As the UK’s hub of franchising since our inception in 1977, we are proud to set the standards in UK franchising today. We currently have over 330 franchisor members and 2,000 franchisee members, each contributing towards the £19.1 bn that franchising puts into the UK economy, every year.
Education
One of the things we are best known for is our dedication to educating people not only about franchising but teaching existing franchisors how to excel. A quick flick through the events calendar on our website will show that we run multiple educational courses and events every month, to ensure potential franchisees have access to the best information before they invest and that franchisors are fully supported to run their ethical, professional franchises, all in line with our famous code of ethics.
The BFA’s Code of Ethics
Our code of ethics is at the heart of everything we do, and we warmly encourage anyone looking to buy a franchise to download a copy of them from our website.
Every one of our 330 members, who’s franchise opportunities are listed on our website, have had their businesses judged against the code, to ensure that they are meeting and exceeding our very high standards. It’s this auditing that makes a BFA franchise a safe choice and should give you comfort in your investment.
The ‘know how’
One phrase you’ll see frequently written in the code is ‘the know how’. In its most basic form, franchising is one person, telling a second person how to run a business; quite simply by giving them ‘the know how’. It is this tried and tested business method that makes franchising so safe, giving us a less than 1% commercial failure rate, according to our last survey. [ii]
Franchising for veterans
The beauty of franchising is that you don’t need any experience in the franchise area you are looking at. Take Brigadier Simon Bell (Retd). Simon had spent a long and successful career in the armed forces, before he bought a property franchise with Belvoir, as he felt that his investment and leadership skills would help during the early planning and development years. Being a people person is also a vital skill in property.
Quality organisation
“I was looking for a business opportunity with a quality organisation that had a strong brand, and offered great training as well as IT, marketing and legal support. Belvoir ticked all those boxes” said Simon, whose estate agency and MAB mortgage businesses are now turning over £880,000 a year and employing 14 people.
He continued: “I was introduced to Belvoir by an ex-military colleague who was also one of their successful franchisees; the company was actually founded by a chap who was ex-RAF and I knew that many ex-military had gone on to become successful Belvoir franchisees. I was also comforted by the fact that it was part of the BFA, so I knew it was a reputable and ethical business that met their strict standards.”
Due diligence
Before you even pick up the phone to a franchise, we would recommend you take our free ‘Prospect Franchisee Course’[iii]. Once completed, you’ll be fully prepared on all aspects of becoming a franchisee, from considering your own personality and skill set, through to the legal and financial considerations you need to know. You’ll hear from franchisors on what they look for in a great franchisee, and detailed insight into the financial and funding aspects of starting and growing your business.
BFA ‘Invest in a franchise’ events
We also run an ‘invest in a franchise’ course for a nominal fee, every other month. The sessions are delivered by BFA accredited members, with a broad knowledge and practical experience in franchising, including specialists from the BFA together with legal and banking experts. A panel session will also feature guest franchisors and franchisees to really showcase both sides of the relationship.
Questions to ask
Ultimately you want to make sure the franchise you buy is 1) right for you, 2) going to allow you to build a profitable business that you can sell or hand on to a family member one day.
Once you’ve identified a brand you feel could be right for you, get in touch with the franchisor and have a chat to see if it feels a good ‘fit’ for you both. Having signed an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement), ask for a list of contact details of their franchisees, then pick up the phone to at least six of them, to find out how their businesses are doing. Not all of them are going to be 100% happy, but if all of them tell you the same story, eg poor support from the franchisor or problems with stock or contracts, you may want to look at some other options with happier franchisees.
We wish you great luck in your search and are always here to help you. To find out more about supported self-employment through franchise opportunities, visit our website.
[i] https://www.thebfa.org/the-bfa-standards/
[ii] https://www.thebfa.org/news/the-results-are-out-2024-national-franchise-survey-is-live/
