Printing Franchises In the Digital Economy

A few decades ago, pundits were predicting that the advent of the computer age would be the death knell for the paper industry. Virtual documents would replace the paper variety, and demand for paper would dry up is how the thinking went.

Of course, quite the opposite happened. Growing computer usage actually fuelled increased demand for paper, as businesses and individuals wanted hard copies of important documents. The pulp and paper industry continues to grow and now accounts for more than £100 billion in annual sales in the UK alone.

Similar dire predictions have been made about the prospects of the printing industry in the digital age. With consumers and businesses now having widespread capability to zap documents back and forth in digital format, the printing industries days must be numbered, right?

That prediction is proving to be just as flawed as the forecast decline of the paper industry. To be sure, the face of the printing industry is changing as are most industries in the digital economy. 

In the process, it is creating new opportunities for forward looking entrepreneurs. Many of those opportunities lie in the quick printing segment of the industry, which also happens to be the segment where franchising plays its largest role.

It is a relatively young industry, one made possible by advances in computer technology. Computers enable relatively low skilled workers to perform tasks that once could only be done by skilled print craftsmen. The industry began to emerge several decades ago.

Traditionally, these print franchises focused on commercial printing and copying jobs that required a fast turnaround. Those jobs tended to be relatively small in comparison to the work done by conventional printing firms. It has grown from about a £10 million a year business in the early 1970s to an estimated £2 billion a year business today.

The industry is changing, as are most industries in the digital economy.

Several trends drive this business in the 21st century. An important one has been a shift in focus from the consumer to the business to business segment that has taken place over the past five or six years.

Research shows that the average corporation spends between 6 percent and 15 percent of revenue or documents, and these franchises are in a great position to capture a significant share of that business.

Advances in digital technologies are also shaping the future of the quick printing industry. While most shops still offer the pre press, graphics, binding and copying services that have been their historical stock in trade, the majority have also expanded their capabilities to include working with digital files. 

Quick printers can exchange digital files with their customers via diskettes, the Internet, even wireless channels.

Discover more about franchises in general here https://franchisinguk.blogspot.com/

Many entrepreneurs prefer to come up with their own home-based businesses.

A great number of people opt to come up with their own work at home businesses and initiate an enterprise from scratch. On the other hand, other people want to take a further road and take advantage of a franchise opportunity that based at home.
Should you be somebody looking to open a franchise business that based at home, you'll typically need to make numerous inquiries before you place your funding. Very much like coming up with a work from home business from its base, opening a home based franchise is an expenditure of money.

Hence, you should consider what questions to ask plus how to evaluate a franchise opportunity to make sure you are obtaining the best franchise business that is home based for your financial commitment. Of course, you would like to be money-making, however, you still need to enjoy yourself with your business.

Once you come across a franchise opportunity that based at home, start with the money query. Unearth the amount that the home business will cost you and how much the functioning capital reserves you will require to make up for deficits, up until you make it back. Remember, your franchise opportunity business will take some funding, and you are wanting to review exactly what this financial commitment will demand.

Hence, you ought to know the amount you will require to pay for the franchise opportunity business as well as expenses such as covering losses up to the point you make a profit. An additional query that numerous entrepreneurs fail to remember to bear in mind when considering a franchise business that based at home is the amount it is going to cost to cover their everyday costs while they are setting up their franchise.

In the end, you will in all probability not be creating a return straightaway, and you'll typically still want adequate finances to survive off whilst you are growing your franchise opportunity that is home based. Form a financial plan and be sure that it is sufficient for you to exist from to compensate for your costs for the period of this growing time.

Wanting to know the length of time will be necessary for your firm to make your outlay back is also crucial, in addition to how much you will have the ability to create with your business. The solutions to these questions will also assist you to you determine how much you will need to have on hand and if the franchise opportunity business will match your funds. Of course, you would like to create a franchise that is home based that will allow you to live life the way you would like and create the revenue you imagine.

Uncovering finance for your franchise is important, as most small business owners tend not to specifically boast the financial resources on hand. It is imperative to make certain that you have funding solutions. In addition, you want to ensure that you know the home based franchise business parent company is in a good monetary position, because you don't desire to put your budget and income at stake for a franchise business that is going bankrupt.

Countless individuals want to be their own boss and own a company.

It is perhaps an ongoing desire for loads of people to own a biz and be their own boss. Having said that, administrating a firm could be exceedingly hard and monetarily dicey.

Obtaining the perfect franchise that matches your qualities and life-style could lessen the threat and make the dream of maintaining a company come to pass. As a way to grasp how managing a corporation can work, you must originally be aware of what exactly it is.

