Franchising

BusPass_2

Am I on the right thread to get info and opinions on franchising?

I have a specific franchise in mind but want to know if I am on the right thread before going into details.

Any franchise experts out there?

chalkie99

This would be the right forum.

Depends on the particular franchise you are considering as to how much help can be given but I am sure there will be at least some general pointers.

paulwf

Feel free to ask away, franchising is quite different to a normal business setup so always happy to help and share experiences.

Franchises vary a lot though from a couple of thousand for a dog walking franchise to a couple of million for multiple Costa sites and everything in between.

Savvy_Sue

From what I understand, you need to be very clear about what you're getting from the franchisor, esp if something goes wrong. some are just a licence to use the name, others insist on using certain suppliers / providing set services etc etc etc.

BusPass_2

Thanks for the information.

The franchise I am interested in is Virtual Property World.

Does anyone know anything about it?

Browntoa

well a quick search on Kent says no properties found , London finds 3 pages and a total of 28 properties

not exactly big league

paddyrg

I would say there is a fundemental risk in the business model - it is based in virtual/cyber space yet looking for franchises. As a franchisee, what do you really get other than spending time and work getting clients for someone else to get the sale?

BusPass_2

I think the theory is that when the sale is made the franchisee gets a share of the commission.

paddyrg

Indeed, but why would the francisee pay to get a share of the commission, when as a full agent he would get it all? Maybe it is not a problem, but at the moment I can't say it looks like a terribly great opportunity to me.

paulwf

The site looks far from optimised to me. The property sites that market on behalf of estate agents work well because it is so easy to look for properties on them. The really good ones have powerful search options so you can drill down by chosen criteria. This site doesn't even have any properties anywhere near my area!

Personally I'd pass.

jexygirl

Searched for Scotland, no limit on all search criteria, it returned nothing.
There are alot of others that come way higher up the listings on google...
Don't give up looking for something

Jex