Franchise Focus A digital revolution
With a broad range of digital services, Plug and Play continue to rapidly expand INVESTMENT LEVEL: £30,000
Malcolm Porter A
s Plug and Play move into their seventh year, continued growth and profit is high on the agenda. Now with 21 franchised offices
nationwide, Plug and Play is one of the largest web design groups in the UK. Founded by Peter Richman in 2006, Plug and Play has come a long way, franchising in 2010 and continually improving the business system. Peter says: “We’ve spent the last
three years planning our strategy and heavily investing in our technology and infrastructure. When you look at Plug and Play now, it’s an established and mature franchise that can really demonstrate fantastic return on investment for a franchisee and that’s what counts.” Richman continues: “One of the key investments for Plug and Play has been developing the system that the whole business operates on: XEUS. The company produced the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) product not only to enable Plug and Play to deliver huge operational efficiencies and economies of
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scale, but also as product for sale. It’s clear to see that there is a huge market for a custom web-based CRM in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) marketplace, not because they don’t already exist but because we have spent six years getting it right. Reviewing the business model, it’s clear to see that XEUS has been a fantastic product to bring to market. However, Plug and Play still enjoy a huge amount of ‘bread-and-butter’ work in delivering mid-sized websites for SMEs. Most of our customers spend between £3,000 and £6,000 on a website and with no physical product to produce, so the profit margins are extremely healthy.” Plug and Play’s most recent franchisee is
particularly interesting as it is Malcolm Porter, an ex-franchise consultant. Having spent the last few years advising businesses on how to launch and develop a successful franchise network, Malcolm has now turned to the other side and become a franchisee himself, choosing Plug and Play as his franchisor. “I’ve spent the last five years as a franchise consultant, helping other businesses franchise, and I’ve watched Plug and Play go from strength to strength – that’s why I’ve now purchased a Plug and Play franchise myself!” Malcolm was impressed by the strong franchise model that Plug and Play offered, allowing franchisees to grow their own business in a very buoyant industry. Despite having limited technical knowledge, Malcolm’s key attributes of being driven, outgoing and personable make him an ideal Plug and Play franchisee. Plug and Play runs a classic franchise model – centralizing the complex, custom and expensive elements of production to achieve economies of scale and operational efficiencies, while at the same time reducing risk for the franchisees. Starting a Plug and Play franchise is
made much easier by the comprehensive training provided during the ‘hand holding’ period in the new franchisee’s first few months.
“The business model itself is ideal for someone ambitious who really wants to achieve something for themselves”
Peter explains: “Most of our franchisees
start from home for the first few months while they gain market traction, this keeps the costs low and enables them to start generating profit much more quickly. Once established, they can then move into offices and start building their business with the help, support and ongoing guidance of Plug and Play centrally. Within a year or two they will be employing their own staff, who also benefit from our support, enabling the franchisee to either continue growing their business, open another Plug and Play franchise or even take a back seat.”
He adds: “The Plug and Play franchise is a fantastic offering that has no comparative competition in the marketplace. The business model itself is ideal for someone ambitious who really wants to achieve something for themselves. You don’t need any specific technical knowledge as our development team look after the complex delivery, so you just need to be outgoing, ambitious and self-motivated.” You’ll need around £30,000 to start a Plug and Play franchise - including buying a laptop, travel, etc - at least £20,000 of which needs to be your own cash investment. n
PLUG AND PLAY
WEBSITE:
www.plugandplayfranchise.co.uk EMAIL:
info@plugandplayfranchise.co.uk PHONE: 01483 276 699 CLASSIFICATION: Web design/internet
Investment: £20k-£50k
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