Our Top 5 Unique Franchise Ideas For 2019

It’s the start of another busy year, so are you ready to make the break from the usual 9-5 and embrace the entrepreneurial spirit? At Point Franchise, we have hundreds of franchises on offer across all industries and sectors, just waiting for passionate, dynamic people to take up the challenge. Whether you’ve got £5,000 or £50,000 to invest, we have a franchise for you.

There are plenty of new franchises on offer too, some of which are entering the UK market for the first time. That means you have the chance to avoid oversubscribed markets and get into something new.

Why Franchise?

Setting up your own business requires time, effort, and a lot of initial capital. It can be lonely out there, too, especially if you’re struggling to get your business up and running on your own. With a franchise, you have that all-important support network behind you, as well as a brand that’s already established with the public. For an initial investment fee you get all the support you need, with training, ongoing assistance, and even help to advertise your franchise.

It's hard to establish a good business reputation, which is why choosing the franchise route is so much easier. Your brand is already known and trusted by customers – all you have to do is build on that solid foundation to ensure your outlet reflects the brand identity and trustworthiness. Do that, and the customers will follow!

Where’s the best place to franchise?

You can open up a franchise just about anywhere in the UK, but our top five performing cities are currently Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Manchester. These five hubs are booming, with lots of investors keen to support businesses that want to open up in these areas. The benefit of these locations is that property is relatively cheap (when compared to London and the south-east), so if you need to find premises for your franchise then your overheads should be lower.

Wales is performing strongly too, with franchises in locations like Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Swansea gaining in popularity. We predict that Newcastle and York are also going to perform strongly this year, as well as Leeds and Aberdeen. Down south, Brighton has some excellent opportunities on offer.

Our top 5 for 2019

We love unusual and unique franchises, so here’s our top pick for 2019:

Hot Rod Fun – If you’re a petrol-head and have a wicked sense of humour, this could be the franchise for you. Invest £40,000 initially (total investment £75,000), and you can start doing tours of your home town… using hot rods! Using hand-crafted Wencksern Hot Rods (which are miniature versions of cars from the 1920s-1940s) that are street legal in some locations, you can take people on a guided tour they’ll never forget! Not only can you offer guided tours that your customers will love, but you can also tie in a second revenue stream selling the hot rods too. It’s brand new to the UK, but the franchise has performed strongly in Europe.

Humpit – is 2019 the year we all go vegan? Plant-based diets are recognised as good for people and good for the planet, so we expect franchises like Humpit to perform particularly well this year. This food franchise offers a full menu of delicious, plant-based food and drinks with both restaurant and takeaway options, depending on the location. With an initial investment of £30,000, franchise fees of £15,000 and an overall investment of £70,000 this is one of the more affordable food franchises on offer. To find out more about our favourite food picks, check out our Best Pizza Franchises in the UK: The Top 5 article.

Hemera Holidays – 2019 looks like it’s going to be the year of the ‘staycation’, so what better time to invest in a holiday home franchise in the UK? Hemera Holidays has continued to perform strongly over the last few years, and in 2019 it looks like it’s going to go from strength to strength. It’s a surprisingly low buy-in too, at just £9,700 initial investment, with a total investment of £11,600. Your job is to let the properties, so this is definitely a franchise you can run from home. You’ll be given a territory, and you’ll generate an income from each booking you bring in. You’ll also deal with customer queries, so this is great if you’re a real ‘people person’. For more hotel ideas, check out our Top 3 Hotel Franchises article.

Fast Feet FA – Love your footy? Love kids? Why not combine both with a Fast Feet FA football academy franchise? Offering coaching sessions for kids between 3-16 years old, this football franchise is one of our top picks for 2019. With an initial buy-in of a fiver under £10,000, it’s a very affordable franchise and perfect if you’re passionate about bringing on the next Wayne Rooney or Ronaldo. It gives kids a chance to shine at the world’s favourite sport.

Activ Net Marketing – this is one of our perennial favourites, as Activ Net seems to deliver year on year without missing a beat. This online business is ideal if you want to work from home, and with an initial investment of just £9,995, it’s affordable too. Hours are flexible, and you don’t need to have any experience as the support network is second to none. Your job is to help potential customers in your area develop their websites. With an online presence now an absolute essential for even the smallest business, you’ll have plenty of interested customers from day one. Activ Net also has a well-established reputation and is a brand consumers trust.

Conclusion

2019 is going to be a strong year for franchises, and with so many new contenders coming onto the market, there’s never been a better time to unleash your inner entrepreneur. From football academies for kids to vegan food outlets, miniature hot rods to online marketing, there are hundreds of options out there for you to choose from. Find out more about why franchises are a great business model by reading our Top 20 reasons to buy a franchise article.