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Women exerting 'girl power' in franchise market share
Owner-Director of Bloxham Mill-based How2Franchise Rod Hindmarsh says that more and more women are either buying into franchises or becoming franchisors. With over 26 years of experience, Rod tells us why this is a good thing for business...
Opportunities
Women enjoy prominent roles in nearly every sector of franchising but are there barriers to bringing in more? Potentially.
Now I don't want to stereotype but not all sectors in franchising are naturally appealing to women. Would the oven cleaning sector have grown to the size it is now if we liked to clean our own ovens? And I for one see the great advantages of a number of other traditional owner-operator franchises but wouldn't necessarily want to do that every day myself.
There are however plenty of franchise opportunities that are aimed at women in every way. The colour scheme, language in marketing materials and brand identity are all put in place to appeal to women, not just to men. Then consider the fact that entire franchise networks are made up solely of female franchisees. But even so, women still only account for 30% of all franchisees. Interestingly, out of the seven people How2Franchise currently employs, five of these are currently women.
Rachel Ray, founder and Managing Director of franchise network Bright & Beautiful, recently said: 'One of the most attractive things about launching a franchise - for either sex - is the fact that you are in business for yourself but not by yourself.
'Research has shown that in general women are more collaborative than men, so the support of a franchisor and a network of peers can be particularly attractive to women. We have found this to be true at Bright & Beautiful, where most of our franchisees - over 90% of whom are female - have cited this as one of the reasons for joining our network.'
Why franchise?
People choose to franchise for a variety of reasons. From being unable to reach your full potential in your current career, lack of flexibility in the workplace, or simply wanting to be your own boss using a tried and tested business model.
Women deciding to go into self-employment are increasingly more drawn to franchising as they are able to start a business confidently with the ongoing support and training from an established brand. The increasing number of women coming into the franchising industry is one to watch and something which I believe can only be good for business".
About How2Franchise
- How2Franchise has been trading for 26 years, with 10 franchise partners and 20 franchisees around the world.
- The company recently opened an office in Moscow in addition to existing offices in Beijing and Saudi Arabia.
- How2Franchise employs 7 people (including a specialised lawyer) at its Bloxham Mill HQ, How2 Franchise's global franchisees and staff now number over 50 and, in total, the company has helped over 1,000 franchisors since it first set up its franchise model. Interestingly, of the 7 people the company employs.
Interested in finding out more about franchising? Telephone us on
01295 722846 | enquiries@how2franchise.co.uk | www.how2franchise.co.uk
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