Internet franchise, CityLocal has continued its national expansion with the recruitment of a new franchise owner.
Anthony Francis, who previously worked in project management for an international telecommunications organisation, has recently bought the CityLocal Lewisham franchise.
Francis was looking for a new business opportunity when he came across the CityLocal concept. He said: “I have always wanted the opportunity of owning and managing my own business, and I had looked at the CityLocal opportunity five years ago and after conducting further research and watching the website evolve, I felt that the timing was right to get into the rapidly expanding online industry.”
As part of the research about setting up a business, Francis looked into various franchises in different sectors and concluded that the CityLocal opportunity offered the best way forward.
He added: “I think CityLocal is positioning itself as the prime local site for business listings and local community information. The listings are very comprehensive and enable small businesses to have a good web presence. The link with community news, events, jobs and properties also help to drive more people to the site. This constantly updated information, automatically updated by HQ, further convinced me of the value of the CityLocal franchise.
“The training was very comprehensive and there is also a lot of follow-up support via the forum, the training videos and documentation that is available, the support and guidance of a nominated mentor who helps you during your first months in business and the support from CityLocal head office. The communication via head office was good and all my questions were answered promptly.
“What excites me is that although there is a ‘template’ for the franchise, each franchise owner has some freedom to operate and develop the business in the way they envisage their business to operate. The business is not just an online directory, but off-line promotions can be developed as well as mail drops and voucher campaigns. Also, because the business is home-based and you are your own boss, not only do you have the flexibility to work outside of the normal 9 to 5 routine, you are also working for your own financial gain.”
Published: 18 December 2012
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