October 2008 Archived Franchise Articles

In 2007, the fitness sector was declared to be a £3.6bil industry, serving 12% of the UK population. Though that may not sound like a large sum of the population, with 230 new fitness businesses opened in the course of that year, there is no doubt as to the vitality of this particular market. And though the numbers reflect a higher percentage of fitness club members in the London area than anywhere else in the nation, it seems as though all of the UK has begun to climb aboard the health and exercise bandwagon. If breaking into this growing market sounds appealing, but you are not sure how to go about doing it, a fitness franchise may be just the way. Below are a handful of business opportunities just right for the exercising entrepreneur.
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Every customer service business has them: those pithy, one-line sayings that are supposed to sum up everything about some aspect of business in only a few short words. "A penny saved is a penny earned": meaning that it is always best to save. It sounds like wisdom, and in many cases it is, but to say that that holds up as a universal business truth is less than correct, because sometimes, for example, a penny spent is 2 or 3 pennies earned. Below are a few other common idioms about business that are not as universally applicable as some would have you believe.
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These days it seems everyone is looking for a great new business to make plenty of money in a new and exciting way. If you have ever fallen victim to a get rich quick scheme, you know that there is no such thing as easy money, but loving what you do and finding the right business are two critical components that can take you from a dull and dreary job to the career of your dreams.
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Despite difficult trading conditions, the market for professional domestic cleaning continues to grow, say industry leaders MOLLY MAID. The domestic cleaning company will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year and is forecasting that the market will be worth over £3 Billion pounds come Christmas. Even in a downturn house cleaning remains a necessity and the demand for professional help in maintaining the home is increasing, according to Yell online searches alone have increased by 14% month on month. As the leading brand MOLLY MAID have been there to answer this demand which has resulted in an increase in sales of 5% across the network. Just showing how, even in a credit squeeze, industry leaders will still find a way to prosper and MOLLY MAID is no exception.
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WSI, the world's leading provider of Internet marketing solutions, conducted an Internet Marketing Summit this past weekend drawing almost 100 local business owners. Ron Adelman, a certified Internet Marketing Consultant and owner of a WSI office in St. Louis, presented at the seminar discussing key principles for succeeding on the Web. This event, which was sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) St. Louis and the American Marketing Association (AMA), covered all areas of Internet marketing, including search engine marketing, pay-per-click, social marketing and permission based email marketing. The WSI event also featured other keynote speakers who shared their expertise in email marketing and social media.
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Around the world, formal and informal studies are leading business professionals and business analysts to the same conclusion: women are and will continue to be an integral part of local and global business.
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If you have been looking at the franchise business opportunities available for any length of time, you are well aware by this point that there are plenty of potential ways to establish your own business with a franchise operation. Among the plethora of options today, home based business is something that many people tend to glamorize, able to produce a lifetime of wealth for anyone, right from the comfort of home. Of course, working from home as the owner of a good franchise can be a very lucrative and rewarding choice to make, but it takes the right kind of business owner, and plenty of hard work to make the most of a home business.
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Like most things in life, the art of franchising is not quite as complex as it may seem to newcomers. The franchise concept has been hugely successful in America and while franchising is still relatively new in the UK, it offers the most reasonable avenue to a thriving business venture with a success rate far greater than an independent operation.
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If you are considering taking advantage of an opportunity in a work-from-home business, it is important to have a fairly firm grasp on what it is that you are getting into. This can be difficult, though, because there are plenty of myths and misconceptions that have spread through the business market in regard to home business opportunities, how they work, and what kind of practical impact they have on their owners. Here are some of the more common misconceptions that you may hold even without realizing it.
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Jani-King UK has announced the acquisition of a new pan-European Master Franchise agreement with parent company Jani-King International. The agreement covers the largest geographic territory ever put into the control of one company by the world's largest and most successful contract cleaning franchisor. The agreement will see the launch of the Jani-King brand in 23 new countries in Europe within the next decade.
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According to the BBC and their economic analysts, all indicators are pointing toward a season of recession for the UK. On the international front, the value of sterling compared to the US dollar is down to about £1:$1.8, which is a fair decline from being well over £1:$2 in July. Within national borders, house prices have fallen for the 11th straight month, and mortgage approvals fell by 71% in July, the lowest level in the 15-year records for the industry. And just to cap off the long list of recession signs, the UK manufacturing sector has diminished in size for the fourth month in a row. Though there is no reasonable cause to let anxiety get the best of you yet, professional analysts and business people are beginning to become concerned for the future.
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Since there are so many franchise opportunities out there, it can be difficult to evaluate them all and decide on the best one for you, especially if you are over the age of 50. Often times, people will choose a business based on what type of product or service they most enjoy, and while doing what you love can be an important factor in finding the right business, a more important lesson to learn is to love what you do. These may seem like the same idea, but the main difference is that while young prospective business owners will follow their bent into a business that caters to their taste, an older, more mature prospective business owner will typically gravitate to the best business option financially and logistically. Fortunately, there are plenty of franchise opportunities for the 50-plus individual and perhaps this brief overview will give you some new business ideas that you could research and pursue for yourself.
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Though many small business owners have dreams of being the manager of a large company with a wide array of employees, there remains something to be said for being a simple owner/operator who does business entirely for himself. Especially in the sales field, one of the great benefits of owning and operating your own business is knowing exactly how every part of the business is going, including the treatment of clients and volume of sales, which are vital factors which would otherwise be in the hands of your employees. For the businessman who likes the "control of everything" aspect of his business, there is no better choice than an owner/operator system. If that sounds like you, here are seven business opportunities in the sales industry that are a little out of the ordinary and perfect for an owner/operator.
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When looking for a franchise opportunity, many people would like to own a business that does something unique and exciting. Even aside from matters of competition and market over-saturation, doing the same old thing is a little boring. For those who would like to take on a business that hits a very specific industry need, eradicating the problems of over-saturation and boredom simultaneously, here is a list of some of the best niche-market business opportunities that are somewhat off the beaten path.
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