Pip Wilkins, CEO of the BFA (British Franchise Association) reveals what October’s winners did to win their coveted BFA awards and why they make such great investments for prospective franchisees.
Firstly, let me start by saying that it’s not only the award winners who are doing a fantastic job in the UK franchise sector, at the moment, but the finalists as well. To even reach the finals of the BFA HSBC UK British Franchise Awards is a huge achievement and it’s very much worth checking out the list of finalists when considering your franchise purchase, as much as the overall winners.
There may even be BFA members who for one reason or another don’t enter our awards, who are equally as good, but I wanted to shed some light on the very tangible reasons that some brands made it into our list of winners this year.
Now of course I’m not going to name names, but I hope that you’ll come away, having read this article, with an idea of what makes a winner a winner and most importantly, what to look out for when deciding on your franchise purchase.
Investment
Obviously you can’t expect new, smaller franchises to be investing millions of pounds into the business, but if you are buying a franchise from a brand that has been around for at least ten years and has large amounts of franchisees, they absolutely should be investing in the business, across a variety of areas and if they aren’t, you should ask yourself, why not?
Back-office investment
Some forms of investment we’ve seen in our award-winning brands have been through new websites, marketing, PPC, SEO, digital marketing, videography, PR and graphic design, all of which will make the core service more visible and accessible to potential customers, which in turn directly benefits the franchisees.
Leadership investment
Others have invested heavily in their leadership, bringing in new directors and support teams. When you look at a franchise, ask how large their support team is and what the ratio is for staff to franchisees. As franchises grow they need to grow the support team as well, so dig down until you get the answers you need and look for a brand that has enough staff to help you achieve maximum efficiency and performance.
Strategies and campaigns
An award-winning brand should be fizzing with innovative strategies and campaigns to help their franchisees succeed. Some of our larger award winners delivered TV marketing campaigns that, in once case, resulted in a 60% increase in leads for their franchisees.
Others see a detailed onboarding strategy as key to a franchisee’s success, with some offering three weeks of training, a full marketing launch, 30, 60 and 90 day operational plans and a centralised sales team too.
Some brands who made it onto our winner’s podium, launched national advertising campaigns that resulted in a huge increase in leads for their franchisees.
Innovation
We were very impressed with some brands who were looking at innovative partnerships to enhance their brand. From academic partnerships, to introducing the use of AI and voice recognition. AI is here to stay and used correctly, can speed up many mundane tasks, leaving staff more time to focus on supporting their franchisees.
Training and support
Training and support are at the core of every franchise operation and should be the number one thing you ask about when you are considering buying a franchise brand.
Bear in mind we’re setting the bar high here, with our winners already having great training and support packages in place, but below are listed a few of the new training and support elements they brought into to their businesses.
New developments
Some brands introduced training for previously untapped areas of their sector, meaning franchisees could offer increased services to their customer, leading, of course to increased revenues.
Business coaching
One brand brought in business coaches for their franchisees and introduced quarterly business hubs. Others developed annual training cycles and introduced sales training for their franchisee’s staff.
Supporting struggling performance
To support franchisees that were struggling with performance, one brand developed a plan that would see franchisees ‘managed up’. If a franchisee is struggling with performance, it is imperative franchisors step in to help as soon as possible, to forestall any big problems down the line.
Mentors and operational audits
We read that many franchisors are keen proponents of mentors for franchisees and one brand introduced regular operational audits too, which saw one franchisee jump from their bottom performing franchisee to their top, in a turnaround success story.
Future Plans
It’s always worth asking a franchisor what their future plans are. Whilst there’s no guarantee they’ll come to fruition, it’s good to see their vision for the future and find out the potential time frame they are looking at to roll them out. Some plans we read about included: a talent management programme, a centralised sales hub, increased head office support and private equity engagement.
Forewarned is forearmed
I hope this article has armed you with some insight about the best of the best and questions to ask when you begin looking at making your franchise purchase and please remember, the BFA is here to help you. Visit our website to read more about the winners of the 2024 BFA HSBC UK British Franchise Awards and to find out more about our 300+ members, whose franchise opportunities have been thoroughly audited by us and who have pledged to uphold our code of conduct for ethical franchising.
We wish you well and look forward to welcoming you into the successful, profitable world of franchising.
