Have you ever wanted to own your own business but were overwhelmed by the process? Ryan White, co-owner of pet care franchise We Love Pets, explains how buying a franchise can give you the business you’ve always wanted, with the freedom you’ve always dreamed of.
The hidden challenges of running a business
If you are thinking of starting up your own business (and hey if you are, good luck to you, my wife did it with We Love Pets 16 years ago so I absolutely can’t knock it), but if you are it’s worth being aware of everything that goes on behind the scenes to make it work.
Policies, procedures and a whole lot, lot more
We know many people ‘just want to walk dogs/teach children to swim/clean houses/care for the elderly but, quite rightly, you need a plethora of policies and procedures in place to legally and ethically run businesses like this. For instance, if you wanted to teach children to swim, what is your policy for swimming without a float? If you have the children to your house for tutoring, what is your policy for safeguarding children in your care? If you run a cleaning company, what is your policy for a pregnant member of staff? Do you have insurance? If so, does it say that your staff are covered if they stick to company policy? What happens if you don’t have the correct company policy? Are you even insured? And so on and so on. Then there’s the back-end systems, the apps, website, SEO, marketing, PR, advertising which all cost a lot to build and maintain.
Members of the BFA (British Franchise Association)
The good news is, if you choose to buy a franchise that is a member of the BFA (British Franchise Association) like us, they will have had their entire business thoroughly audited to make sure it has all the necessary documentation it needs.
The Franchise Manual aka the cheat sheet!
Most BFA franchise brands will almost certainly have been trading for at least five years (if not 10 or 20 years), during which time they will have created all the systems, policies and procedures you need. They will have had all the sleepless nights, paid all the solicitors bills to get the policies checked, spent the money getting the website developed, written the articles to get it ranking well on Google, built the app to make a smooth booking system for clients, developed all the systems, built the brand’s reputation and sometimes, won awards to further raise their profile. They will have done it all; then written something called a ‘Franchise Manual’ that details exactly how to run the business, the ultimate cheat’s guide that will allow you to hit the ground running, not weighed down by paperwork and admin.
Choose franchising for freedom
When you choose to buy a franchise, you immediately do away with the need to worry about any of the above because it has all been done for you, giving you the freedom to get on with recruiting clients and finding customers from day one.
Caveat: Success is never guaranteed
Now don’t get me wrong, in no way am I saying that just because you have brought a franchise it will definitely work. Even though the latest BFA survey will tell you that less than 1% of franchises fail through commercial failure, it still needs you to work hard, find customers, deliver a great service and establish your own local reputation; being part of a franchise just gives you someone to teach you exactly how to make it work – something your competition would give their right arm for.
Work-life balance
If you are thinking about leaving your regular employment, breaking free from its constraints, it is worth considering franchising. It offers the freedom to focus on what really matters, growing a business, achieving financial stability and creating that all important work-life balance.
