Special Feature

Industry Profile - The secret 'white-collar' world of franchising - franchises in financial services

8th February 2010

Nick Tubb is a franchise expert and founder of WhiteCollarFranchise, a UK franchise resource dedicated to executive and management franchises, examines the marketplace for financial services franchises and highlights some of the benefits of running a business in this sector.

When WhiteCollarFranchise.co.uk was first launched in May 2007, we used the Executive Recruitment Exhibition at ExCeL, London as the launch event.  We had prepared our signage and brochures with a focus on introducing franchising as a route to self-employment to a sector which is at the opposite end of the scale to the association of a franchise business for the majority of UK people.  Our message - 'Franchising offers much more than just Fast Food and Coffee' worked a treat. 

We met hundreds of people over two days, high-level executives, ambitious professionals and experienced business owners, all seeking new opportunities in their careers.  The vast majority saw their future simply in getting a new job, and hadnt considered self-employment, yet almost all of these wanted control of their work/life balance and of their income, and to use their experience and skills in a position that could bring them the most benefits.  Not one of these people had considered a franchise, as awareness of franchising, let alone awareness of the white-collar franchise marketplace, is so limited.  Most people's association with franchising was of coffee shops or fast food.

Yet upon learning of the diversity of opportunities that exist, in areas such as consultancy, coaching, sales, training, recruitment and finance, we ended up taking nearly 100 enquiries from individuals who decided they ought  to explore the franchise marketplace.  This was a perfect result for us, as our market research before launching the website showed us that by targetting specific business sectors, we could draw more people to franchising, rather than waiting for people to discover franchising following a tip-off from a friend or colleague, a chance view of an advertisement or just by accident, as so many prospective franchisees I had met over the previous several years in my role as a Recruitment Manager for two consutancy franchises, had said they had done.

It was also a great result for our clients, the fifteen or so companies that had already bought into our concept, and trusted that the website, and our services could deliver enquiries from people they wanted to hear from.  We delivered, and the vast majority of our clients have continued to use our services since, recruiting many ideally suited franchisees as a result.

So, what of the Financial sector?  Well, there are an increasing number of franchises in this sector, with the established brands in Accountancy being some of the most likely brands that people will be aware of.  TaxAssist Accountants is a prime example, as it has a long history, a national coverage and, in recent years as made the transition from home-based business to shop-front offices, serving the small businesses in the surrounding area.  This premises-based set-up is more the exception in this franchise sector though, which is a factor that makes the sector less likely to be recognised for its brands to most people, but then most of the franchises are business to business, so they arent trying to become big recognised brands to everybody anyway.

The Local Bookkeeper, by contrast, having been established now for a few years, is a shining example of a franchise structure where a traditional role - the bookkeeper - has been developed into a full business system, utilising the benefits of a growing network of bookkeepers to ensure that the franchisee, by being part of this network, has a distinct advantage over self-employed bookkeepers, when it comes to virtually all aspects of running a business.  National branding, training and support, shared knowledge, sales and marketing expertise and resources are all something that the self-employed bookkeeper has to develop 'the hard way' and by nature of their experience, are skillsets that may be quite alien to them.  This model has proven to be effective, not least because other bookkeeping franchises have been launched recently, highlighting the success that The Local Bookkeeper, led by MD Alex King, has achieved.

But what other finance franchises exist? 

Consultancy in financial services includes brands such as Expense Reduction Analysts, Auditel and EPI International.  These franchises all have services and systems to provide UK businesses with cost saving solutions, usually on a share of saving basis, making their services extremely sought after, especially in current conditions.  Its no surprise that these franchises have grown considerably, and several users of the WhiteCollarFranchise site have joined these franchises in recent months.

Money Advice and Planning is a unique opportunity that provides a network of resources for Independant Financial Advisors, bring together expertise enables individuals to be able to offer so much more, not a disimilar model to the bookkeeping franchise, or indeed the cost management consultancy network franchises.

While some of these opportunities enable somebody within a business sector, the opportunity to gain by uniting with others, most of these franchises enable somebody who is not from such a background, to be trained and supported in becoming a specialist in that field.  Its this intellectual property - the knowledge, systems, training, support and resources that combine to generate the investment opportunity.  These franchises can be seemingly quite expensive, yet if the business models are so well proven with dozens of successful franchisees, than this investment level can enable you to achieve the success you desire.

Such franchises typically do offer the flexibility that many seek, being primarily home-based enables people to manage their own time, and work the hours that suit them, according to their desires and circumstances.  The professional nature of the services provides experienced executive and professional people with a business that can utilise their skills, but for their own benefit, and, of course, the benefits of the hard work that they put in goes, primarily, to themselves.

If you are considering a franchise in the finance sector, we urge you start with an open mind, consider all the options and make use of the various tools and research aids available on this website, to help you carry out your research fully and effectively.

Dont forget that the research process also acts as a vetting process for the franchisor to assess your experience and aspirations against their own criteria, so dont forget to submit your CV with any enquiries you make as you explore finance franchises in more detail. 

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