Should I Franchise My Business & 5 Tips for Marketing your Business in a downturn

A QUESTION I AM OFTEN ASKED

SHOULD I FRANCHISE MY BUSINESS?


Franchising today is a way of life. Franchising allows people to own their own business in an area that appeals to their interest. It can also fulfil a long-term desire to be part of a business that they can enjoy and develop for themselves. A franchise allows an individual to own a business which has an established brand, which already has systems in place, training programs and on-going support.

This article will focus on what you need to do to franchise your business. The subject of buying a franchise (an individual franchise for yourself) will be dealt with in an upcoming month.


If you are looking to franchise your business

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I hope to gain by franchising?
  
  
• Are there other options suited to my business? Franchising is not the only option, it is a great option (if done well) but a different business model may be better suited to what you are doing.
  
  
• Is your business right to franchise? Do you have the systems in place? Is it able to be replicated? Do I have the manuals? Do I understand what franchising is about?
  
  
• Is my business in the service area, a retail business or web based?
  
  
  
• Is there enough business to give potential franchisees a good return, but at the same time provide a revenue base for you, the franchisor, to be able to earn good money and to invest into the ongoing business?
  
  
• Are you happy to be involved with franchisees, who will always be asking questions and looking for direction and innovation?

What things do I need to offer?

This is not comprehensive, but you'll need to be able to offer:

• A brand (intellectual property)
  
  
• A system
  
  
• Training
  
  
• Innovation
  
  
• Marketing
  
  
  
• Reporting
  
  
• Profitability for both you and the franchisee.

What is required?
The first step is research:

Find out what franchising is about. The Franchising Council of Australia has a good website that enables you to do some initial review on what is required.

Next you will need to:

Invest in the set-up of the system, which starts with developing the franchise model, profitability for both the franchisor and the franchisees.

From this will develop:

Preparation of the franchise agreement and disclosure document (as required by the franchising code).

The operational manual

Recruiting of franchisees

How do you start?

My recommendation is that you use a franchising consultant to prepare and provide direction. One of the areas of weakness with franchise consultants is actually developing the commercial terms for the franchisor. These companies are very good at getting the system together, the preparation and writing of documentation, but you need to get advice from other sources to ensure the commercial terms being offered to franchisees make the business viable for the franchisor.

Who can help?

Franchise consultants will do most of the document preparation but you need a good lawyer, who understands franchising to prepare the disclosure document and the franchise agreement. You must comply by the franchising code, which is heavily monitored by the ACCC. The cost of set-up will vary depending on the documentation and information that is available. The cost will also vary dramatically according to the franchise consultant that you use and the expertise that they offer. In addition to their cost will also be costs in preparation of the franchise agreement and the disclosure document.

In this monthly email it is difficult to be comprehensive, but if you need help to explain the processes in more detail, it is only a telephone call away.

Peter Irvine

5 Tips for Marketing your business in a downturn:



1) Don't panic! When customers stop coming all the signs point to doom and gloom, the first instinct for many business owners is to stop Marketing. Marketing is an investment in your business not an expense.



2) Make the most of the customers you already have: A change in Marketing strategy to focus on drawing greater value from existing customers/clients rather than finding new ones can be a cost effective strategy.



3) Look for advertising bargains: Tough times can mean cheaper advertising if you know where to look. Distressed advertising-ad space that is unused or abandoned by an advertiser at the last minute can be used to deliver your message at cut-price rates.



4) Tell your customers/clients why they need what you have: When the economy is tight people get scared to commit to that purchase. Businesses need to make an extra effort to show how your product or service will help them.



5) Tighten up your return on investment measures: Good businesses will always ensure they are getting a decent return on marketing investment. When looking at measuring return on marketing investment it is important to make the criteria against which performance is evaluated as basic and low level as possible-focus your attention to sales lead conversion rates or average spend per customer on a store or section level rather than company wide sales.

Tony Gattari

About the Author

Tony Gattari of Achievers Group is a business keynote speaker and guest speaker. His passionate enthusiastic style makes him ideal as your next sales speaker, marketing speaker or keynote speaker. Tony Gattari has worked with over 120 businesses. See http://www.achieversgroup.com.au for more info.

Increase in competition for UK banks

News announced today that the main banks in the UK are going to be divided and sold to new entrants to increase competition.

This should be an interesting time for UK companies as an increase in competition could lead to a number of benefits for them. This is a big deal for the government as it now holds large shares of RBS and Lloyds. The Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he will wait for the time to be right so that the tax payers get their money back.

There could be some new banks coming to the UK's high streets over the next few years. The new banks will concentrate on deposits and mortgages.

This still needs to be approved by the European competition commissioner Neelie Kroes. The division of Northern Rock has already been approved.

The main question is will they be sold for less than the tax payers have paid for them?

Does outsourcing your accounting make sense?

Outsourcing accounting services has long remained a privilege reserved only for larger corporations. But now, the affordability and cost effectiveness of using outsourced accounting services is attracting small businesses as well. Small businesses normally have a lot of functions and very less resources for completing them. Using expert bookkeeping and accounting service providers for outsourcing accounting functions save small businesses a lot of resources, which can then be utilized somewhere else within the business.

But the main query a small business entrepreneur will have is this: Is outsourcing accounting services really worth it for my small business? The answer to this is complicated and requires evaluating the pros and cons of using a firm for financial functions of the business.

