Let’s assume that as a Home Instead franchisee, you’ve made a success of your business, which has grown steadily with our help. What comes next? Well, some of our more ambitious franchisees have gone on to explore multi-unit franchising, a concept that’s becoming increasingly popular. So what is it, and what benefits does it offer?
Multi franchising is simply where a franchisee owns two or more franchise territories. But how could this help you? It would enable you to use the experience you’ve gained in your initial territory and adopt the same business model in your new franchise office or offices.
This can provide some powerful benefits. Firstly, it allows you to take advantage of economies of scale across all of your territories – which will help to reduce the overall costs of the franchises. Similarly, a muti-franchise operation can be more efficient, as you can have a single, centrally managed team overseeing the key activities of your different territories – such as recruitment, learning and development, back-office administration and finance.
At Home Instead, we have a number of multi-unit franchisees who, having had great success with their initial franchise have been keen to branch out and use their established business model with new franchises. Before that, we’ll have helped to ensure that they’re ready to expand and will then have offered them potential opportunities through new territories or resale franchises. And of course, our National Office team have continued to support them throughout their journey, and they’ve also received help and advice from our existing multi-unit franchises.
The end result is that these franchisees are able to build upon their success with a single franchise and take it to another level. With ambition and dedication, multi-unit franchisees can enjoy even greater success and could even expand the range of services they can offer.
But the proof of the pudding is whether this approach actually works in practice. And we can confirm that it does. Here are just three examples of what can be achieved by franchisees with a progressive outlook, who’ve gone on to boost their revenues significantly by taking on new territories.
One notable success story is that of Suhail Rehman and his wife Tasnim. Suhail opened his Glasgow North franchise in 2013. Tasnim was inspired by his success and the difference that he was making to elderly people’s lives. So she gave up her retail career to buy the Glasgow South franchise with Suhail.
The couple then went on to buy the Stirling, Perthshire and South Ayrshire territories. The five-unit franchise now employs over 300 people and has become a multi-million pound business. In recognition of his success, Suhail was shortlisted for the Best In Class Multi-Unit Leader award at the bfa HSBC British Franchise Awards. And the couple haven’t finished – they’re still looking at further franchise opportunities.
Another successful couple is Amanda and Mark Hamer. Amanda bought the Cheltenham territory in 2011. Mark then followed her example and purchased the Worcester franchise. He went on to buy two further territories – Stroud and South Cotswolds, and Warwick and Heartlands.
On a slightly smaller scale, Simon White bought the Wetherby territory, which was on offer as a franchise resale. A few years later, he decided to expand and purchased another resale in Ilkley, the neighbouring territory.
So, whether you’re interested in a slightly more cautious growth plan or have grand ambitions, multi-unit franchising could well be the way forward for you!