Is franchising for you?

Dermot Carberry, Director of Franchising, Hillbilly’s Fried Chicken, with Derry franchisees, Sean O’Kane and Louis McLoughlin

Calling the shots while trading in an established tried and tested brand, advised and supported by those who have gone before you, is a seductive proposition. The sector looks healthy, but the sacrifice of true independence may be too much for some. Keith Watterson meets the people behind some of Cork's most popular businesses to find out whether franchising is the way forward...

Setting up your own business is by no means the attractive proposition that it one was. With recession, and perpetual public discourse about the economy’s cataclysmic meltdown, observers would be forgiven for thinking that Ireland’s much lauded entrepreneurial flame had been all but snuffed out. In fact, Ireland, this region in particular, is dotted with entrepreneurial success stories. They’re of a smaller scale than those of the Celtic Tiger years, but they illustrate and even underline the truism that a recession is the best time to build a business up from the ground floor.

With an outlook unsullied by false expectations of easy credit or flowing cash sales, the new breed of Irish bosses survive through doggedness, hard work and a forensic focus on costs, taking nothing for granted.

It's hardly the essence of work-life balance, but it is what many entrepreneurs accept as necessary and inevitable in the current economic climate.

But does it have to be that way? For many who are less willing to risk the shirts on their backs by setting up as an independent, there is another option: franchising.

For its supporters, franchising couldn’t be simpler or better. As a franchisee, you are at the helm of your own business operation, but as part of an established brand network. In simple terms, a franchise is a ‘business in a box’, with a recognised brand name, and with instructions, training and ongoing support from the franchise owner (franchisor).

Calling the shots while trading in an established tried and tested brand, advised and supported by those who have gone before you, is a seductive proposition. It has worked in a huge variety of markets, from fast food to grocery stores, coffee shops to motor repairs. And the figures are impressive.