Take The Plunge By Going For A Franchise

Times Online:

While taking a break from her career as a human-resources manager to have her first child, Gabrielle Lixton spotted a business opportunity in the swimming classes she attended with her baby.

Water Babies, the company running the classes, had just started selling franchises and Lixton jumped at the chance to buy one in Berkshire, her local area.

“I had been thinking about whether to go back into corporate life or whether to run a business of my own. Water Babies seemed like a tried-and-tested business, so I spoke to the franchise owners and was really impressed by them. I decided to buy one.”

Within two and half years she had grown the business by more than five times, bought a second franchise in Oxford and sold her first one for 15 times what she paid for it.

Buying a franchise offered Lixton the chance to run her own business but with less risk than starting from scratch on her own.

“The advantage of buying a good franchise is that you get help with things like marketing, human resources, PR and health-and-safety matters. Water Babies offered me a complete system and loads of support, and that let me concentrate on growing the business,” she said.

Franchising is continuing to grow in popularity because it offers budding entrepreneurs a proved concept and a business that can be grown rapidly with less risk than starting up on your own, according to the British Franchise Association (BFA).