Women in franchising
Back in the late 1990s 20% of all franchisees were women. This was in a market turning over £7 billion and home to 24,000 franchisees across about 570 different brands. Over the last few years this has slowly increased to nearly 30%. However, the industry today is worth well over £12 billion with 37,000 franchisees and 900 different brands.
So even with a modest increase in percentage, there is still a significant increase in the real number of women in franchising. There are also many more women in franchising by the fact that about half of all franchises have women as part of the ownership whether that is on their own or with their partner.
There is no difference in real terms for a woman going into franchising as there is for a man, but there are two significant areas to consider for the reasons why the number of women involved in franchising is increasing:
A growth in female-focused businesses
As franchising has grown, so have the number of business types which use franchising.
Today there are a number of franchise businesses which tend to be dominated by women. Many of these relate to homecare services, children's services and entertainment, but by no means are women in franchising limited to these business areas. All it means is that there are more businesses which seem to attract women to franchising.
Returning to work
For many women looking to return to work, but with commitments to family at home, the opportunity to work from home with their current job can be very limited. The option of starting a business gets around this issue, but the risk involved is relatively high, with many new businesses never getting off the ground.
As a more secure option, particular franchises can become very attractive. Covering the full scale of professional disciplines, franchising can offer numerous home-based businesses that can allow someone to better balance starting a business with various other commitments.
Although still requiring hard work and dedication to the franchise, there are support systems from the franchisor - not to mention, it is a proven business model, with a protected brand, marketing advice, sales advice and specific training to run the business.
For those looking to find out more about franchising, it is advisable to visit one of the bfa educational franchising seminars.
