You may have heard of the term ‘franchise’, but aren’t really sure what it is and what it means. Did you know that many of the well-known brands are franchisees? Brands such as McDonald’s, Domino’s and Creation Station all operate under a franchise licence.
According to a survey ran by the British Franchise Association, in partnership with Natwest, there continues to be an increase in the number of people operating their own franchise. At Creation Station, our family of franchise owners increases year on year. Often the people who join our family have never heard of franchising before.
We’ve put together some of the frequently asked questions that people ask us when they are looking into running their own Creation Station franchise.
Franchising is a method for distributing goods and services through a licensing relationship. In franchising, franchisors (a person or company that grants the licence to a third party for the conducting of a business under their marks) not only specify the products and services that will be offered by the franchisees (a person or company who is granted the licence to do business under the trademark and trade name by the franchisor), but also provide them with an operating system, brand and support.
In simpler terms, a franchise provides the rights and licence to sell, market and distribute an existing brand. The benefits to doing this are endless. When investing into a franchise, as well as buying the rights and the licence, you are also buying an established brand, a dynamic, working business blueprint model.
Alongside the benefits of an established brand, you also benefit from the support, growth, and development of the overall business.
Support
At The Creation Station, the support is based on a long-term partnership. After initial training, you have full access to the following support;
– Three months of day-to-day guidance to help you get up and running. Provided by one of our award-winning and supportive Business Development Managers.
– Regular conference calls with your training group and a member of the head office, to ensure everyone is getting the help they need and keeping those friendships going through the early days of the business.
– Regional support group calls meetings and socials. Within your regional group, you’ll have many different levels of experience, including your regional manager who will still be running a business just like you but will also be on hand to help, guide and help you achieve the success you want.
– A dedicated support hotline, email, and online ‘Treasure Trove’ based system with every answer imaginable.
Training.
When investing into a franchise the of initial support and training, and on-going training will vary from business to business. It is worth meeting with the franchisor to find out what is and isn’t included.
With The Creation Station, you receive a week’s residential training programme at Inspiration House, the Creation Station Head office in Devon,
Your initial training is hands on and practical and includes the following;
- The creative activities master-class. You’ll experience a range of classes, learn how to run the classes, how they flow and everything activity-wise to deliver the ten plus income streams
- Marketing ‘know how’ and explore the step by step online courses that you can tap in as you grow and develop your business
- All the resources at your fingertips in our ‘Treasure Trove’ with business templates, PR templates, marketing assets and much more.
- How to use our award-winning website for your bookings, registers and simple bookkeeping systems
- Full access and training in new initiatives and developments
…plus much more
Tools to operate your business
You will need a range of equipment, or tools or materials to operate your business. Having some of these included in your start-up price allows you to get your business up and running smoothly before any out-goings appear.
With a Creation Station franchise, you receive £3000 worth of tools and materials and access to a wholesale account that opens up to over 13,000 art and craft products on our store and a log into an online marketing portal with “done for you” images and blogs for social sharing.
A tried and trusted blueprint model
The benefit of franchise model is that the systems and approaches have already been developed, tried and tested. This means that you can start implementing the business process straight away knowing that you are on track to develop and grow your business.
The Creation Station provides a blueprint model that is tailored to suit your own needs. This enables you to gain the flexibility you want, whilst keeping on track with the business activities to help you run a successful franchise.
The benefits of being a part of a proven model, means that you don’t have to spend your valuable time reinventing the wheel. For example, activity plans are all pre-written to include classes, parties, and events.
These include baby keepsakes, baby, preschool and family workshops, school workshops and after-school clubs, adult craft events, senior citizen and intergenerational workshops.
You also gain access to our exclusive franchise groups on social media that are buzzing with new, innovative ideas from across our network, support, and fun.
A guaranteed audience.
A franchise typically provides an exclusive territory for you to operate within. Do check with the franchisor what the exclusivity rights are and how big your area will be.
With The Creation Station, you are able to build your own territory based on available postcodes. Even our mini-franchise territory includes up to five thousand children, so there are lots of opportunities for your creative business to blossom within.
First steps to find out more is to download and read The Creation Station franchise information pack.
To book in a call with us, call Creative Hub on 01395 239 700.
You can find out about attending a Discovery event. Here you see an actual class, meet local Creation Station franchise owners and find out more whether this could be the right opportunity for you.