A franchise is an agreement where a person acquires the right to use a business's name and sell the corporation's services or merchandise. The firm, or franchiser, holds the prerogative to set regulations and standards that the franchisee, must carry out. Not complying with the franchiser's standards will end up with the individual sacrificing their privileges to the franchise.

You will discover many successful franchises presented to would-be individuals. A key gain of establishing a prosperous company is that it will be an current well-known trade name, with developed advertisements and have tested goods and services. They are acquainted with the way in which to make it, and will have removed any pitfalls.

Anyone going in a biz on their own have to undergo all of these problems before any achievement that can be measured. A franchiser has already completed the initial work for you and developed a business plan which is worthwhile. You will need to resolve some critical inquiries before you enter into a franchise agreement with a franchise biz.

Do you like the autonomy of testing original principles and business models or would you prefer to stick to tried and tested track record to good results? Don't forget that owning a biz requires you must continue with the business arrangement of the franchising biz. How much financial commitment can you manage to pay for?

It can be high cost to get a franchise working, in addition there is no assurance for success. There are occasions that you may need to bring into play emergency cash if you want to pay wages for example. Are you ready to put in lots of periods of time?

Owning a company needs you to be set to take on any concerns that arise whichever period of the day or night. Maintaining a franchise company is no different. It is common for a franchise enterprise boss to put in up to eighteen hours every day, particularly at the onset. A franchise enterprise proprietor has to adopt various responsibilities, comprising of human resources, marketing and financial accounting.

You will need to make certain the devotion a franchise corporation calls for is something you can handle. Locate a trustworthy franchise corporation professional to assist you to narrow your mind and uncover the business that is ideal for yourself.

A franchise company advisor will be there to address any problems you may come upon and enable you to find the way through the concerns of franchise ownership. It is often mind-boggling when attempting to settle on what franchise enterprise could be the suitable alternative for yourself and your loved ones.

A franchise company specialist will aid you with the exploration and reassurance to help you to get to an informed assessment and bestow instruction in your goal to develop into a successful franchise company possessor.

Choosing Pet Sitting Services

Suppose, you are planning to move out of town for a few days and are finding difficulty to take your beloved cats/dogs along with you. Then, whom you call to take care of your pet during your absence? Your cats/dogs like your family member and you won't like to handover your best companions to any person, who least care about them. If all this worries are ruling over your mind and your travel plan is in big dilemma, then consider contacting a pet sitter at your nearest point.

Pet Sitters are those who take care of cats, dogs, fish, rabbits, turtles, birds and other household animals while the owners are away from home or unable to do so by their own. Their general role is to pay attention to their feeding habits, providing basic medications, exercising them and offering companionship with similar breeds.

Services are usually preferred by individuals who are able to give much time to their cats/dogs due to their busy schedule. The pet sitting industry is booming at increasing pace and a number of companies have started offering services to the owners. While choosing professionals for the household animals, many people overlook to check out the reliability of the specialists.

Their negligence in selecting right services often leads their adorable animals to face improper care at the expense of money paid to them. Unlike human beings, they cannot state their problems to their owners and their suffering are noticed when their health gets hampered at extreme level. Therefore, it is advisable to check the services offered by the them prior to selecting them for your cats/dogs.

When it comes to choosing a quality option, be sure that they have in depth knowledge about the creatures and their living habits. You can think about contacting those companies which offer flexible services as per your convenience. It is quite obvious, that your cats/dogs follow specific feeding and exercising schedule and variation in the pre-determined schedule may not suit their health and habits.

Therefore, you can look for those companies which are able to maintain the schedule as per the living condition of the pets. Above all, always consider verifying the rates of the packages so that you can offer best ones to your household animals within your limited budget.

Experts will help your pets grow properly and will help you to get rid of the tension related to the comfort of your beloved animals. So contact reliable ones and start taking extra-ordinary care of your cats/dogs.

What is franchising a company, 4 practical tips

What does franchising a company (or a business) really mean?

If you want to know what is franchising a company or an organisation, the following lines will be useful. They will provide you with a series of practical tips to deal with the transformation of your company into franchises with guarantees. In this way to be able to succeed using this formula of trade agreements.

The essence of the franchise is found in:

• The business model: At a minimum it must be profitable.
• but also in the entrepreneur who has launched it: His vocation for growth must be indisputable.
• and in the organization that maintains it : He must be able to fulfil his missions as a company owner.

Its constant projection is that which ensures that the value proposition remains in force in the market and is attractive to customers, to future and current franchisees.

