How to Make a Career Change With a Painting Franchise
Elliott Fudge, writer
If you’re creative, ambitious and looking for the right investment opportunity, running a painting franchise business could be the perfect career change for you. If you’ve been thinking about changing your career and changing your life, here’s how you can make your dream career shift with a painting franchise.
With everyone spending a lot more time at home, more people than ever have been tapping into their creative instincts and decorating their homes. Towards the end of 2020, as many as 42% of UK households were looking at painting and decorating their homes, with the number one priority being to paint the living room [DIY Week].
But it’s not just painting and decorating that people have been prioritising. Lots of us have decided to re-evaluate our working and career choices, leading many to wonder whether there are better career options out there. If you’ve been thinking about making a career change with a painting franchise, here’s what you need to know.
Why start a painting franchise?
Running a franchise means you’ll be working to one of the country’s safest business models. With less than 1% of franchises closing per year due to commercial failure [British Franchise Association], you can expect to be in business for the long-term. Besides reducing your risk as a business owner, you’ll also:
- Be your own boss
- Have plenty of training and support
- Have many industry and networking contracts
- Have a pre-existing customer base
- Have access to a tried and trusted business brand
If all of this sounds good to you, you could be the perfect painting franchisor.
How to make a career change with a painting franchise
If you’ve decided to make a career change, you’ve already gone one step beyond many others. Having the courage to take that first step can make all the difference and is just the first stage in a potentially long and prosperous franchising journey. Here’s how to make a success of it.
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1. Pick the right franchise
There are plenty of successful franchises already hard at work in the painting and decorating industries, but which ones are right for you? Long before you even think about opening your doors to the public, you’ll need to narrow down your options and decide which franchise is the best option for you. It may be the case that some franchises catch your eye, but can’t pass the following tests:
- Can I afford the ongoing costs of running this business?
- Is there enough training for me? Is it ongoing or temporary? How much support will I have when it comes to recruiting?
- What does this franchise do differently to others?
- What are the notable weaknesses of this franchise?
- Is there anything I would want to do to improve these?
Your own tests and questions may be far more extensive than this, but in any case, doing your research is important in order to find out which franchises are the right fit for you.
2. Finance your franchise
To first get started as a franchisee, you’ll need to figure out how best to afford the start-up costs. The good news is that there are plenty of different options for you.
If you don’t have the cash upfront, don’t worry! Many major high street banks and lenders are prepared to offer up to 70% of your start-up costs. Because franchising is such a safe and reliable way to run a business, many banks are happy to lend to individuals with good credit histories, as they know the chances of failure are lower.
Some franchises will even have their own dedicated financial brokers who can help you get the best possible loans. There may be alternative funding methods, so how to finance your franchise can be unique to each painting franchise. However there are different options, so it’s important to check with your future franchisor which options are right for you.
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3. Capture a trend
Home painting may seem a straightforward business, and although the simplicity of the industry is an advantage, how you carry out this job has never been more varied.
Just as many other businesses have been looking to reduce their environmental impact, so too has the painting industry. Changing consumer demands have seen many businesses look towards water-based and less harmful painting tools to get the job done. These options are just as reliable, and less damaging to the environment. If you want to highlight your green credentials, look for franchises offering these solutions.
In the most basic of terms, eco paint is essentially paint that is friendly to the environment due to the fact that it’s either produced from sustainable materials, has little to no volatile organic compounds or simply has exceptional durability which means you don’t need to paint your home as often. - My Paint Guide
4. Get marketing
Marketing can be the difference between a successful business and a failed one, and you don’t want to put in all the work opening your business only to find you don’t have any customers. There are lots of different ways to market your business and these have only grown in size and scope through social media marketing.
But if you’re a complete newcomer to marketing, there are a number of business basics that you’ll need to pay attention to. Fortunately, your franchisor will almost certainly be on hand to help you. You aren’t the first new franchisee and you certainly won’t be the last, and your franchisor will likely have a pre-existing strategy ready for you.
Become a painting franchisee today and combine creativity with profit
Making a career change is never easy but as a franchisee, you’re never alone. Your franchisor will always be on hand with advice and guidance, so when it comes to making a career change, you know you’re in safe hands.
The home improvement industry is looking at making a comeback as a whole. If you want to see what else is happening in this sector, you find out more details about how the home improvement sector is making a comeback, or explore other exciting home improvement franchises for other opportunities. For other sectors altogether, you may be better off on the UK franchise directory where you can see a full list of opportunities in other sectors.
Elliott Fudge, writer