Free Print Franchise?

[OPC]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for a bit of advice here.

We are an online print company and are looking to go down the virtual franchise route. Our main competitors are the likes of printing dot com however our prices are far more competitive than theirs and we aim to offer a much better and easier to use service.

In order to prove that our franchise network will be a viable business for people to make money from I have given the 1st six territories away however this is kinda got me thinking:confused1:

What if I were to give all our territories away throughout the UK within this year test period? As you all know we are in the middle of a recession and companies just simply don't have the money to invest that they maybe did a couple of years ago.

The way I see it, if you make it easy for the right person to get into the UK network and work hard to make sure everyone gets the right backup and support then the brand will grow much quicker and it means clients are then dealing with local representatives of the company which will in turn build confidence and trust.

I know it sounds crazy giving these away but surely when you look at the bigger picture of having 121 areas in the UK covered locally and each bringing in regular work it is worth it.

All we will ask of the test franchisees is at the end of 12 month trial period that they have to pay the fees for the transition to a formal Franchise. At present, I expect this to be in the region of £4000. Hopefully by this point the franchisee will have made more than enough money to justify this.

Our Virtual franchises will primarily be suited to businesses already buying print on a fairly regular basis (graphic designers/print managers/web designers) although all people who apply will be considered.

The franchisees will be paid on a weekly basis 20% commission on all net sales within their territories and they can operate from their home or existing premises.

I would really appreciate all of your thoughts as to whether this is a good idea or not?

Kind Regards

Colin

You can view our business via the url link in our profile if you would like to see more about us.

[JoebeeKenobi]

Hi Colin

Is your aim to provide a commission based sales scheme for already established print retailers? Or are you looking to actually franchise this?

To turn your idea into a franchise you will need a documented process which you can show has been proven through pilot schemes. To provide a sales commission scheme you are not going to achieve this as commission alone will not provide a big enough picture to show if running a franchised outlet dedicated to providing print through your system.

As you mention, there are already plenty of successful print franchises in operation with the likes of printingcom, kall kwik and prontaprint so you know the market is already there. The challenge will be to launch a small number of pilots in selected locations which can prove your formula.

Having a 'no franchisee fee' entry point has been done before so its not new. Some big franchisors charge relelatively low start up fees because they rely on ongoing managment fees and/or direct product sales to the franchisee to ensure ongoing franchisor income. The decision you need to make here (as you already point out) is that stumping up some kind of fee at the start does give an indicator of the seriousness and commitment of a potential franchisee.

The question really is whether you are better off looking to convert existing print retailers to use your service as a choice of printing house or whether you wish to spend a fair amount of time and money producing a tried and tested franchise model which will be an attractive proposition for franchise buyers.

Hope that helps

Joe
Select Your Franchise

[OPC]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my thread.

The plan is to spread as many pilot schemes out there as I can over the next 12 months. If all goes well, which I am sure it well then as a thank your to the people who piloted it, they will get the opportunity to buy the franchise for a fee that will just cover the legal costs of formalizing the agreement. Its my understanding that this will cost in the region of £4000.

The main target audience is likely to be graphic and web designers however we do have a couple of sales people who have come on board with no print experience who have just been made redundant. Its also a great opportunity for anyone in this position (if they are prepared to throw themselves into it and are willing to learn) and we have sales and marketing strategies in place to be able to back all our pilot franchisees up.

I am also putting X amount of all monies made from each particular area so if the person running the Edinburgh territory brought in £10,000 per month in net sales, 30% of the profits for these jobs would be put back into marketing costs for this particular area.

Do you think this type of structure will work? From what I hear, this is where a lot of franchisors go wrong and they forget to support their franchisees once they are up and running. We have to make this one of our main focus' to ensure we do what we can to make it a success for them and us.

Regards

Colin