But before you start franchising a company, what advice should you keep in mind ?:

1.- Can I franchise my firm? Check it out

They are the key to check the franchiseability of the business model:

1. Profitability and success of the model: An invariable axiom is that only successful firms can be done. Those that contribute to the market a value that does not exist. Concepts that allow amortization of investments in periods shorter than what would be achieved with a conventional business. It is certainly not the only variable that an investor contemplates, but one of the most valued.
2. Reproduction capacity in other environments: It is essential that the model can be developed in other markets, in short, that does not respond to the specific circumstances of an environment, without which, commercial success would not be possible.
3. Transmissibility of know-how: The concept must not be anchored in the personal capacities of the entrepreneur who has set it in motion, must be able to achieve similar or better results in the hands of people with adequate training and skills, but should not require Profiles especially hard to get. Those activities that depend heavily on its founder are hardly going to succeed in the hands of third parties and the franchise is revealed in these cases as a little useful tool.

2.- What is franchising a company, which assumes me as an entrepreneur?

Franchising a company is totally changing the focus of the business. It is about opening an angle towards new customer profiles, current and future recruits.

It means a change in the organization, modifying the organisation's missions and expanding them to accommodate the new needs that the franchise system requires. Among these we can highlight the following:

• Grow, recruitment of workforce: Increase the number of units, by exposing our model and attracting candidates interested in it.
• Attend, provide services to recruits : to achieve the expected economic results and the expected level of quality.
• Train, provide the knowledge to meet the shortcomings of franchisees in relation to the model
• Supervise, control the application of know-how under the conditions provided, identifying possible deviations and distortions of it.
• Provision, provide the products and services that franchisees need to develop their business model.
• All this from the point of view, not of employees but of "partners", with which these functions acquire a new dimension.

3.- Value your ability to take on the challenge of franchising

It is not so important to take into account the current situation, such as the vision, the disposition and the possibilities to adapt this structure to the future needs of the model.

From the moment a businessman decides to take the path of franchising his company, this is the first element that he must check, because it will depend on him that the project has the right bases or stays halfway.

This translates into assuming that all operators, franchisees, that are incorporated into the organization, have specific needs that must be dispensed from the centre. Am I willing to lend them?

4.- Join with professionals

It involves aligning different disciplines, marketing, legal, strategic, economic, graphics.

To achieve the highest level of performance possible in all of them, it is necessary that experts accompany us in this process. This accompaniment can be advising, or taking care of certain content directly, be it the generation of new recruits, the drafting of a contract, the preparation of manuals, etc.

The configuration of a good, broad and multidisciplinary team is the best foundation. Of course, it should always be led by a franchise expert.

How to franchise a business.

The best way to explain what is needed and what needs to be done to know how to franchise a business is to look at its origins. Analyse how their beginnings were, know what problems they encountered and how they were solved.

Several types of totally different and successful businesses were appearing in the market. This fact did not go unnoticed. One day, an investor with a view noticed one of them and thought, why can't I have a trade like that? An authentic income generating machine would "work" in my city? What if I talk to its owner and ask him to explain how he developed it? He would pay him whatever.

We are not very wrong to think that the origins of the franchise and its popularisation came about as a result of several situations like this. Several companies were using this growth formula ( McDonalds , the world's largest one started like this). Then there were others and today there are thousands around the world and belonging to all sectors.

How these pioneers solved the needs that arose. How they did to find more investors (franchisees), can help us describe how a business is franchised.

We have already started with the first. The undisputed fixed rule of the system, we must start, as we have already reflected, from a Successful business and that has the capacity to be reproduced in another environment. If it is not useless that we continue since we will not get anywhere: Franchising is to reproduce a commercial success.

From here, the technique of how to franchise a business requires the following:

1. Develop a balanced agreement in which the brand owner and the recruit benefit.
2. Properly transmit knowledge about the operation of the business so that it is successful.
3. Provide the services so that the future recruit can carry out the activity in the best conditions.
4. Integrate new franchisees in the network.

The rules on which the franchise is based are very old. They are based on the distribution of functions between the two parties that form this agreement: Both parties. The first provides the knowledge to exploit a business with Success. The second money and management to make it possible, no matter if we talk about hamburgers, clothes, real estate ..., the formula works in all sectors.

1.- Agree on the parties: The agreement

Let us return, therefore, with our "first investor". He has already contacted the business owner and explained his intentions. In principle the two agree but now comes the most complicated how to shape all this ?. This is where the technique comes in, which requires following a specific methodology. As nobody had done it until then, there were no guidelines to follow and they had to be created.

The investor, future franchisee, makes a proposal to the owner of this brilliant business: As we have said there is already a basic agreement, and our investor asks the entrepreneur to use that brand without interference and for a certain time. In addition, it undertakes to do so in a concrete manner and under the guidelines that are imposed on it. In return you will be paid an amount when you transmit this knowledge and a percentage of sales.

