Member Article

Banking on Success in Franchising

Disillusioned with the corporate world, Ian Jamieson (37) decided he wanted to take charge of his own destiny by going into business. He settled on Hotels.tv an online franchised hotels booking service in Edinburgh.

Ian’s journey began when he realised that after ten years in the corporate world inLondonhe wanted to run his own business and be his own boss. He started by going along to Franchise exhibitions and researching online. His big break came when he found Hotels.tv on BusinessesForSale.com.

Ian found that browsing thousands of opportunities set his imagination alight and inspired him even more to become an independent business owner. He said: ‘I set up alerts on BusinessesForSale.com and kept an eye on those as they came in. Hotels.tv’s leapt out at me as theirs was quite a different concept from other franchises.’

Hotels.tv provides a hand-selected hotel booking service world-wide and online hotel video reviews, via a network of destination based agents. The Franchise has also produced more than 250 videos, with many presenter-led hotel reviews and has distributed these via online channels such as: YouTube, Metacafe, Google and Yahoo. The organisation is also very involved with social marketing via Twitter and Facebook, promoting special hotel rates and new properties to audiences.

Rufus Bazley of BusinessesForSale.com said: ‘We have more than 58,000 businesses for sale so we know that there are plenty of possibilities for other people to own their own business and become like Ian. We have had everything from a business that specialises in maintaining Big Ben, to a bee hive business inTasmania.’

Ian chose franchising because it offered him the stability he needed for starting out on his own. He said: ‘Support is the main factor from the franchisor and investing in a company with a proven track record – you know it’s worked somewhere else and it’s profitable. What more could you ask.

With franchising you have on going support, you can pick up a phone up most times of the day to speak to fellow franchisees, as well as your franchisor and ask questions and bounce ideas off.’

Ian’s advice to anybody seeking the franchise route is to go with your gut feeling, do your home work and speak to established franchisees in the network.

He adds: “I spent two to three years looking at franchise opportunities. I looked at a few and I liked the franchisor’s branding and attitude. He was friendly, not pushy, and very helpful.’

The Federation of Small Businesses recently reported that small businesses account for 99% of all enterprises in theUKand that there are 4.5 million small businesses in theUKemploying an estimated 13.8 million people.

Even though Ian emerged from the corporate sector he maintains that Small businesses are the key toBritain’s economic recovery and growth. He adds ’This country runs on small and medium-sized enterprises and franchises are very important as they provide products and services and more importantly a safer route for those going into business.

Ian adds: “With more and more people unable to find jobs – I think we will see more and more business start-ups, Franchising will only grow more popular’

Ian’s own experience has proven that skills and experiences are more transferable than you might think.

Ian concludes: ‘It didn’t matter to the franchisor that I didn’t have previous tourism experience. If you are prepared to follow the franchisor’s proven business formula then you should be successful. Lots of people get stuck in the corporate world, like me thinking that they can only do one thing that they are trained to do. But if you have the skills, ability and the determination to get out there and present yourself, then there’s no reason why you cannot succeed! My advice to anyone seeking a new experience and opportunity is to visit BusinessesForSale.com, Take my word for it; it can open up so many possibilities and a whole new future.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alexander Burley .