Whether you have discovered franchising through newspapers, an acquaintance, a franchisee who you know, or by popping along to a franchise exhibition with a friend, we would like to welcome you to the wonderful and varied world of franchising.

Is Big Beautiful?
Should you look at the biggest most colourful ads because these represent a company that is obviously willing to invest a lot of money in attracting the right person (you?) or should you look at the small ads as this shows you companies that are careful and prudent with their money and will invest it carefully all of the time? The answer is neither - a very small proportion of these two assumptions are true a very small amount of the time.

When you, as a potential franchisee, first looked at the adverts in the franchise sections of your newspaper (or even in specialist franchise magazines) what do you see? Well a lot of adverts for a start, and some will appear more attractive to you than others, but which one is offering you the best franchise opportunity; as we said before, is it the slick, well designed ‘corporate look' quarter page; the one representing a name you know from everyday life; a new brand name or is it the simple lineage advert?

Your Personal Franchise CV
The sensible thing to do before you trawl through the vast array of opportunities displayed before you is to compile a ‘Franchise CV'. This should list your skills (manual or administrative) and your interests; just because you have always worked in admin doesn't mean that you aren't a keen gardener and therefore one of the gardening franchises like TruGreen, Jim's Mowing, or ProLawn Care, to name but a few, may be of interest to you.

Based on your ‘Franchise CV', the daunting task of choosing the one for you looms ahead. Where do you start, in your newspaper, in a franchise magazine or online? The answer is simple; if you are serious you should look at them all, gleaning as much information as possible in order to make an informed choice - this is a long term and financial commitment that should not be taken lightly.

The sensible thing to do before you trawl through the vast array of opportunities displayed before you is to compile a ‘Franchise CV'

Don't Restrict Your Search
We all, naturally, gravitate towards the familiar, a name we know from the High Street or our every day life, which is no bad thing and this does guarantee us some level of security we may not feel by venturing into the unknown. A large, well established, corporation will have looked long and hard at franchising themselves before making the leap, there are, however, hundreds & hundreds of franchise opportunities in the UK - the variety on offer is incredibly varied.

Unless you have already decided on your route into franchising, our advice would be to treat them all the same, when you begin your voyage of discovery; compare the attributes of each without a bias towards the ‘well known name'. Some of the names you are not so familiar with may be ‘big in franchising' and have a large network of franchisees, so give both sides of the coin serious thought and consideration without ruling out one route or the other.

Top tips

  • Think seriously about what you are good at in work or in your leisure time and even consider your interests and hobbies before deciding which route or routes you want to investigate
  • Go online to the vast array of franchise websites to get information on franchises in your chosen sector(s) or (if you still haven't fine tuned your decision) look at the market in general to help you
  • If you are still trying to decide look for franchises that fit with your CV or skills and interests
  • Go to a franchise exhibition to talk to franchisors in your chosen field(s) to help you decide
  • Adverts with the key points of the opportunity bullet pointed are easier for us assimilate than the very ‘wordy ads' and ‘usually' mean that the advertiser has thought about getting the message across to you clearly and succinctly
  • Does the advert show you what you need to invest - just because an advert doesn't don't be scared off. If the opportunity is attractive, and suits your CV, get in contact with them
  • If there is website address in the advert, go on-line to learn more before either applying on-line or calling them direct
  • Speaking to someone with relevant experience. They will often tell you more than just asking for the information on-line
  • Go to a franchise exhibition where your chosen franchise is exhibiting and talk to them face to face
  • Ask if you would meet with other franchisees before signing on the dotted line
  • When you are ready to take the plunge always seek legal advice from a franchise specialist solicitor

We hope that you are successful in your franchise search and whether you ultimately go for a ‘Big Fish' or a ‘Little Fish' always go for a well established company with a good trading record. Remember in franchising that there is ample room for all sizes of business; make sure yours is one of the good ones.

For more information visit www.arcma.co.uk