The two agree that, as all such agreements are very relevant, it will be better to put them in writing. Without knowing it, they have just created the exclusive area, the entrance fee, the operating royalty and, most importantly, the agreement. Then come the laws that will regulate and order this process, but the seed is laid.

After briefly analysing this situation we are in a position to affirm that the contract is a specific document of each business and that standardising it and using it indiscriminately does not respond to the spirit of formalising a true agreement between the parties but rather transferring the conditions of a business to another, thereby losing its meaning.

2.- Transmit the “secrets” (know-how) to franchise a successful business

As a result of this agreement, a series of needs arise that must be resolved as quickly as possible. How to make everything go well? The investor needs training, he needs someone to tell him which location is the best. How the establishment is decorated and which suppliers will make it possible.

How it works day by day, what needs to be done to attract customers. What products to sell and how to do it, etc. In other words, you need answers before you even start the business.

To answer these questions, it is necessary to extract the bases of Business Success and create the tools with which to transmit it to third parties. It is the preparation of the package, which enables the reproduction of the business in other environments through the standardisation of its entire operation. All this knowledge is sorted by subject to make them more understandable to the franchisee (product, decoration, marketing, corporate image, administration, etc.).

Logically they vary substantially from one to another and from one sector to another. Not in vain they collect their exclusive experiences.

We must not lose sight of the fact that this documentation is only a tool and not the objective of a project. Success will not be in having excellent manuals, since these are not the key, but in having a perfectly prepared business and structure behind. And this is where we are going now.

3.- Provide services to franchisees: The franchise centre

Once it is in a position to reproduce the business, all needs must be considered. To do this, human resources are needed. But first, it is necessary to define exactly what those needs are and from them to place the responsibility of satisfying them in specific people.

We need an organisation, what is called FBA. It is neither more nor less than the structure through which the creator of the business will enable franchisees to earn money. Through it you will provide everything you need to get it: Product, suppliers, advertising, merchandising, window dressing, training, renovations, etc. Knowing how to properly structure and size this plant is part of the specific technique necessary to franchise a business. In any case, the thermometer to determine the most appropriate structure is to know the needs of the network.

When this first investor appeared, the new franchisor was able to provide him with everything he needed practically alone. When others arrived, he needed to hire people and structure the areas around these needs. The way it works is maintained but the structure becomes much larger. How else would it be possible to open 4 or 5 centres in parallel, with the corresponding needs of each one (orders, training, adaptation, advertising, etc.). It would not be viable without an organised structure.

The franchise centre

Depending on the type of business that is franchised, one or the other will be the services provided by our plant. And the training period to transmit the know-how will be more or less. Our first franchisor provided specific services, but the next and the others provided others. Logically the demands of their networks were not the same and consequently their franchise centres are not the same. A travel agency is not the same as a sportswear business. The needs of these franchisees vary and you have to start by determining what they are and from them organise.

It makes no sense to start backwards. The question is not: How should the centre be structured? But what services does my network need? As soon as we define them we will know how we should structure the network. It should be done in a staggered manner. The structure of it is not the same when it starts (it will probably consist of one person), than when it has 100 or 200 centres; To begin with, it is not necessary to have a large central office, but adapted to the situation of each moment. Otherwise we will be acting incorrectly incurring unnecessary costs. Starting to franchise without having this structure will make the process a complete disaster.

4.- Search for new recruits

The business is successful and it has been proven. The brand owner has a contract and a solid project. It is known how to reproduce this business in other environments and how to transmit the know-how properly. And there is also a franchise centre (even if it is small) to provide everything the recruit will need. Then the only thing missing is to integrate more recruits so that the results are better.

We have seen that the main means to attract franchisees is the business itself. But today and given the competitiveness that exists, there are more and more actions through the multiple means that the market has already developed to attract investors: Press, Public Relations, Fairs, Database Actions , etc. There are many possibilities but the available budget must be taken into account. Initially the needs are wide and the means are usually scarce, for this reason we have to adjust it perfectly and evaluate which may be the ones that can provide us with the greatest number of contacts, only in this way will we make these actions profitable.

Let's allocate a budget, choose the means properly, and design a development plan that includes not only these, but also the people who will be responsible for coordinating it and achieving the objectives that the chain needs. This way we will be on the right track.

Valuations Franchise a business

Turning a successful company into a franchising company is the result of the demand for an increasingly competitive market. It is also the decision of more agile and imaginative entrepreneurs to respond to the challenge of competitiveness.

