Young find franchising ‘off-putting’

Many young entrepreneurs are put off the idea of franchising and fail to realise it can be a less risky way of running a business than starting from scratch, according to research by the Make Your Mark campaign and Domino’s Pizza claims.

The survey of 18-30-year-olds suggests many young people are put off running their own business by “closed shop” language, with 65% saying business jargon deterred them from going it alone.

Demystifying different business models by simplifying language or by bringing them to life though promotion of role models is an important way in which businesses can help to fuel an enterprise culture

Participants suggested words such as ‘franchisee’ and ‘franchising’ be replaced by terms such as ‘business owner’ or ‘business with stabilisers’, while many wanted more attention on phrases such as ‘being my own boss’ or ‘making money for me’.

The poll also suggested that 85% of young people believe there aren’t enough examples of successful young entrepreneurs and around a fifth seek out inspiration from television shows such as Dragons’ Den or The Apprentice.

“Demystifying different business models by simplifying language or by bringing them to life though promotion of role models is an important way in which businesses can help to fuel an enterprise culture among young people in the UK,” says Raj Patel, director of policy for the Make Your Mark campaign.

“Franchising provides numerous benefits for the many young people who cite fear of failure as a barrier to going it alone,” he added. “This growing sector offers many diverse opportunities: from convenience food through to printing and home services, there are franchising networks out there that require enterprising individuals to help them expand across the UK.”

The majority of those questioned (86%) said they felt it was the responsibility of existing businesses and entrepreneurs to share more information about how to set up a new business.

“Assumptions and misunderstandings clearly restrict the potential of many thousands of young people who want to put their enterprise into action,” said Chris Moore, chief operating office at Domino’s Pizza. “In turn, business appears to be denying itself access to a huge pool of potential talent by not removing some simple barriers.”

Source: New Business Magazine