May is the start of new franchise beginnings

By Mark Scott, Managing Director, Azura

May is the star t of many new beginnings and so it could also be the star t of a new franchise purchase or the star t for an existing business to offer a franchise

So much has already happened in May this year and as always it began with the May Day Bank Holiday The origins of May Day can be traced back to the times of the Roman goddess Flora According to legend, Flora was originally a nymph who was transfor med into a goddess by the gods in recognition of her beauty and g race She presided over the ar rival of spring and the renewal and g rowth of flowers

May 4th, jokingly called Star Wars Day, because of the slight change to a phrase in the f ilm series ‘May the fourth be with you ’ Interestingly the f irst f ilm made and the four th in the series was called ‘A New Hope’ May 6th saw the coronation of King Charles III – another new beginning for the royal line in the UK

So, taking these examples in to the franchise world; April saw one of the best franchise exhibitions for many years with visitors and exhibitors ver y happy with the event

Prospects have already chosen their franchise and so they will now be embarking on new beginnings also They will probably begin their induction, no doubt with an initial training course It might follow with new premises or new equipment and new customers for them If they need f inance to help the purchase there could be a new loan or a new overdraft facility

At Azura we have signed up three new franchisors to our franchise management system, so new beginnings for those clients and for us, as we will need to develop three more customised systems.

Of course, taking the step in to a new era is not to be taken lightly and no doubt

About the author

Mark Scott star ted his career with NatWest, where he worked for 23 years in their franchise team, including heading it up During his time with NatWest he worked with franchise networks at all stages of their development from new star ts to long established international brands

In 2021 he joined Azura, the first UK franchise management software company, where he is now Managing Director It is par t of the AIM listed Franchise Brands plc, which also owns Metro Rod, Chipsaway, Filta Group and Pir tek mark.scott@azura.co.uk www azuragroup com whether it was one of our new clients or a new franchisee, a signif icant amount of research would have gone in to the decision

For the franchisee they would have compared the business to others, spoken to existing franchisees, asked the franchisor plenty of probing questions, completed a business plan and had the ag reement reviewed by a franchise specialist lawyer Our new clients have also compared other systems, seen demonstrations and asked plenty of questions

Whilst May is the star t of new beginnings, the jour ney for franchisees and our customers will not stop there The franchisee business will g row from a small seedling to an established business that will hopefully fulf il all the ambitions of the franchisee We will never stop customising our franchisor’s system, as no franchise model stays the same over the years. It will need to adapt to changing circumstances and therefore changes to the system are needed also

As the month prog resses it will be interesting to hear what other new beginnings there have been in the franchise industr y n