Tempted to buy a franchise

[Sag]

Please can you all remind me why I'm mad to even consider it!

On the other hand, has anyone had any good experience with any franchise or know of any one that has?

 

[Centralheatking]

There arent really any franchises that are worth it for plumbing in UK. What can they
offer that you cannot do yourself for free. Plumbing needs - Man, van, tools, skill and
customers end off.

If you like I will work up a franchise package for you called 'Mr. Plumb' get you a van with
graphics all over it, buy your tools and re-sell them to you, get Mr. Clement our business
manager to bore you with the paperwork for a few days and advertise for you in your chosen area.
Send you out with us for a few weeks and charge you £30,000.

There was a franchise in the US called 'RotoRooter' which was pretty good

Centralheatking :hand:

 

[parkesy_plumb]

i used to work for a franchise (dyno) they made a hell of a lot of money but took them 15 years to get to where they are. Buying out other local franchises to expand work area etc. They treated employees like absolute dirt and i jacked in the end. Ive seen that "yourplumber" around but theres 0 guarantee you will get any work just like there is 0 guarantee you will get work if you set up on your own.

 

[Sag]

I know that you're pretty much just buying a name/logo.

But, my thinking is what larger contracts these companies have in place that can supply a steady(ish) flow of work at a higher rate than what I could normally charge (even after their fees etc).

 

[PlumbersMate]

Worked for Dyno too and my boss coined it in

 

[Sag]

Yeah, Dyno are owned by BG so get all of their call out work as well as other big contracts.

That's the sort of thing I'm interested in.

 

[Centralheatking]

So you want to work for BG as a self employed fitter - you would be better on the books- and all the fitters in low places at BG I know hate it but stay on to pay their mortgage CHK

Yeah, Dyno are owned by BG so get all of their call out work as well as other big contracts.

That's the sort of thing I'm interested in.

 

[gasmanrob]

I can think of better ways to spend £250,000

 

[Ray Stafford]

Please can you all remind me why I'm mad to even consider it!

On the other hand, has anyone had any good experience with any franchise or know of any one that has?

I know a few people who had some good years in the printing game (prontaprint and KallKwik were mostly franchised) and of course some, but by no means all, of the McDonuts are franchised.

The advice I would give is this.

Ask for a full list of existing franchisees, and you choose three at random to take as references. DO NOT accept the two or three pre-chosen existing franchisees which they will try to steer you towards. They may be shills, on a commission for any new franchisee that they persuade to sign up.
Ask for the churn statistics for the last 5 years - that the number of people surrendering their franchise, and then find those giving up and ask them why
Look online for a franchisee forum or user-group.

If you have any difficulty getting the franchise operator to co-operate in full with your researches, just pull out.

 

[Ermintrude]

Friends run lingotot franchise but surrendered it as complete tosh. Ring leader was asking them to disenfranchise some prospective mugs.

 

[Sag]

I know a few people who had some good years in the printing game (prontaprint and KallKwik were mostly franchised) and of course some, but by no means all, of the McDonuts are franchised.

The advice I would give is this.

Ask for a full list of existing franchisees, and you choose three at random to take as references. DO NOT accept the two or three pre-chosen existing franchisees which they will try to steer you towards. They may be shills, on a commission for any new franchisee that they persuade to sign up.
Ask for the churn statistics for the last 5 years - that the number of people surrendering their franchise, and then find those giving up and ask them why
Look online for a franchisee forum or user-group.

If you have any difficulty getting the franchise operator to co-operate in full with your researches, just pull out.

Thanks, I would have been very thorough in my research but decided against it in the end. Too much money upfront and too much % of turnover to make it worthwhile.