When The Going Gets Tough, The Smart Start Franchising

The Franchise Magazine:

Recent events in the financial and housing markets are proving once again that franchising is made of ‘the right stuff’, says Franchise Consultant Tony Urwin.

I remember when British homes were gold mines, loans came free with the Sunday papers and the economic mood was a rosy shade of pink. Those were the days, all right. Sadly much has changed since August, when we too caught America’s financial flu. What sounds like a breakfast cereal for bankers, ‘Credit Crunch’ is the name of the pernicious bug that has weakened our banks and building societies, and which is now working its way through the rest of the economy.

House prices have stalled, borrowing has become harder and more expensive, and business journalists are using dirty words the likes of which cannot be printed in this magazine. Clearly, we have to start thinking about boosting our immune systems.

Some companies are more vulnerable than others but most will simply carry on: especially those that have franchised. The usually circumspect Bank of England has frankly warned us to expect ’slowing growth and rising inflation’, a cheery combination. Earlier interest rate hikes and the banks’ increased risk-aversion are starting to bite, and the real estate market has been the first to suffer (perhaps a little justice for the legions who were excluded from the party). Read on…