How to Choose a Graphic Design Franchise That's Right For You

Lily Sweeney, writer

Published at 08/03/2022, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

How to Choose a Graphic Design Franchise That's Right For You
Photo © How-to-Choose-a-Graphic-Design-Franchise-That's-Right-For-You.jpg

If you’re a creative, artistic person with a head for business and a strong desire to become their own boss, why not start a graphic design franchise? It could be a great way to connect your strengths and passions, making each working day a chance to flex your creative muscles and set your own schedule. Plus, the sector is increasingly popular, and good graphic designers are very much in demand in 2022.


Anyone researching making a career change with a graphic design franchise will be thrilled to learn that the number of people employed as graphic designers continues to rise year on year [Statista], as it has for some time. Strong marketing and great branding are two increasingly essential aspects of any successful business, and awareness of the value of design services continues to rise.

What does all of this mean? It means that starting a graphic design franchise is a more viable option than ever right now. There are a few different graphic design focused franchise types that you might choose to invest with if you go down this road. To help you narrow down your decision, here are your four most likely options, laid out...


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  1. A marketing franchise

When you begin to look into running a graphic design franchise, you’ll soon see that one of your best options is to start a marketing franchise. As a marketer, you’ll take on a B2B role, helping your clients advertise their services/products to customers. Though the specifics of your role will differ from company to company and client to client, you can generally expect that, as the owner of a marketing franchise, you’ll be focused on things like idea generation, campaign management and communication.

How to choose a franchise in the marketing industry

There are many great examples of thriving marketing franchises - investments through which you could channel your love of graphic design in a highly profitable manner. Two really strong options worth your consideration are Activ and eDivert. You can invest with beloved digital marketing franchise Activ for a minimum initial amount of £9,995. You can invest with eDivert, a preferred provider of business support services, for a minimum initial amount of £9,500, with a total investment cost of £11,400.

  1. Running a printing franchise

A printing press and design franchise is a really great option. One of the biggest advantages of running a graphic design franchise is the room that you have to be creative, and this is never more true than it would be if you were running your own printing press, helping customers to execute their marketing and design visions each working day. If you’re committed to the provision of excellent customer service, attentive to detail and appreciative of a job in which you can see a task from start to finish, you’ll love designing, making and delivering marketing materials to B2B customers as the owner of a press.

Choosing a franchise that offers specialist printing and design services

A strong example of a thriving printing franchise highly worthy of your consideration is Minuteman Press, which was founded over 75 years ago and has now grown into a proud network of nearly 1000 locations. You can become a Minuteman Press franchisee for a minimum initial investment of £25,000, with a total investment cost of £50,000 and a royalty fee capped at 6%.

  1. Launching a signage and visual communications franchise

You can’t spell the word ‘design’ without the word ‘sign’ and that’s probably why so many creative, hard-working people are successfully able to make a career change with a signage franchise. As the owner of a visual communications business, you’ll offer your B2B branding services towards a number of different final products, from signs to banners, graphics, flags and vehicle wraps.

Choosing the right signage and communications franchise

If marketing communications in their many forms are your bread and butter, it has to be FASTSIGNS, a company that’s been innovating in the graphic design space for years now, offering its clients a wide range of high-quality signage solutions. If you’re interested in joining the FASTSIGNS network, you can become a franchisee for a minimum initial investment of £36,000, with franchise fees of £21,000 and a total investment cost of £120,000.

  1. Investing in a specialist estate agency board services franchise

If you can find a thriving sub-sector in which to provide your graphic design services, you can corner the market and enjoy a huge amount of success and profit. To this end, is there any better option than estate agency board services provision? If the graphic design sector is growing right now, the real estate sector is exploding. It is THE fastest-growing industry, employing over 560,000 people [Office for National Statistics], and you could put yourself in the perfect position to capitalise on that.


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How to choose a graphic design franchise that specialises in board services for estate agencies

When it comes to design services specifically targeted at estate agencies, it’s impossible to beat Agency Express. This franchise is the UK’s largest and only national provider of estate agency boards, and its network consists of over 117 hard-working franchisees. You can become an Agency Express franchisee yourself for a minimum initial investment of £12,500, with a total investment cost of £24,500 and a royalty fee charged at 15% (inclusive of operating and advertising fees).

Running your own business in the graphic design sector could be profitable, enjoyable and perfect for you

You should now have a strong sense of the many available opportunities in the graphic design industry. If you’re interested in making an investment, stay on Point Franchise to continue your research, finding out exactly how to run a graphic design franchise. Discover five tips for marketing your graphic design franchise, a day in the life for the owner of a graphic design business and much, much more. In no time, you’ll find you’re equipped with all the information you need in order to start your own.

Lily Sweeney, writer

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