When thinking about writing this article, I must confess that my initial instinct was to immediately speak to key areas of support and guidance that one can access by being a franchisee and I will, of course, touch on these during the article, but on the drive into the office this morning, I was clear on the need to talk about purpose.

One of the key motivations to becoming a franchisee is to invest in partnership with a brand that has an established business model and a well-trodden path so that you can exercise your entrepreneurial spirit and expertise in a local market with the support and oversight of a national brand.

That paragraph is a fantastic start in understanding the benefits of the franchise model, but it goes deeper than that; at the heart of a strong relationship between franchisor and franchisee is the ability to align with a common sense of purpose, or a common just cause. This transcends personality which is particularly relevant given that we seem to be in an age whereby the cult of personality is significant.

Practically, there are many benefits to franchising starting with the support that you will receive from the franchisor. At the heart of this is an interdependent relationship with expertise across the following areas;

• Location and property sourcing
• Landlord relationship & negotiation
• Demographics and competitor analysis
• Start-up support: navigation through the start-up journey
• Funding advice with preferential rates from high street banks
• Training: sector specific and general management development
• National & local marketing: Brand awareness with local market targeted marketing
• Operational support from a field team dedicated to franchisee quality & delivery
• Compliance: support with the regulatory framework within your chosen sector
• Business management support: ensuring you’re on track with financial fundamentals
• Networking with other franchisees: build relationships with like-minded people

Never has the benefit of a franchise been more clearly demonstrated than through the COVID-19 pandemic and various lockdowns in 2020. The point of difference for a franchisee was the ability to pick up the phone to someone who could help across the full range of challenges; a Franchisor who was already able to leverage their size and scale, providing guidance and knowledge with a seemingly endless amount of information having to be interpreted and communicated in an actionable form.

Franchising is a catalyst whereby you can exercise your passion for a sector and develop your ability to run an incredible business with support from a business partner structured to support you.

Why would you not?