The Bardon Group Blog

Does anybody wake up in the middle of the night shouting about wanting to become a franchisee? I doubt it! Franchising is not always (or ever) the easiest thing to get into: Where do you start? Who can give advice? What business do you open? Who’s done it before? What were the results? The essence […]

When you buy into a franchise you are buying into a system, a level of business support, a brand but most of all you are buying into an opportunity. However, what you are not buying into is guaranteed success. You, the franchisee, have an obligation to follow the system, to work hard, to be persistent […]

It is often said that franchising is the schizophrenic blend of conformity and individuality where the ‘best bits’ of big and small businesses come together as part of the marriage of two parties (franchisor and franchisee) with differing skill sets but a common purpose. Franchise Owners invariably come from a wide range of backgrounds and […]

Ideal marriage, bitter divorce or happy co-habiting? Franchise guru, Nigel Toplis, examines the relationship between franchisor and franchisee  In my view there is no single definition that totally explains the nature of the franchisee/franchisor relationship. What I can say is that the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee is absolutely fundamental to the success of […]

We have always had good relationships with all the major banks and in my 22 years’ experience I have found that banks are far keener to lend to good reputable franchises rather than general start-ups. Given the research that consistently tells us four out of five independent start-up business go bust within two years whilst […]

A successful franchise system depends on the franchisor and the franchisee working together as one, with a common objective of business success. The only way to establish such ‘mutuality’ is to base it – from the beginning – on the clear knowledge and understanding of each party’s specific responsibilities. This is the Franchise Agreement. The […]

There is a huge latent demand in the UK for people looking to run their own businesses. However, research has shown that setting up your own business from scratch can be a high risk strategy. The bfa NatWest annual survey regularly shows that 4 in 5 new start-ups fail in the first two years whilst […]