It is true that it is one more among the different possibilities of associations and expansion that companies can consider. But it is also true that the settlement and maturity achieved by the system in the business world of our country finds its explanation in the advantages that are proper, and almost exclusive, of the system.

The decision to franchise a business, to convert a company as a brand owner, however, requires all the prudence and objectivity necessary to carry out an adequate self-assessment. It is about taking adequate knowledge of the virtues and defects of our business organisation, of our differential aspects, of our added value, of our possibilities and objectives of growth and of the structural needs that, the growth marked as objective, will require.

It is not necessary to be a great company to franchise

From now on, the idea that a company capable of franchising a business must necessarily be a great company must be discarded. Being a brand owner is not something that depends on the size of the company. It has to do with its organisation and its operating system.

The essential thing is to provide it with a firm foundation. Bases well consolidated, identified and that are likely to be reproduced in the figure of the recruit. If we review the main franchises, Spanish and international, we find a unanimous reality. Each one had as a business precedent a Successful business, differentiated and with a reproducible operating offer and operation.

However, in our opinion, the work and the challenge of the franchising company does not end with the identification of that successful business concept. Even with the scripting of this concept; or the creation of an adequate training and assistance program for future recruits. The great challenge of the good owner is to maintain the success of your business concept.

Conclusions Franchise a business

From our experience, we have had and have daily contact with franchising companies that perfectly understand that the good business health of their network does not depend only, but also, on methods or processes tested and properly transmitted.

The fundamental aspect to franchise a business is to maintain the differential, novel and attractive nature of the business. This requires the company head an effort of continuous contact with the market, with its evolution, with the new sources of competition that may appear, with the preferences set by the consumer, with everything that he did, in his day, than the entrepreneur, before If you are a franchisor, you will be able to define a concept of Success.

The rest, the scripting of the processes, the writing of a good contract, the definition of training and assistance programs, etc., is important. In this regard, the entrepreneur can always count on the help of professionals specialised in the field to advise him.

The essential, to franchise a business, and where the entrepreneur is the main, almost the only, protagonist, is:

• on the one hand, the creation of a business concept capable of being franchised.
• on the other, the decision to undertake an expansion through the system.

If you have a good business, do not hesitate and franchise it. We have shown you the advantages it will provide and how you should do it. It will win you and make us win to others, customers and investors.

Invest in a Franchise

Are you thinking of investing in franchising or opening a business and do not know where to start?

The current context of crisis in Europe has produced an increase in franchise investment as an idea to open a business.

On the one hand, the franchisee is less likely to be under the command of a company that is already powerful. So it is easier to recover the initial investment.

In this article we will present the multiple advantages of opening one in the UK.

WHAT IS A FRANCHISE?

The first thing that we must be clear about is the franchise-based business model.

As we have said, it is a business model that has two parts: the brand owner and the recruit.

For its part, the company owner owns a brand that is already consolidated in the market. To expand your business, you assign the right to use your brand to other people, which in this case are franchisees. The use of this right is limited both geographically and at a specific time.

Franchising a company is one of the best decisions that can be made by the owner of a business that is already successful in the market.

ADVANTAGES OF OPENING ONE

THE RISKS OF THE INVESTMENT ARE REDUCED

Although, as in all businesses that start from an investment there are risks, in this model, they are reduced. This is because the brand is already established and consolidated in the market.

The public already knows it, so, if the franchisor has a good brand image, success is practically assured. So much so, that studies show that businesses that are opened through this system are the least likely to close.

BUSINESS PROFITABILITY IS GREATER

If we measure the economic benefits compared to the expenses that result from opening a business, the model is more profitable than the traditional business model.

From the beginning we already have a prestige as a result of the leading brand that will give us the possibility of saving expenses in multiple business areas.

In addition, business growth will be greater as the company is expanding through several territories and is known to more public.

For this we must be guided by the company owner at all times , since the good work of the franchisee following the steps of the original owner, will be of utmost importance for the business to prosper.

A LOWER INVESTMENT IS REQUIRED

Opening a business through a franchise means reducing investment costs. One of the main reasons is because the franchisee belongs to an economic and logistics chain, so he can take advantage of economies of scale and the advantages derived from it.

When the company makes orders to all its workforce, it asks for larger quantities, so the unit cost is reduced. In addition, you can get better competitive advantages as a result of negotiation, since they are strong groups within the market.

TERRITORIAL EXCLUSIVITY

The franchisee has the exclusivity of the area, since an approximation ratio is established in which it cannot open another business of the same brand. This way it is easier to reach your target audience.

Looking to buy into this business? If so, check out http://approvedfranchises.co.uk where you can get customised quotes from up to 4 companies that match your individual circumstances.