First principles of franchising

Derek Lowe, chief executive officer of Storm Communications, reviews How to Turn Your Business into the Next Global Brand: Creating and Managing a Franchised Network, by Brian Duckett and Paul Monaghan.

We’re living in a time of global business revolution. Many companies, irrespective of size or industry stature, have designs on global domination.

Practical, inspiring, yet startlingly realistic, How to Turn Your Business into the Next Global Brand lays bare the principles of business expansion in an easy-to-appreciate format.

Having witnessed other companies experience the trials and tribulations of attempting to franchise their business in the UK, I was not initially interested by this concept. I must say, however, that by the end, the book’s informal and genuine narrative had even the fiercest franchising opponent begging for more.

Each chapter draws on useful anecdotes, which clearly personalise Duckett and Monaghan’s time in the franchising industry. Their unassuming style, interspersed with realistic examples, make franchising look like anyone’s game. I think the book’s most alluring quality is that it’s written by real business people for real business people.

It includes information on how to decide if your business could be franchised, understanding financial performance, becoming a master franchisee and, most interesting for me, marketing your franchise internationally.

Marc Barber

Marc Barber

Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

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