Your business blind date (Daily Mail franchise story)

THIS is National Franchise Week, so there is no better time to find out about starting your own business with a franchise. You can cut down research time by attending the National Franchise Exhibition at Birmingham NEC this Friday and Saturday, October 5 and 6, where you can meet more than 250 franchisors and franchise advisors face to face.

Well-known names at the show looking for more investors will range over a wide number of sectors. They include letting agency Jordan’s, business services centre Mail Boxes Etc, legal search business X-press Legal Services, buy and sell centre Cash Converters, and Apollo Blinds. Shows are always a good place to check out new franchise opportunities.

New exhibitors include landscaping franchise the Gardener; home improvement franchises Simply Doors and Drawers and Driveway Doctors: Wellbeing magazine; and the Streat, a healthy food outlet. Also new is the Phat Pasty Company, a mobile lunch franchise. And the property investment boom has spawned new franchises World’s Best Property Club and Platinum Property Partners.

If you are unsure which type of franchise will suit you, staff in the Franchising Matchmaking Zone will help you track down suitable companies based on your business interests and investment, and direct you to suitable exhibitors. Use the show to get free advice about franchising, too. Brian Smart of the British Franchise Association (BFA) says: ‘Set aside time to talk to the specialist franchise advisors at the exhibition — the BFA, bankers, lawyers, consultants, accountants and the media. ‘Plan on using franchise specialists to advise you and find those who suit you.’ There will be two free seminars each day aimed at aspiring franchisees. Plus, there’s a Women in Franchising Zone, offering a networking lunch where you can meet women franchisees and hear from Rosemary Conley, founder of the franchise Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs, and Michelle Dewberry, entrepreneur and winner of BBC1’s The Apprentice 2006.

At the free Growing Your Own Business exhibition that runs alongside the show, you can visit the tax, law clinic and financial advice clinics, and hear from Karren Brady, managing director of Birmingham City Football Club, Tristram Mayhew of Go Ape, the forest adventure centres, and Sean Phelan, founder of Multimap. National Franchise Week also includes a series of free discovery days where you can find out about franchising, meet existing franchisees and industry experts. Discovery days are at Sheffield, (October 8), Walsall (9), London (10) and St Helens (12). Entry is free. To find out more and pre-register, visit the website nationalfranchiseweek.co.uk.

JASWINDER SINGH found his franchise at a previous franchise exhibition. Jaswinder, 42 (left), is a franchisee with BB’s Coffee and Muffins, which he initially contacted at the National Franchise Exhibition in Birmingham in 2005. He opened his first outlet, in Birmingham, 14 months ago and his second, in a shopping mall in Kettering, Northamptonshire, last March. ‘Your visit to a franchise exhibition should start before you even get there,’ says Jaswinder. ‘Before I’d even left for the exhibition, I knew how much I had to spend and how much I could raise in loans from the bank if necessary.’ Once there, he spoke to staff at the British Franchise Association (BFA) stand. ‘I got information and advice and found out which exhibitors were full members of the BFA. It made me feel more secure,’ he says. At the exhibition, he looked at all kinds of franchises, but then decided to research further into the food franchises, because his background is in the catering industry. BB’s is looking for more franchisees for its High Street and shopping mall cafe/takeaways. You need no catering background but customer service and business skills are vital. Investment totals £177,000 for a typical mall cafe.