Special Feature


from scratch takes time and sometimes even years before it turns a profi t. With franchising, the risks are minimised. The franchise will have been tried and tested by the franchisor with a pilot operation and again and again with every franchisee it has on board. The system and procedures in place will have been refi ned and you’ll have the benefi t of learning from others’ mistakes. ChipsAway franchisee Ian Whitlock was made redundant from an insurance company in June 2009. He says: “Franchising offers a proven business model with good back up. I didn’t want to be in a vulnerable position again.”


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“Franchising offers a proven business model with good back up. I didn’t want to be in a vulnerable position again”


New year new start


With unemployment expected to rise to 2.9 million this year, why not take control of your destiny by investing in a franchise? Here’s what four franchisees did with their redundancy cheques


38 | Businessfranchise.com | February 2012


There is also the huge advantage that most franchises are designed for people with little or no experience in a specifi c industry, allowing you to try something new. A good franchisor will provide extensive initial and ongoing training enabling you to be up and running in a relatively short time. Jim Thomas was made redundant after 22 years in the tyre and exhaust industry. Jim says: “I could have stuck with what I knew but there were only small jobs available and a tyre and exhaust business is expensive to set up as you need premises and expensive equipment, so instead I chose to do something completely different with web design and consultancy franchise Spoton.net.” Adjusting from employment to self- employment can take some getting used to, as Alan Crocker, a ComputerXplorers franchisee, explains: “The hardest part is the psychological adjustment. I’d been employed since I was 16 years old, so it was strange suddenly not being handed a payslip at the end of the month. On the fl ip side, the motivation and satisfaction you feel from knowing you are building your own business is above and beyond what many felt before as employees.”


inding a new job after redundancy can be challenging, leaving many pondering the idea of self- employment. However, starting a new business


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