Franchising your business

Within Orchard we have experience of working with franchises, both as franchisee and franchisor.

This includes;

• a major burger franchisee which operates over 40 restaurants across the UK from a mixture of freehold and leasehold premises all managed by the company separately from the franchise
• as franchisor of a chain of pizza outlets
• as a Ford Motor franchisee with 3 dealerships
• an at home cleaning franchise operation specialising in residential cleaning and car cleaning and repair. This business was split into 2 types: individual franchisees operating on their own from a van and visiting the customer and management franchisees who would employ their own staff and have their own small cleaning business in a designated area.

Unique insights into franchisee and franchisor relationships

Having experience as both franchisee and franchisor gives us a unique insight into how the relationship works, how to get the best for both parties and at the same time ensuring the customer gets the best possible service. Obviously most customers are not aware or even concerned they are dealing with a business franchise so consistency and quality of service across the whole network is crucial. One weak operator can affect the whole network. The back up and support from the franchisor is key, but of course it is the franchisees own business and they need to have sufficient independence to manage in the way they want without compromising the brand. The major advantage for franchisees is that they are buying into a proven formula and probably well known brand taking away some of the risk, but by no means guaranteeing success.

Part-time FD services to franchise businesses

So, as well as providing a core part-time FD service, we can assist our franchisor clients in a number of ways including;

• working closely with franchisees, understanding their issues as they need to be successful too, and implementing the solutions across the franchise network
• maximise returns to franchisor not just for the short term
• practical help to franchisees if required

... and we can assist our franchisee clients by;

• implementing process to simplify regular reporting to the franchisor
• identifying ways to maximise profit without compromising franchisor income/brand
• practical help to manage their business

Do you have a business which might be suitable for franchising? Please call us for a confidential, no-obligation discussion?