Elliott Fudge, writer
Starting your own marketing franchise is a great way to start a profitable business. Every business needs a marketing strategy and, as the franchisee of a marketing business, you will be at the heart of the marketing strategies for all kinds of business. If this sounds like a franchising opportunity that interests you, here’s how you can start your own marketing franchise.
Marketing is a vitally important service to many businesses, making a good marketing franchise an in-demand service at all times. If you want to work in a busy, competitive and creative industry, running a marketing franchise could well be a great option for you.
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What does a marketing franchise do?
The primary focus of your efforts will be working closely with clients to devise creative, but focused, ways of marketing a business. You’ll need to be willing and able to work with a generalist mindset, as marketing crosses lots of different channels and platforms. So, knowing this, what else does a marketing franchisee do? You can look forward to:
- Working closely with clients every day
- Chairing regular meetings and co-ordinating with your employees
- Producing content calendars
- Devising marketing strategies
- Putting together proposals and plans
- Recruiting new employees
The marketing sector is varied and diverse so, while these are some of your most common tasks, every day will be different. Each of your clients will be coming from a different position, and will in turn need different and tailored solutions to their problems. You won’t be able to simply copy and paste solutions from one client to the next – you will need to be taking the lead on devising the right solutions at the right times.
If you’re confident in taking the lead, being creative, and working with clients, you might be the perfect marketing franchisee. So, if you feel ready, here’s how you can start your own marketing franchise.
How to start a marketing franchise
If you’re ready to start your own marketing business, here are some of the key steps you need to take:
1. Decide on your market niche
Marketing is a vast industry and, even for the most ambitious franchisee, it’s a sector far too large for any one business to take on. So, knowing that marketing is a skill needed in almost every walk of life, here are some industries where marketing is most in-demand.
- Digital and media
- B2B
- Healthcare
- Retail
- Takeaways and restaurants
- Gyms
If you have previous experience in any of these sectors, you might find it easy to quickly scale-up your business based on your previous experience. Wherever you decide to grow a marketing business, one of the best ways to get the most out of this sector is to focus your efforts on a sub-sector and grow from there.
2. Work closely with your franchisor
Starting a business always brings some risks with it, but one of the greatest benefits to starting a franchise business is the amount of dedicated training and support you will receive from your franchisor. Whether it’s getting the right training to help you through the initial curve of starting your business, or having valuable input on recruiting the right employees, your franchisor is on-hand to help keep your business healthy and operational.
As a franchisee, there are lots of advantages that you can look forward to, such as:
- The pre- and post-launch training you’ll receive
- Access to a nationally-recognised brand identity
- A pre-existing customer base
- Beneficial financial rates from high street banks
- Support packages ranging from recruitment to sales training
- Tailored tutors and mentors to help both you and your business develop professionally
As a franchisee, you won’t need to go at it alone. Whether it’s your franchisor or your network of like-minded franchisees, there’s a lot of support to help you through your journey.
3. Put together a business plan
Think of a business plan as a rough outline of the future of your business. Plans change and your business plan doesn’t have to be set in stone, but you will need to produce this document early on in the process of starting your own business, to show the general direction you want to move in.
Each business plan will likely be subject to review by whoever is reading it, but each version should include the following information as standard:
- An executive summary
- Financial details
- Approximate revenue forecasts and growth projections
- How you intend to recruit, and what kinds of skills and individuals will suit your needs best
- An inventory of equipment
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4. Sign your franchise agreement
Finally, after all your hard work and preparation, you will be in a position to sign your franchise agreement. This is a legally binding document that solidifies both your commitments and your franchisor’s. Whereas your business plan deals with some of the more variable sides to your business, the franchise agreement legally entitles you to the identity and resources of a franchise business.
In return, you need to agree to work in a certain way and to some select principles, so this is something of a transactional agreement. Failure to keep to this agreement can see your franchise agreement terminated, leaving you without a franchise.
Start your own marketing franchise today and secure a slice of this multi-million pound sector for yourself
There are lots of opportunities to be had in the marketing industry. Whether you’re a total newcomer, already have marketing experience, or are simply an interested observer, there are lots of resources available for you to make your marketing business a success. There are a few ways to go about starting a B2B marketing business, but if you’re not sure what the difference between a B2B and a B2C is, you might be better off reading about that first.
Marketing isn’t for everyone though, and if you would rather have a look at other franchising opportunities, you’re in luck. On the UK franchise directory, you can scroll and filter through a range of different opportunities to find the sectors and businesses that suit you.
Discover other franchise opportunities
Elliott Fudge, writer