Small Organisation Competing with the Franchise Market: How can a privately owned Health club compete with a Franchise?

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, for his suggestions, comments, patience and understanding. Very special thanks to my parents, my father, my mother, my brother and my sister who were continuously supporting me throughout my life and leaving me free in all my decisions. I would also like to thank my colleagues for his technical support whenever I needed. I would like to thank to Department, all the university managers, teachers and students with whom I have worked.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

Signature..........................................

Date.....................................

DECLARATION

I declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. I further declare that this work has not previously been presented in whole or part, for any other award, or published in whole or in part elsewhere, including this university. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

A business opportunity simply helps the entrepreneur to start a business. As soon as the business is started, the entrepreneur is on his own, he has to make the decisions and things himself. He does not have anyone to help him or suggest him anything. On the other hand, if a franchise is opened it brings in a compact partnership between two people or between the franchise operator and the franchising company, and as both of them are stake holders they both have a part in decision making. The partnership continues till the end of the franchise operations. This is just a little example of the difference between two, other differences are explained well in detail below. Franchise business brings in lot of opportunities for the people who have little capital but have high hopes. These people can make use of their good analytical skills and get the maximum return through franchise operations. Many of these people with low capital chose to start off their own personal enterprise while few invest in a running business and maximize their profit. The people who chose to invest in an already established enterprise have whole lot of opportunities and two of them are the franchise operations of the business operations.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACTIV

INTRODUCTION1

Background of the study1

Research Aims and Objectives1

Significance of the Study2

LITERATURE REVIEW4

Franchising4

What is franchising?4

Who is involved?5

Franchising In UK5

A background on franchising5

Growth and future of franchising6

Relevance to SME sector6

Financing Elements - how to finance your franchise7

General7

Options for finance8

Personal Equity8

Banks8

Leasing9

Trade Creditors9

Profit Retention9

Venture Capital10

Public Offering10

Benefits of Franchising11

Benefits to the franchisee11

Benefits to the Franchisor11

Drawbacks of franchising12

Disadvantages to the franchisee12

Disadvantages to the franchisor13

Franchise Business and SME Improvement13

Health club and Franchising18

REFERENCES23

APPENDIX29

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Whenever we read or hear the word franchise, many things come into our mind. A lay man may take it as a branch of an enterprise but in reality it's much more than a branch. Many people have given different definitions of franchise ...