Franchise
The British Franchise Association You may be considering joining a franchise as your next career move, which is great. The British Franchise Association are on hand to help you prepare to ask the right questions and make the right choice for you.
WHAT IS FRANCHISING? Business format franchising is the granting of a license by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to trade under the trade mark/trade name of the franchisor. This agreement also allows franchisees to make use of a comprehensive training package, consisting of all of the necessary information to enable a previously untrained person to establish a business using the brands format with continued support from the franchisor.
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WHO ARE THE BRITISH FRANCHISE ASSOCIATION? The British Franchise Association (bfa) was established in 1977 and is the only voluntary selfaccrediting body for the UK franchise sector. Its aim is to promote ethical franchising practice in the UK and help the industry develop credibility, influence and favourable circumstance for growth. It does this with a self-regulatory, standards based approach to membership of the association. In addition the bfa works to increase the awareness of ethical franchising by communicating with government, academia, the media and the UK public on what constitutes franchising best practice. WHAT CONSTITUTES A ‘GOOD’ FRANCHISE? Simply put, a ‘good’ franchise will protect the interests of their franchisees whilst supplying the agreed training and ongoing support for any franchisee trading under their proven business model. As franchising in the UK is unregulated, there are franchises around that fall short of any or all of these characteristics and this is why it is important for you to do your research before handing over any money or signing a legally binding contract. All members of the bfa have undergone and passed the bfa’s rigorous accreditation process. These brands then agree to abide by the bfa’s rules of membership and periodic reaccreditation of their brand as standard. To complete this accreditation process, the bfa’s accreditation team review the brands promotional materials, check they can evidence their financial projections, survey the franchisee network and check the franchise agreement with a bfa accredited legal advisor. This detailed process is designed to filter out the brands who do not meet the bfa’s standards. As a result, brands do not always pass their accreditation the first time. The bfa then provide feedback on what changes or improvements need to be made
WHAT CHECKS SHOULD I MAKE BEFORE I JOIN A FRANCHISE? What checks shouldn’t you make should be the question! As mentioned before, prospective franchisees invest time and money into building a business under an already established brand; therefore it is important that they are comfortable that the brand is worthy of that commitment. Check them out online: The World Wide Web is incredibly powerful tool to utilise when finding out more about a brand’s reputation. With social media and customer reviews so easily accessible you are able to not only see whether a brand has developed a negative reputation for their franchise operation, but also whether their network of franchisees are helping to build a positive brand image through their customer service – after all who wants to join an operation with a network of franchisees that are damaging the brands reputation? That being said, do bear in mind that there are always two sides to the story. Do bring any concerns raised during online research to the franchisors attention. They may have a good explanation for what you found or alternatively, to meet these standards, thus enabling franchisors to improve their franchise offering for the benefit of their whole network. Not being a member of the bfa does not mean that a franchise brand is not ‘good’. bfa membership is voluntary and there can be a number of reasons that brands choose not to join membership. However, it is incredibly important when considering joining a franchise to complete your due diligence to ensure the brand is right for you before you commit – especially if the brand has not undergone bfa accreditation. You can view a full list of bfa members on the bfa website here: www.thebfa.org/members
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