Brand: There are many benefits to franchising, often the first being the brand association and reputation. Building up a credible brand takes an enormous amount of hard work and years of trading, excellent customer service, quality products etc. the list goes on. Therefore, joining an established franchise with a proven and trusted brand can catapult you forwards a few years in your journey, instil trust from your customers from day one and open up a wider range of opportunities.

Support: Typically, with franchising, will come the support of your network and fellow franchisees, along with a Franchise Support Centre/Head Office who are there solely to support you throughout your career and help you in the road to success. Our Franchise Support Centre is based in Norwich in the UK and offers support to our franchisees across all core business specialities including IT, finance, sales, marketing (both digital, national and local), operational, business development, exit planning, business coaching, new product development, plus sustainability within the industry.

Training: As a Franchisor, there are obligations, both legally and morally, to ensure franchisees are trained to the best of their abilities to ensure they are set up for success. An extensive training course will be part of your onboarding process, along with a handover period from the exiting franchisee if purchasing a resale business. As a franchise, at Signs Express, we also offer our network and their team’s access anytime, anywhere, to our online Learning Management Platform.

Proven Business Model: An established franchise will offer a proven business model which has been tried and tested for many years across their network. This offers you the comfort and stability in knowing that the business is sustainable, forward-thinking and profitable.

National Coverage and Accounts: As an independent business owner, your business reach can often be limited, or incur a range of travel expenses or logistics issues should you wish to work further afield. A franchise with an established, wide-reaching network such as Signs Express, can allow you to collaborate and work within your network to deliver jobs nationally, to a larger scale (and profitably) with a consistent and seamless approach.

Expansion Opportunities: Widening your reach and expanding an independent business can take time, lots of research, a huge amount of marketing and can be financially tough. Operating as part of a franchise with expansion opportunities already in place can help you grow your business at a faster pace, however with the knowledge that the model has been tried and tested.

Supplier Discounts: Operating under a franchise model can open up a world of supplier discounts which you will not be able to access as an independent business owner. Taking advantage of economies of scale, you may be able to access considerable discounts via preferred suppliers allowing you to have lower cost of sales and higher margins.

Networking: Networking is essential when owning your own business, both in terms of generating business, but also for support, guidance, best practice and keeping up-to-date with all the latest developments in your industry. With franchising, you will find this comes in abundance, whether that’s in the form of sharing ideas, advice and support over online social platforms, discussing industry specific topics and debates at face-to-face meetings and conventions, or simply socialising with some like-minded individuals facing the same challenges as yourself.