Business
‘Do you buy a franchise or start up on your own?’ This is a great podcast to help you decide whether you should be looking at a franchise or starting up on your own. John takes us through a comprehensive list of the pros and cons for each option and looks at the reasons and types of people who take on franchises and those who start up on their own. Listen in, hear the pros and cons and then decide. KEY TAKEAWAYS The franchisee PROS Systems - A large majority, if not all of the systems are given to you as part of the franchise package. Support and Training from Franchisor - You are trained on how to operate all systems with support and further training. People in the same position - There are lots of other people in the same position and across franchisee’s, there are communities and groups who regularly interact. The brand - The name is a great help in building the business. Proven track record - People maybe more likely to use a company and the franchisee rather than an unknown name that has just opened. The Franchisee Cons The support can be poor - Sometimes as the franchisee, you can be paying for support that you do not receive. You have to pay a licence or franchise fee - You are making all the effort, it’s your time but the name over the door can be very costly for the business. Tied in - You are not allowed to do lots of things without the approval of the franchisor. Set way of working - There could be an issue with location but a set pattern from the franchisor will not account for this. Not always up to date - Franchise companies can be set in their ways with advertising and working practice. HQ Approval - You need to have approval for many things and often the head office can be reluctant to change or pay for anything different. Staring your own business PROS Freedom and control - You have the freedom to implement what you want when you want Fees - The majority of money made belongs to the owner, there is no portion to pay to someone else Starting your own business CONS Lack of support - There is very little support available and as independents, there is not the shared community support. Building the brand - You have to build a brand from scratch and you don’t know what you don’t know. Marketing - Unless you’ve worked in marketing you probably won’t have a customer avatar or understand where you fit in the market. Systems - Initially, there will be no systems in place and it can take 2-3 years before you have the systems in place that the business requires. BEST MOMENTS ‘Franchisees are training with my company because they want something more to push their businesses forward‘ ‘You are paying for stuff and not getting fair value back and that can be disappointing’ ‘If I want to rebrand tomorrow I can’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Leadership Revealed Podcast ABOUT THE HOST John has several Estate and letting agents in the North East of England. He also has a consultancy business where he teaches agents how to grow and scale a sustainable business. John’s doing this podcast to grow in the estate agency space but also to try and break into other industries as the formula he has developed for estate agency success, will work in other SME industries and he wants to break into high ticket coaching. CONTACT METHOD https://www.facebook.com/agencyconsulting/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-paul-14167211/ https://twitter.com/TheLHAExpert johnpaul@agency-consulting.co.uk