'The Best of' Franchise

woolly100

I read an old post on here about 'the best of' from 2009 and wondered if anyone had anything new to add. I'm in the process of researching this as a business opportunity, as I visited their stall at the Franchise exhibition and I'm interested in pursuing it.

Obviously, it's a lot of outlay to buy it initially and I want to know any insider info of why it's good and why it's bad. I know a lot of it depends on you and how you work but it's good to know how people have found it in difficult market conditions and how they get the business going without cold-calling.

Looking forward to hearing something!

paddyrg

I saw on one site that they don't actually want a lot upfront, based on a deposit and pay off when it makes money. You'd need to check that deal out thoroughly with a lawyer (eg. Is the liability still for the full fee then you're tired even after giving up?), but they claim they have mature revenue so aren't all about selling the franchise's to mugs. Be interesting to hear what you discover!

woolly100

Actually for london they want £20k. You pay the fee upfront after the application/interview. They do quite an extensive interview process, mind. But what I'd really like to hear is from people who may actually have this franchise and how it works for them now. The initial forum post that I read wasn't that glowing. It was from a client's point of view.

JonathanA

The best advice I could offer would be to contact a couple of existing franchisees and talk to them. I know a couple, one appears to be very successful, but it takes a lot of hard work, he is out at breakfast meetings promoting the business and I still see him at late evening meetings too. He is very motivated and to that end, I think he would be successful at whatever he does. The other seems less committed, and I think that shows when you look at their business - not as many people signed up.

As a business owner, I am listed on our 'The Best Of' site - I registered at the end of February and have had my first lead as a result f that listing, which is better than I expected given the timescales.

As with any franchise, I would say research existing owners, maybe look at some of the businesses that are lited and ask thm whether it has worked for them before you commit a lot of money to it.

patman99

Must admit, never heard of this site before. Having had a look, I am not impressed. Can't see how they make any money when you consider that the only way a business gets listed is if they get recommended by a poster.

I would hazard a guess that the franchisee would then contact the business & offer them a chance to add themselves for a fee.

Also worth noting that having searched for many types of business, I have yet to see a 'bestof' link showing on the first 4 pages of a a Google search.

motorguy

To me its a concept that is past its time now.

There was a 'best of' a few years ago around here, ran by a relentless man called Joey. He was adamant that this [STRIKE]was going to make him rich[/STRIKE] was ideal for local businesses

I'd half a mind to do it as i ran my own small local business until i found out he'd bought a laptop from Tescos that i could have supplied him because it was literally a few quid cheaper from them. Not really practising what you preach is it?

The franchise failed miserably in our area. I think he moved on the Next Big Thing - whatever that was - when it came along.

Slinky

I've just been onto the Companies House website and typed in 'The Best of' to find company names, and have found 70 dissolved companies which look like former franchisees.

There used to be some threads on the UK Business Forum but I think they got pulled. Some franchisees were pretty unhappy.

I know that our local one has had at least 3 different owners since the start, and would appear to be pretty dormant at the moment with no active owner.

I know there ARE some successful sites, no doubt you'll have been pointed at the Richmond one, but I wouldn't get involved given the track record I've seen.

paddyrg

Does the franchise actually add anything you couldn't do grim scratch in fact? As it is sold on territorial/local grounds it doesn't sound like you'd get a lot of national leads or campaigns

EPL

paddyrg wrote: »

Does the franchise actually add anything you couldn't do grim scratch in fact? As it is sold on territorial/local grounds it doesn't sound like you'd get a lot of national leads or campaigns

Exactly my thought.

From having a quick look at it, it does seem it is something you could just do yourself from scratch for a fraction of the set up costs.

paulwf

My mid sized town has about 4 or 5 directory sites, I don't think any are run as anything more than a hobby. I can't see anybody using them much anyway unless you have an angle such as a vast number of customer reviews (like tripadvisor) or combine it with local news.

Thebestof sites look very shabby to me, I think you could do a lot better independently and for a fraction of the money. I also can't see what you gain from the franchise model, you usually join a franchise to take advantage of group advertising or a special wholesale rate or expert knowledge from head office.

I checked out one thebestof franchise and it seems to promoting networking events...that promote other networking events...that promote other networking events in some kind of endless circle with some other "franchises" and "virtual assistants" thrown into the mix for good measure.

Slinky

woolly100 wrote: »

Actually for london they want £20k. You pay the fee upfront after the application/interview. They do quite an extensive interview process, mind.

Just read this again. For your £20K, they'll probably require that you have a pulse and a chequebook........