Starting a new business is no easy task and carries a degree of risk. It also demands a major investment of money, time, and energy, which can leave a new business owner feeling lonely, anxious, and under pressure. While it doesn't guarantee business success, franchising has gone a long way to helping people get to grips with many of these difficulties.

“Franchising allows you to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Starting your own business can be a daunting prospect, but as part of a well established ethical franchise with a proven business model that offers training, support, guidance and a structure, franchisees have a better chance of seeing their business succeed than if they were going it alone,” said Tom Endean, marketing manager at the British Franchise Association (bfa).

Another advantage of franchising is that it offers those making the move to self employment a chance to explore a completely different business sector.

Regardless of whether you have spent the last 10 or 15 years working in IT, administration, construction or finance, you can invest in and successfully operate a franchise business offering everything from pet care and property maintenance services to domestic cleaning and minor car bodywork repairs.

The secret lies in the training and support offered by the franchisor as part of the franchise package. This includes initial training that covers the core business and the services that it offers, as well as general business training on things like bookkeeping and accounts, and sales and marketing.

Initial franchise training can last several days, and many franchisors provide opportunities for new franchisee recruits to spend some time with operational franchisees to get a clearer idea of the day to day running of the business.

Good franchisors will provide opportunities for further training as well as ongoing support for franchisees  

For more information on starting your own franchise business and the types of franchise businesses that have passed the bfa’s accreditation processes, visit www.thebfa.org .