Wow
Just noticed this old thread (2009) was resurrected while Lise and I were away. (North Devon - 30th May to 7th June - didn't we do well? Picked the only wall-to-wall sunshine week this year
)
My thanks for all the positive comments.
Mick:
I would never expect someone like you to consider buying into a franchise, in fact I would be very suspicious of your motives if you were to approach me with the suggestion
You are right, it takes time to recoup the initial investment, according to government figures anything up to five years before break-even.
But the sort of people who buy franchises like mine are not like you. They tend to be people who have spent many years in run-of-the-mill jobs and are then either thoroughly demoralised or (even worse) made redundant. They have neither the inclination nor the drive to start their own businesses
BUT when offered the chance to own their own lucrative business with very little input from them and absolutely no necessity to go out selling their services they see it as a golden opportunity.
As John Willan said, franchising is not for everyone, but there are, and always will be, people such as I describe above who will feel happy and comfortable operating their own business under the umbrella of an established brand but who would be unable to imagine themselves doing it in total isolation with the ever present possibility of failure.
Just imagine, if you had a few franchisees out there while you are undergoing your surgery and recuperating, your business would still be trading, and earning you money
Best of luck by the way - I hope all goes well and wish you a speedy recovery.