FRANCHISING


“We started our business at the start of the credit crunch; despite that, Martin & Co helped us get all the finance we needed at very good rates. They have a dedicated finance manager and they’ve done an absolutely brilliant job.” A good franchisor will also offer the head office resources of one of the major corporates. James Trimble, New


Franchising Manager at Winkworth, says “We have various departments and they talk to franchisees on a daily basis - what do they want, what do they need, what can we offer?” Winkworth help with marketing and PR, training, even pitches for major instructions through its country house department.


The greatest need for support comes


when setting up and establishing the business. Belvoir puts a great deal of effort into creating a supportive process to get franchisees through those first months, says Dorian Gonsalves. Each franchisee has a one to one business mentor from Belvoir’s senior ranks who makes weekly phone calls and regular site visits in the first six months to check on progress and solve problems. A responsive support centre is also


important; Gonsalves says some franchisees make up to 15 support calls a day to start with, often on very basic issues. But franchisees do “manage to wean themselves off this support in the first six or seven months”. Neil Morris extols Your Move’s helpful


attitude, “Even the network branches are more than happy to let us go and talk to them, see how they do things, if there are ideas we can use; there’s no ‘them and us’”. He also gives Your Move credit for helping him plan the business properly. Crucial to his business plan was getting an expert valuer into the business, “so we could be up and running as quickly as possible.” The right strategic advice can make a big


difference to a new business, and Dennis Roodhardt was impressed by the resources that Martin & Co was able to deliver. “During the process of drawing up your business plan they look at your strengths and weaknesses and they advise you about putting together your team. One of my issues was I needed to get an administrator in straight away.” More recently, he’s received help


recruiting a branch manager for his new office in Hythe; Martin & Co screened applications and checked references before showing him the candidates, saving a huge amount of his time.


PROPERTYdrum SEPTEMBER 2011 23 Roodhardt says an experienced


operations director at the franchisor is crucial to making the business a success, and he rates Martin & Co highly. “They help me take a critical look at the business, suggest ways I can improve. They know how to drive businesses forward.” Sometimes, though, franchisors can’t


offer as much help. Paul Rogers says that while Reeds Rains has delivered corporate workload that has helped his franchise succeed (he was a Reeds Rains manager before taking on the franchise, so he knew


‘Operational processes can help franchisees achieve consistent


success – there’s no need for trial and error.’ DORIAN GONSALVES BELVOIR


Years of great experience on tap from the franchisor.


the system), he doesn’t think his franchisor was particularly responsive when the market turned down. “We had to amend all our expansion


plans for the first few years after Northern Rock. In terms of financial support there wasn’t really anyone there, and I think a few franchises fell by the wayside. It was up to me and my business partner Laurie to cut costs,” he says. Generally, he characterises the Reeds Rains response as “if you need help shout, as opposed to them coming along and helping.” Edward Foley has been particularly


pleased by the amount of effort Winkworth puts into PR, and the impact that’s had on his business. Early on, Winkworth’s PR department got them a double page spread in the Evening Standard’s Homes & Property section, and helped them get stories in the Times and Telegraph. He says, “We would never have had the time to do all that PR.” There are also huge economies of scale when it comes to marketing. “We would have paid far more for advertising, that was a huge saving right away.” His experience is echoed by Andrew Cranshaw, Reeds Rains franchisee in Ashton under Lyme. He believes that while he has to pay a monthly franchise fee, Reeds Rains helps him keep his cost base low to cope with the tough market. “We get access to all the portals at a corporate rate; it’s worth hundreds of pounds to us every month.” He also points out that Reeds Rains also


has a fair amount of corporate business that comes franchisees’ way – it lands on your plate, rather than your having to go and find it.”


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