The festive season always comes around incredibly quickly, but I think January often seems to come round even quicker! As we head into 2024, it makes sense to take some time to consider how ready your business is to face any known and unknown challenges that lie ahead. As a business owner, how do you feel about the next 12 months? Are you excited about the future, or are you are feeling somewhat demotivated? I believe that New Year can be a perfect time to reflect on what has gone well with a business and review any challenges that you and your team might have faced. It is also a good time to take a detailed look at your business plan, reprioritise different areas and reconsider your goals for the next 12 months. For example, what small steps can be taken to help increase efficiency, and raise awareness of the services you are offering to clients so that you can outperform the competition?
If you are already a franchisee, you will have the advantage of being able to consult with your franchisor or business development manager to help you assess your progress. Take advantage of any opportunities to utilise their expertise, and where possible network with other franchisees to share ideas, concerns, new initiatives and plans. This ability to interact with fellow business owners is one of the key successful elements that makes franchising so successful. As I have often said, being the owner of an independent business can be quite a stressful and somewhat lonely position to be in. Time and again franchisees within the Belvoir Group have commented how much they have benefitted from attending regular regional networking group meetings, as well as the national conferences that are organised for individual brands, where there is always ample opportunity to meet up with fellow franchisees.
With regards to the Belvoir Group as a whole, I was delighted that 2023 proved to be another successful year, and we recorded our 26th year of unbroken profit growth. In September the Group announced a 10% increase in pre-tax profit, and I was invited onto Sky News to talk about our results. More recently we won the Best Investor Communication Award at the prestigious AIM Awards 2023, and I was also very pleased to learn that Belvoir has retained its position as the number one property franchise in the Elite Franchise top 100 Awards!
At the end of 2023 a total of 13 franchisees from across the Belvoir Group network graduated from our inaugural Elevate high-performance leadership course. The Belvoir Training Academy is now planning to roll this motivational course out to other ambitious franchisees within the Group. We also had some fantastic charity events in 2023, with many franchisees donating their time and efforts to supporting local community fundraisers and good causes.
As we head into 2024 acquisitions remain a key strategy for business growth for our franchisees and our acquisition team will continue to source viable opportunities and provide support for franchisees who wish to achieve business growth. As brands within the Belvoir Group continue to mature, many of our more experienced franchisees have achieved their goals, and completed on resales so we said goodbye to some much-valued colleagues in 2023. As sad as it was to say goodbye to people that I have known for many years it was also gratifying to see them benefit from the years of work they have put into their business. These franchisees are now moving onto the next chapter of their lives, and we welcome the new franchisees with their fresh ideas and energy.
Being willing to accept and welcome change is important. With this in mind, Northwood has just completed on a fantastic rebrand, and feedback from franchisees has been very positive. Those Northwood franchisees who have already completed on the new look are excited about going into 2024 with fresh energy and a contemporary, eye-catching new look.
If you are considering buying a franchise in 2024, I wish you well. I would also urge you to do your research carefully, ensuring that you find a business that has the potential for you to achieve your goals in the New Year and beyond.
