Q&A: Does Little Dessert Shop Franchise in the UK?

Becky Martin, writer

Published at 24/05/2019, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

Q&A: Does Little Dessert Shop Franchise in the UK? — Photo © little-dessert-shop.jpg

Source: Indeed.co.uk

If you’ve always had a sweet tooth, you might have considered starting a dessert shop business. One brand that is incredibly popular is the Little Dessert Shop. Today, we find out whether you can start your own Little Dessert Shop franchise unit in the UK.

Little Dessert Shop serves beautifully made desserts in comfortable and stylish surroundings from 21 locations across the UK. It offers brownies, bakes, pastries, crêpes, waffles, gelato, sundaes and milkshakes, and deliberately fosters a sense of personal indulgence and luxury in its stores by incorporating glamorous and extravagant fittings and encouraging the notion that every visit to a Little Dessert Shop is an “experience”. The brand depends on public recognition of the fact that a dessert-only restaurant is extravagant and appeals to the modern “treat-yourself” consumer mentality. But does Little Dessert Shop franchise in the UK?

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Does Little Dessert Shop franchise in the UK?

Yes, it does. In 2016, the company chose to take advantage of the obvious interest in its products and brand, and began actively searching for new franchisees to add to the team. While Little Dessert Shop has had a regional focus so far, the geographical diversity of its stores demonstrates the extent of its ambition.

One of the most appealing aspects of the Little Dessert Shop business model is its positioning in a relatively young industry. Dessert-only dining is a new concept that’s proven extremely popular in large cosmopolitan areas, where trendy dessert bars have received a lot of attention. However, this model is yet to be seen on a national scale. Therefore, Little Dessert Shop is ahead of the game and should be considered a market leader.

History of Little Dessert Shop

Little Dessert Shop was an instant success when it was founded in 2014. A number of branches were opened in local towns and cities as the business expanded across the Midlands. Having established a presence in West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Wednesfield, the business decided to adopt the franchising model and aim for much greater UK and international expansion.

Starting a Little Dessert Shop franchise unit

Little Dessert Shop is a very attractive franchise opportunity. As one of the market leaders in a growing sector, it is perfectly poised to expand rapidly on both a national and international scale. If you're looking to get involved in an exciting investment opportunity, this is your chance.

Becoming a Little Dessert Shop franchisee

Franchisees can open one of three types of Little Dessert Shop location; a large restaurant-shop, a café-shop or an express store. While restaurants seat around 80 customers, cafés have room for around 30 and express stores prioritise a takeaway service, making them ideally suited to train stations, airports and shopping centres.

Excellent presentation of the brand’s products is paramount, as they are the type of dishes that appeal to social media users and those that are likely to ‘Instagram’ their food. The success of the Little Dessert Shop brand will depend on individual franchisees’ abilities to encourage this social media use and adopt a social media marketing approach.

We wanted to take the unassuming dessert and turn it into a creative masterpiece for all to enjoy, born out of a love for fine foods. – Muazzam Ali, franchisee

The franchise is looking for individuals who are highly motivated, organised and determined to succeed. Applicants must demonstrate an eye for detail and understand the company philosophy. All franchisees need to be good communicators and capable of managing a small team and interacting with customers. This means having the right attitude and conveying the right values, even during stressful or busy periods.

Running a Little Dessert Shop franchise can be tough at times. Franchisees should expect to work long hours, particularly during the first year of ownership. However, the business can be extremely personally fulfilling, as well as financially rewarding. You can find out more about the franchise opportunity on the Little Dessert Shop website here.

How much you need to invest

In order to own a Little Dessert Shop franchise unit in the UK, you'll need to raise anywhere between £90,000 and £160,000, depending on the type of store you want to open. This includes the lease on a property, equipment, fittings and the franchise fees. The total franchise fee is set at £12,995 and franchisees are required to pay a monthly royalty of five percent of gross turnover and a marketing fee of one percent of gross turnover.

These relatively low start-up costs make Little Dessert Shop one of the most affordable food franchises on the market and an enticing investment opportunity.

What you get for your investment

In return for their investment, franchisees will be granted access to the brand’s tried and tested business model. Little Dessert Shop has spent a number of years refining and improving its franchise package. Franchisees can access guidance and support throughout the initial set-up period and during the business planning, shop fitting, training, marketing and launch stages.

All franchisees are granted the rights to an exclusive territory and, once signed, the franchise agreement establishes a contract term of five years. It can be renewed at the end of the period. Ongoing support is also provided by the central Little Dessert Shop franchising team, who will always be on hand to help franchisees with any difficulties they experience.

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Start a dessert shop franchise today

As a whole, the baked goods industry is worth approximately £3.5 billion and continues to grow year on year. Research has also shown that approximately 1.5 billion sweet baked items are consumed every year in the UK.

One of the most exciting trends in the baked goods industry is the move away from supermarket products towards specialist or artisan retailers. This switch from mass-produced supermarket items to high-quality products crafted by experts means that there’s a gap in the market for a franchise that delivers excellent sweet treats – under the right branding.

Click here to find out more about a dessert franchise on the Point Franchise network, Heavenly Desserts. You can also see a full list of our opportunites here. If you’d like to find out if any other well-known brands offer franchising opportunities as part of their business strategy, why not check out an article from the list below?