There are advantages attached to hiring a firm for outsourced accounting which are especially applicable to small businesses:

* The first and most important advantage of using an outsourced accounting service provider is its cost effectiveness, with an attractive possibility of saving up to 40% costs compared to in-house hiring.
* Small business accounting requirements can be handled easily by expert bookkeeping and accounting service providers through their expert staff
* You can choose to hire only those services which are applicable to your business
* You save valuable time by using accounting services which you can then dedicate to the core business activities
* You don't have to hire, train or retain in-house accounting staff

One drawback that can be associated with outsourcing accounting functions is that there are many companies which are into the domain of accounting services and it is a difficult task to filter out the experienced and genuine ones from the inefficient ones. So select an accounting service provider with a lot of care, and take the following factors into consideration:

* Does the outsourced accounting service provider have experience in your industry?
* Can it provide valid references of its current/past clients?
* Has it dealt with accounting functions of small businesses?
* Can the accounting service provider provide doorstep service if required?
* Is the accounting firm ready to sign a contract with you detailing the terms and conditions and guarantees of service?
* Is the accounting service provider flexible enough to allow you to scale your bookkeeping and accounting requirements up or down?
* Are the data security measures of the outsourced accounting service provider in question enough to protect sensitive information related to your small business?

In case you get positive responses to most of the questions posed above, you can rest assured that the firm you are considering outsourcing accounting services to is an appropriate one for your business.

There are many advantages of outsourcing accounting services for small businesses, which far surpass the disadvantages. If you get the right service provider, it can become a partner in helping you develop your small business. As a small business owner, you can consider hiring a professional bookkeeping and accounting service provider who will help you focus on the core activities of the business and grow it appropriately.

About the Author

Analytix Solutions provides customized accounting services for small and mid-sized businesses. By choosing to outsource accounting services to Analytix, businesses can save the time and effort spent in day-to-day business functions.

Top 10 Reasons Businesses Fail

Ten Reasons Businesses Fail

Wonder why a lot of businesses are failing at the moment? Here are 10 top reasons why businesses fail.



1) Not enough capital

2) Product/Service not needed

3) Under pricing

4) Too high overheads

5) Not enough time committed by owner

6) Bad luck/Poor timing

7) Poor understanding of the business

8) Bad location

9) Poor Accounting

10) Internal Theft

If you want your business to avoid bankruptcy and stay in credit then make sure one of these reasons will not be your downfall.

Saving Money - Why we should be spending less and budgeting

Finance: Saving Money - Why we should be spending less and making a budget to help us limit our spending.


We all need to be more financially aware and understand that the standard of life we have has to change for it to be sustainable financially good advice on why we should be spending less money.

Take a look at the other posted video for tips on saving money

Tips showing you how to manage your money wisely

Tips on how to manage your money more wisely a very useful video considering the current economic climate. Some simple but still useful budget and money management tips.

Maintain Your Income Stream If You Are Laid Off?

The world has entered into a recession, many corporations and companies had announced their job cutting news. If you are an employee for any of the companies that have plan to reduce their company's headcounts; then, your job will not be guaranteed. The question is how you are going to maintain your income stream just in case you are being laid off and unable to find a new job due to the job opportunities have been cutting down tremendously by most companies. It's time for you to think of setting up a second income source.

If you are thinking of getting a part-time job from other company, and go to work after your day job, then you probably will have a hard time find one in today's recession situation. Then, what other ways to source for income if you can't find a part-time job?

What if you create one for yourself? There are a few ways to make your own business without the need to investment a lot of money. By using the advantages of internet and online business features that allow you to work from home, here are the 2 common ways of earning money online:

1. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a business model that enables you to make money online without the need to have your own product. There are many online merchants looking for marketing outsourcing. They make their products available for online freelance agents, called affiliates who will be given commission based on their sales. You can set up a website to sell a few selected affiliate products. Your role as an affiliate is to drive web traffic to your website or directly to merchant's website through a unique link that will identify you as the affiliate who makes the sale.

Affiliate marketing has been a good income source for many people either as the part-time job or a full-time income. You may consider to set up a second income source through affiliate marketing while you still with your day job. Invest some time and efforts to make it successful; it can become your main income source just in case you are being laid off.

2. Set up an online store

Unlike traditional business, you don't need to invest a lot of money to have your own business on internet. You can choose to become your own boss by opening an online store to sell physical or downloadable products. In addition, you don't need to own a product for an online business. There is a business called dropshipping where you can easily find the products you are interested in selling at your online store; buy it at wholesale price and sell it at retail price at your online store. Under the dropshipping business model, dropshippers will sell you their product at wholesale price for individual item and they will deliver the ordered items to your customers on your behalf.

You don't need to quit your day job to start an online business. In fact, you can do it in parallel and work it out for a success. The income from online store can replace your main income just in case you have lost your job due to being laid off.

Summary

Under the bad economy situation where companies are looking for potential cost cutting and headcounts reduction, no job is guaranteed. As a working individual, you need to start to think of how to maintain your income stream if you are hit by the recession wave. Internet can be the best source to set up an income online and be the back up income stream while you are still with your day job.

Nicole Reebi is an author and the webmaster of http://www.clickbankblueprint.info. Find more information and resources on how to make money from internet if you are interested to earn extra income online.