I’ve long maintained that franchising should occupy a special place in the economy. I even wrote a paper about it called The Networked Hierarchy. I’ll send it to you if ever you have trouble getting to sleep. It was a long piece but I still think the ideas are okay. The economy is, effectively,...

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You may have got the impression from my last blog that I’m not the greatest fan of franchise exhibitions… and you would be entirely right. I still go to at least two of the four shows that are held across England and Scotland every year. I have meetings with customers, have a look about...

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I am, of course, referring to Franchise Exhibitions, with the biggest in the UK at Birmingham NEC coming up this week, Friday and Saturday 2nd and 3rd October. I have to say that I am completely in the middle on this one and for a whole range of reasons. Let’s start with the pros…...

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It was a question that got asked last week by a potential franchisee, thinking about joining one of our clients. Generally, I would say, no. It’s not possible to be too successful… because if you’re too successful it means you’re unsuccessful! If you see what I mean, although I’m not 100% sure that I...

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…who has a franchise that’s not quite working. It struck me the other day as a truism that should really be explored – like five degrees of separation!I got a call from a marketing guy. He was very good and actually asked me some questions before trying to sell me a solution. (Rather than:...

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In Australia, where there is a thriving franchise industry that makes up a much larger proportion of GDP than here in the UK, there is a Franchise Act. The Franchise Act specifies the responsibilities of franchisors, franchisees and people connected to the industry. Franchisors have to be registered and registration can be withdrawn. One...

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Being a franchisor is hard. There are conflicting interests to manage and franchisees are a pretty demanding bunch. Add to this the fact that anything that goes wrong is your fault and anything that goes right would have gone right anyway so it’s clear why very few franchisors make it through to the BFA’s...

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Yes, the eagerly awaited franchising survey (commissioned by the BFA and sponsored by NatWest Bank) has been released. And very interesting reading it makes, too! First of all, the big picture… There are 34,600 franchisees across the UK and there are 838 known franchise operations (up 29 on last year). Collectively they generate £11.4bn...

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Once upon a time there were three guys, each of whom wanted to buy a franchise. The poor franchisor had only one franchise left to sell and had no idea who to award the franchise to. Each of the potential franchisees seemed to be a good choice, but each had their own reason for...

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Franchising is all about processes. Processes so that franchisees can deliver the product, run the business and implement a marketing plan. And, to be honest, most franchisors deliver these things to some degree. But there’s one process that’s often missed and, if I’m honest, it’s one missing part to the process that makes things...

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