The biggest franchising show of the year is just around the corner! Of course, I’m talking about the International Franchise Show at London’s Excel on 11th and 12th April.

Not only will hundreds of franchisors be attending, along with 1000s of people interested in starting their own business through joining a franchise, but also a great number of businesses who are themselves at various stages of becoming franchisors.

If you’re planning to attend, please do come down and visit us at The Franchising Centre’s stand. It’s a great opportunity to come and have look at the industry in more detail and chat to myself or my colleagues.

You’ll also be able to catch me speaking at the “How to Franchise Your Business” session at 1pm on Friday 11th. I would be more than happy to chat to you and answer any questions afterwards!

One of my biggest topics this year will be: the benefits of franchising with the help of professionals vs doing it yourself

I’ve been working in franchising for 30 years now, with most of that time focused on helping businesses just like yours become franchises. Compared to even 10 years ago, one huge thing that has changed is just how much information is now readily accessible out there about franchising.

In general, that’s a good thing – knowledge is power, after all! However, there is one effect of all that which is really proving to be a mixed blessing: the higher number of people who take a DIY approach to franchising. After all, they’ve already built a brand which is successful enough to consider franchising, so why not take the next step on their own, too?

In some ways, it is encouraging to see so many more people embrace franchising as a model for growth, but it can be far more challenging than people realise, and contains layers of complexity which can seriously come back to bite you later if not done right.

As usual, in any aspect of business, it can be what you don’t know that you don’t know which can get you!

One of the least pleasant aspects of our work is coming across business people who have decided to go ahead and franchise a business without taking professional advice – although in some cases they thought they were getting professional advice without thoroughly checking the credentials of the person they were trusting with the future of their business.

Usually, you only get one chance to set your franchise business up correctly. If it goes wrong, you could be putting your business in a significant financial and legal mess. Not to mention losing 10s of 1000s of pounds for nothing, and ruining the reputation of your brand.

Why risk going it alone if you don’t have to?

So, where are you on your franchising journey and where do you hope it will take you?

Every business is different, and so the steps they need to take to become a successful franchise, or a better franchise, are different. While there are tried and tested methods you can use, there is no such thing as a “one size fits all”. Which is why everything we do starts with assessing your business’ unique potential as a franchise.

If you’re attending the show at Excel, I hope my talk can help you a great deal. You might also find this explainer page very useful: Grow Your Business By Franchising It

If you are at the show, we can find some time for a chat, but whether you are there or not, I am also available for a no obligation, free consultation to help you discover how you can get from where you are now to where you want to be as a franchise.

Just click the button below to schedule a call, or see you in London!