Business Advice

Branding is, where advertising stops, and marketing doesn’t go. Back in the day, cattle were branded to help protect breeders and buyers from rustlers. Today’s iconic brands are often forged by unscrupulous knock-offs to mislead the gullible consumer. But, increasingly, the very word ‘brand’ has become the wild west of marketing and is used by mark...

PR is a powerful marketing tool that can introduce your brand to new audiences. However, to achieve the best results, it’s important to understand how it fits into your overall marketing strategy. PR – or Public Relations – is the art of spreading awareness about your brand, product or service through positive media coverage. This is usually achieved thro...

Being successful in securing equity investment from private investors is about more than just the nature of the deal, the team, the financial viability, and the supporting market data. You also need to understand the mindset of investors because it should influence everything you do to present your deal in the best possible light. For the last thirty years, Paul Lange, fo...

Although bank interest rates are at record lows in Australia, many potential franchisees still can’t raise the finance to acquire a franchise and are increasingly turning to non-bank lenders, particularly their parents and family members. The Franchise Advisory Centre estimates around 10% of new franchisees are now funded or underwritten by family finance, which it ...

While more people are taking up franchising as a way to buy a job, a communications expert is warning franchisors to think carefully about who they sell a franchise to, rather than focussing on simply selling a licence to anyone keen to buy it. Mike Irving of Advanced Business Abilities says some franchisees lack the right personality profile and disposition to make their...

After more than 25 years in franchising, I’ve seen both franchisees and franchisors achieve spectacular success, and others lose it all. There is no such thing as a sure bet in business, but franchising helps reduce the risks of small business by providing a supported environment utilising both the resources of the franchisor, and the community of franchisees operat...

The words “buy” and “sell” are often used in relation to the acquisition and transfer of franchise businesses, but what do franchisees actually buy? The overwhelming majority of people who are attracted to franchising are first timers in business who are drawn by the branding, support and infrastructure provided by a franchise chain that takes the ...

At the point of receiving disclosure documentation, many potential franchisees are recommended by their franchisors to use the Franchising Code’s 14-daywaiting period to undertake their due diligence on the franchise investment. The problem for many potential franchisees at this point is that they don’t know what due diligence is and may have never heard the t...