads of questions. Carole suggested that I go on this as it’s really helpful to see the interaction between franchisors and franchisees and the type of questions that get asked.

What I was really looking for though is for Carole to agree to meet with me and let me know how she franchised her business, and she said she would be happy to do this after the NEC exhibition. I said I would call her back then.

How does a franchise work?

I received some of the information I ordered from the franchise companies today and greedily sat there and read the brochures in depth. On the whole, I have to say I’m disappointed that they didn’t give me the answers I was looking for. I expected them to tell me how the franchise would work for their company to give me some idea of how to structure mine.

From what I understand from reading franchise magazine and my E-myth bible, the franchisee pays the franchisor a sum of money upfront to gain access to the DNA of the company (how it operates and markets itself) and then allows them to trade using the company’s name. There would then be an ongoing amount that the franchisee would pay to the franchisor for various things. This could be training and mentoring, for supplies or services that the franchisor provides or for products that the franchisor makes.

For instance, in the Apollo Blinds franchise, the franchisee would get the client, measure up and get their requirements and then sent the work to the franchisor, who would make the blinds and then return them to the franchisee for fitting. The franchisee would pay the franchisor for making the blinds on behalf of their client.

But none of the brochures tell me how it works for their company, so although I’m going on my understanding for the way I think it works, I’ve got no proof of this at the moment. Very frustrating. I need to find someone who has started a franchise and ask them how it works or speak to a franchisee who’s willing to share the secrets of the trade with me.

Baby Steps

When I'm not sure what I'm doing on something, the next step for me usually is research, so this morning, I have set about finding out as much as I can about franchising. I want to know how to go about it, but also how franchisees feel and what they do when they look for a franchise.

I did a quick search on Google and found the British Franchise Association. They have a book called "How to franchise your business" - absolutely perfect. They also have the "British Franchise Association Franchisors Guide", so I ordered both. Should be a good start. They also have several courses (at £295 + VAT) and recommend franchise consultants. Both these options are a bit out of my price range, so I've decided to look at the information first and then make some decisions about whether to go it alone or hire someone to work with me.

I also look through a magazine called Making Money, which is aimed at people looking to buy a franchise. I receive this, because I once placed an advert in it and managed to land myself on the mailing list. They have a list of franchises available and I ask Jan, one of my contacts to go onto a few of their websites and order me a franchise pack from each.

Funnily enough, now franchising is at the forefront of my mind, I keep coming across people who have taken out a franchise at networking events and I've started picking their brains as to what they think. Most people seem to be pretty happy with the route they've chosen, but I'm struck by how many saw it as a safer route into self-employment and now they've gained some confidence want to start a business with their own ideas.

I considered this for a long time after finding out this trend and decided it is great that they've developed and chosen to pursue routes of their own, but I think it's a shame that they've kept this hidden from their franchisor, who would theoretically support them. I vow to keep good communication with my franchisees and encourage them to tell me their plans.

Story so far...

I always hate starting a new diary or an introduction to something. Right now, I feel as though I'm just about to stand up at one of the breakfast meetings and give my spiel, so here goes.

My name is Helen Dowling and I'm just about to franchise my baby - the company I've nurtured and protected since its creation 2 1/2 years ago. Now though, it's ready to grow up - Exceptional Thinking has become a child!

So, what does ET do? Well we work with start-ups and small businesses helping them to understand their customers, stand out from the competition and grow (or begin) their business. You can find out more about the company and what we do at www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk as this blog is not really about the business, but how I am going to franchise it.

Why did I decided to franchise the company? It all began when I read The E-myth by Michael Gerber - an absolutely amazing book which completely changed the way I thought about ET. It's a book I avoided reading for a long time though because I thought it was about I.T and computers - well it's an easy mistake to make being called The E-myth (ok, it doesn't really take a lot to confuse me).

But when the 3rd person recommended it to me (and I tend to go on the rule of 3), I picked it up and gave it a go and the thought of franchising the business was born.

So this is my story of what I will do to get the franchise up and running...the highs and lows of (who knows what) I will face. I'll post what happens to me on here usually on a weekly basis or whenever something interesting happens.

Bye for now.