How you can build a caring business
AMBITIOUS entre - preneurs will find that they can quickly drive expansion by buying a franchise.
Sally Graham had a health care franchise and has already expanded into eight other geographical areas.
She then founded her own home care franchise, Avant Health Care.
Sally says: ‘I wanted to expand fast, so it was very full- on at first, but the experience I gained in setting up and running the first one helped me a lot when I wanted to expand.
‘More territories offered economies of scale, which made my business viable much quicker. I saved by buying supplies in bulk , and could offer my staff more promotion opportunities.
‘ It also meant I was not too dependent on one large customer because having multiple territories meant that I had several local authority clients.’
As a franchisor, Sally is looking for franchisees who also want to expand fast. She advises: ‘If you want to go multiple, I’d recommend finding a trusted, capable colleague to share some of the operational responsibility, so that you can focus on business strategy.
‘Also, don’t lose sight of your work - life balance. I shall be stressing that to all my franchisees.’ The Avant Health Care franchise starts at £ 32,500. Many franchises — especially in the food sector — encourage multi-unit franchising by offering incentives.
The P apa John ’s Pizza franchise offers reduced franchise fees and special deals on investment in equipment to suitable franchisees who want to open more outlets.
Umar Malik, 30, who opened his first Papa John’s outlet in Swansea in 2014, now has ten stores in W ales. He says: ‘The incentive scheme was a great help. Deals on equipment and franchise fees freed up more working capital to spend on such things as marketing.’
To discover more, visit the British Franchise Exhibition and Growing Your Own Business Conference, being held in Manchester on June 16 and 17. Visit franchiseinfo.co.uk AVANT Health Care, 0203 105 1915; Papa John’s, 0844 567 0937.