Cara Squires, writer
If you’ve got an eye for detail and a love of well-crafted furniture items, why not consider running your own business in the retail space with a furniture franchise? There are so many great franchise investment opportunities available for those who’d like to launch a furniture business in 2022. Read on, and discover five of the best.
If you dream of starting your own retail franchise and selling high-quality furniture to customers, you’ll be happy to learn that the UK’s furniture market is worth over £3 billion [Statista]. There’s plenty of room to thrive in this industry, especially with the support of an experienced and knowledgeable franchisor.
What is a furniture franchise?
Before diving into some of the best furniture store franchise opportunities currently available, it’s important that you have a strong sense of what, exactly, a furniture franchise does. What will your day-to-day life entail as the owner of a furniture franchise? A furniture business will design and/or manufacture and/or sell and/or install items of furniture, with the specifics of the services offered differing from company to company. In general, you can expect to be:
- Working closely with customers and employees
- Maintaining strong supplier/B2B relationships
- Running and marketing your franchise day-to-day
- Sticking to health and safety laws/regulations/guidelines
- Benefitting from continued franchisor training and support
Since a furniture franchise has a proven track record, the chances of your store succeeding are very high. You can leverage branding, technical support, training and networks to take your furniture store to another level. Another benefit is the flexibility that a furniture franchise offers owners in terms of operating hours. - Eden Club Tunisia
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The 5 best furniture franchises in the UK
1. BoConcept
BoConcept is a retail chain founded in Denmark which now has over 250 stores in 60 countries. When customers visit its Brand Stores, Inspiration Stores or Studios around the world, they get professional advice about home interiors.
- Becoming a BoConcept franchisee: You’ll need to have business acumen, as well as a personal passion for design, style and trends. Industry experience is not as important as enthusiasm, as you’ll be fully trained by experts as a BoConcept franchisee.
- How much you need to invest: You’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £100,000, with a total investment cost of £500,000 and an advertising fee charged at 0.75% of turnover.
- What you get for your investment: You’ll be trained and supported at every stage of your journey. You’ll gain a full understanding of BoConcept’s systems and databases and be supported with all things visual merchandising, especially during store set-up.
2. Gautier
Gautier is a stylish French furniture retailer with a presence in 65 different countries and over 100 beloved stores. The franchise is a leader in the indoor furniture sector, and one of the first to cater to children with bespoke junior-sized furniture, now a huge and profitable category.
- Becoming a Gautier franchisee: You should be an entrepreneur with great customer service and management skills and a passion for sales. You should also, of course, enjoy interior design and decoration.
- How much you need to invest: You’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £170,000, with franchise fees of £18,000 and a total investment cost of £250,000.
- What you get for your investment: You’ll receive comprehensive operational training and access to a range of support services, including help creating an annual marketing plan, software support and launch assistance.
3. Raison Home
Raison Home is a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom design service which consults clients to determine exactly what they want and need. First founded in 1966, the Raison Home franchise operation was officially launched in 2000, and there are now over 100 franchisees.
- Becoming a Raison Home franchisee: If you share the company’s values of honesty, collaboration, pleasure, respect, family and innovation, you already have everything you need to get started with Raison Home.
- How much do you need to invest: You’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £10,000, with franchise fees of £12,500, a total investment cost of £22,495 and advertising and royalty fees both charged at 5%.
- What do you get for your investment: You’ll be helped to develop your business plan, secure your funding and launch your franchise. You’ll be fully trained and supported with expert franchisor advice every step of the way.
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4. Schmidt
Schmidt has been designing, manufacturing and selling innovative, made-to-measure kitchen and bathroom furniture for six decades, since its founding in 1959. This global brand is known by thousands of customers for its high-quality, made-to-measure furniture.
- Becoming a Schmidt franchisee: You’ll need to be passionate about sales, happy to work on high-value transactions and able to provide an excellent standard of customer service to your customers.
- How much you need to invest: You’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £100,000, with a total investment cost of £420,000.
- What you get for your investment: You’ll enjoy a full franchise package of training and support, including assistance with site selection and fit-out (and an interest-free loan for the cost of your entire showroom fit-out).
5. TREND Transformations
TREND Transformations is an affordable kitchen makeover service. Its innovative products can be installed directly onto existing worktops, breathing a whole new lease of life into kitchens, and there are now over 40 thriving franchisees in the TREND Transformations network.
- Becoming a Trend Transformations franchisee: You won’t need to have any practical experience, but the franchise is keen to talk to people who are confident, goal-oriented and ambitious, with a talent for project management and working with others.
- How much you need to invest: You’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £35,000, with franchise fees of £28,700, a total investment cost of £123,000 and advertising and royalty fees charged at 2% and 7% respectively.
- What you get for your investment: You’ll attend a one-week induction course to learn the ropes, followed by two weeks of support on your own premises as your showroom is fitted out. You’ll then receive all the ongoing advice and assistance you need
Start running a furniture franchise today and join the profitable, growing furniture industry
Hopefully, after reading this article, you’re aware of how many great options are out there if you dream of running a furniture business in the UK. If you’re more sure than ever at this point that you want to start a furniture franchise, stick around on Point Franchise to continue your research on the wider retail industry ahead of your investment. From top tech trends innovating the retail sector as we speak to tips for marketing your retail franchise, there’s plenty more to learn and discover.
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Cara Squires, writer