Did you ever think of franchising your brand? What are the pros and cons?
Franchises work well when the business has a memorable marketing formula and work best when talented people take on the role of franchisee.
Twenty years ago colleagues franchised 15 of our least profitable branches. The 10pc franchise fee immediately increased our profit and most of the franchisees made more money by working on their own, increasing turnover and cutting costs.
A few franchisees were unsuccessful (in retrospect we picked the wrong personalities). As we had originally persuaded them to take on the challenge we felt obliged to buy back the business and offer them their old jobs. Other franchisees did very well but the magic gradually wore off and after about five years we abandoned the scheme. Read full article.
