Poppies Managing Director predicts promising future

Poppies’ Managing Director, Chris Wootton, believes the franchise industry has a bright future ahead of it.

In spite of the extreme challenges brought by the coronavirus pandemic, research has shown people in the UK are still keen to become their own boss. Chris explained,

“In January 2021, 31,423 businesses registered with Companies House. Although it’s almost half of the figure for January last year, by the end of 2020, new business registrations actually ended up 13 percent higher than the previous year, indicating the hunger and potential prosperity to be had in the current climate. That’s over 30,000 people keen to change their lives through business ownership despite a third lockdown taking effect.”

Interestingly, not all these budding entrepreneurs were quitting their day jobs:

“Whilst a proportion of these [registrations] are full-time ventures, 54 percent of them account for side hustles. For just over half of the people starting a business in January, there was some other factor stopping them from committing to it fully.”

Chris suggests people might be preparing for the future, improving their chances of surviving another economic recession. With this prospect in mind, the domestic cleaning franchise managing director believes people should consider joining the franchising industry.

“Compared to those who start a business from scratch, very few franchises fail - only one in 10, in fact.”

Franchisees get access to “the mechanisms of a tried-and-tested business model”, as well as training, ongoing support and a network of like-minded entrepreneurs. Plus, while franchisees focus on day-to-day operations, franchisors consider the bigger picture, reacting to events and trends.

Chris added,

“It’s become almost impossible for franchisees not to thrive.”

Above many other sectors, the cleaning industry has seen a huge spike in demand in the past year. Chris encouraged anyone interested in becoming their own boss to consider joining a franchise in this area.

“Combining the success of franchising with an industry that has been in the spotlight during the dark times, entrepreneurs will be able to reap the rewards for years to come.”