Home working - My Little Wrapper

theresoneborneveryday

I've just found this thread so please forgive me for being a year late.

Ive had several years of experience with Nigel Botterill and N5, and the best advice I can give anyone is to have absolutely nothing to do with him or any company he's involved with. Some of his franchisee's make some money, but they are dwarfed buy the vast majority of people who have lost very large sums of money.

The ideas of his businesses sound great on paper, and on his websites hes really successful, but when you do a bit of digging you find out that the turnover of franchisees is incredible. He claims 350-400 thebestof websites are up and running and providing 'six-figure incomes' for lots of site owners. In reality most of the sites are either been handed back to the company to sell again, or are just ticking over when the owner has gone and got a job to pay the bills. Best estimates are about 30 sites making money but the idea of anyone making six-figures as a take-home income is utterly rediculous,

Avoid!
Avoid!
Avoid!

avoidn5

To dispel any notions that anything the company claim about thebestof is true see ASA adjudications for 14 April 2010 relating to N5 Ltd t/a thebestof.

They have gotten away with total dishonesty all these years because the credit card companies/banks have refused to investigate all the misrepresentation and Trading Standards refuse to do anything because they insist it is a business to business transaction no matter what you buy from them.

I have been referred to the Serious Fraud Office by a solicitor today along with Action Fraud.

Please do not get involved with this company under any circumstances whatsoever.

phillipa_l

This company is using quotes from relatives to endorse it's products - beware !!!!

Just be careful !!

noaxetogrind

Hi everyone,
I have ended up on this forum by accident - I was researching Nigel Botterill ... and interestingly found myself here!

I am not qualified to comment on My Little Wrapper / N5 etc. as I have never done business with them.

However, I feel I am qualified to comment on buying a Franchise - I did so and lost £100,000's.

Let's be clear here. Owning a Franchise can be a very successful and profitable way to get into business, for the right people, with the right Franchise. BUT ... there are some big BUT's.

You are still having to run a business and the life of a business owner is not for everyone - it is hard work, can become all encompassing and more often than not cannot be switched on at 9 and off at 5.

I had already been running a successful business for 15 years when I bought my Franchiseas an additional business and it still went wrong.

There is a fundamental difference between running a business and trying to make a bit of money. What a Franchise should do is give you a short cut to success by not only giving you a brand, but also making it easier to manage all the other "business stuff" with tried and tested processes and procedures, etc. Including marketing, legal needs, etc.

One thing to be absolutely clear about is that the Franchisor (people selling the franchise) do it to make money - there is nothing wrong with that. What the Franchisee (person buying the franchise) has to make sure is that they are happy with the responsibilities and the potential profits available - allowing for the control and cut of profits needed by the Franchisor.

In most cases, except those where the Franchise has a unique product or service, a franchise model/idea could be copied - but that misses the point re. what buying a franchise should offer - a short cut.

Finally, the key document involved when buying a Franchise is called the Franchise Agreement". This details all of the financial, legal and commercial "rules" forming the agreement/partnership between the Franchisor and Franchisee. IT ALWAYS PROTECTS THE FRANCHISOR.

They tie up the Franchisee and leave them with very few rights, especially if things go wrong - I know from bitter experience!!

So, in this case, if you think the franchise cost is high, you need to be adding on at least a few hundred pounds to cover the legal advice you MUST, MUST take before you sign a Franchise Agreement - and there will be other associated costs related to starting a new business.

Finally, finally ... if there are a few of you wanting to start up a similar chocolate business, maybe there is an opportunity to get together and start a bit of a co-op, sharing stock costs, getting better rates for higher quantities, etc. It's worth a thought.

business_opportunity

This company publishes endorsements from family members:

“They look amazing – much better than I expected!” Lindy Elledge, Wolverhampton.

You'd think if they were so marvelous they could find someone other than their own family!!!!!