I see franchising as a network, a family, an amazing community of collaboration. Women are renowned for multi-tasking and working together to get things done, being at the heart of every family.
Certainly with Little Voices, my franchise organisation, I stipulate that you are coming into a family and I don’t want just anyone as part of our family. I am very particular and protect, support, care and nurture my family to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t leave my daughter with a stranger or someone that I didn’t trust, like, know-well and respect. Equally a Little Voices cannot be looked after or owned by just anyone that the money to join us. Little Voices has to be part of their blood and they need to be right for us.
While most small-business owners function primarily alone, franchisees are provided with the built-in community of the wider franchising industry as well as other franchisees. Working as a Drama teacher or singing teacher, an entrepreneur or business woman can be incredibly isolating and lonely.
With a franchise, you are in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Franchisees have the unique opportunity to start a business with access to the experiences of a network of individuals on a similar journey.
In the case of Little Voices, relationships between franchisees are especially critical to success. We provide franchisees with a network to discuss challenges and successes, regular meetings, secret forums, weekly support amongst many other things. Franchisees partner with other successful franchisees, to create a mentorship and model for their own business.
The franchise model is appealing to women who are in search of the financial security and flexibility that is becoming increasingly difficult to attain in the workplace. Almost all of our Principals say that spending more time with their families and finding a more rewarding career are the driving factors for investing in a child orientated franchise.
While running a franchise is time intensive, it allows entrepreneurs to structure their time to fit their needs. A franchise allows female entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. You need to look at what you are passionate about, and then that gives you a starting point and then do not be afraid as the title of a famous book highlights, ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway!’
Whilst pondering upon your own ideas for a business look for a network out there that may be doing what you want to do and will give you all the support, systems, templates, policies and procedures to get on and make money. It can be invaluable when you are up late at night working on your business that there is a forum of franchisees there ready to help you and support you. There are so many tough challenges to face as a business owner and believe me it is even harder on your own! A franchise network will give you a tried, tested and proven method, you still need the grit and determination to make it work in your area but along the way you can be assisted from making mistakes and coping when the pressure gets too much. You will have support from franchisees that have been doing it a lot longer than you as well as the franchise team in a head office.
And it is a fallacy if you think that owning a franchise will not make you a millionaire and somehow you need to be the next Richard Branson or Alan Sugar. Of course they are successful in their own right and have built huge brands however there are a whole host of millionaires out there that have get there through franchising. A franchise gives you the business acumen, training and tools to reach those financial goals. My Uncle was a very successful KFC franchisee, I have watched programmes on millionaire franchisees within the Dominoes Pizza network and if you build to over a 1000 pupils with Little Voices (putting that in perspective the amount of children in most Secondary Schools) you will reap similar rewards eventually.
So don’t disregard a franchise business, take a look at them as options, it can be handy especially when you have a tough enough job as a home-maker, mother, wife, partner, gardener, cleaner and bottle washer and you want to run your own business!
For more information on Little Voices Franchises:
Email jane@littlevoices.org.uk
OR, click HERE for further information on Little Voices Business