The decision to invest in a franchise is an important one. You will need as much information as possible at your fingertips in order to evaluate your suitability and the potential franchises you may be interested in.

But if you are in full-time employment and time to attend an educational workshop or seminar is scarce, learning about franchising at your own leisure and when appropriate for you will be a vital part of the due diligence process.

The British Franchise Association (bfa) recognises the need by prospective franchisees for personal study of franchising and has put together a comprehensive guide pack. The guide gives a structured approach that helps establish whether a franchise is right for your circumstances. It aims to improve people's understanding of franchising and help them decide if an opportunity is fair, ethical and right for them.

The bfa Franchisee Guide, which is sponsored by Lloyds TSB, has been proven over many years to be an invaluable resource for those seeking to better understand franchising. One in four people investigating franchising buys a guide, and when you consider the wealth of sound franchising understanding that is conveniently boxed to form the guides, it is easy to see why.

There are many sources of information on franchising including websites, books, DVDs and magazines. Where the bfa guides are unique is in offering all of this information in one place, such as:

• The How to Evaluate a Franchise book by Martin Mendelson
• A copy of The Complete Ethics of Franchising
• The bfa DVD 'Your Introduction to Franchising'
• Copies of established franchising magazines
• A full list of bfa franchisor and affiliate members

The bfa has also produced a guide pack for prospective franchisors looking to franchise their own business. The box guide is packed full of relevant information and advice for anyone looking to grow their business through franchising and wanting to carry out their research at their own pace.

For prospective franchisees and franchisors, it is also important to carry out thorough research on the franchise market and the industries you may be interested investing in. An ideal way of doing this is by referring to the annual NatWest/bfa UK Franchise Survey, which contains the latest statistics on franchising in the UK.

Now in its 22nd year, this survey is the most established and reliable source for data on franchising trends.

Published: 22 December 2006

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