A new survey commissioned by the British Franchise Association (bfa) has found that the number of women starting a franchised businesses has increased over the last decade. The survey found that 34 per cent of all new franchise owners are women, which represents a significant rise over the existing proportion of female franchise owners (27 per cent). Compared with a similar survey conducted 10 years ago the UK has seen the female portion of franchise owners grow by seven per cent from 20 per cent in the late 1990s.

"There are many women looking to return to work after maternity leave or having taken time-off to raise children," says Tom Endean, Marketing Manager at the bfa. "Juggling work commitments with family at home can be difficult. The opportunity to work from home within the constraints of their current job is often more limited, or in some cases, non-existent, despite many improvements with technology. The option of starting a business gets around this issue, but the risk involved is high, with so many new businesses never getting off the ground.

"Time and again franchising has greatly out-performed other start-up businesses. Its formula of a locally owned and run enterprise, driven by a small business owner, with branding, economies of scale and support from wider network, giving the consumer the best of both worlds and the business a far better chance of success. Buying into a system that has already gone through many of the early hurdles of starting up a business and is proven to work means the franchise model provides a more secure and stable platform for starting your own business."

Pictured: British Franchise Association 'Franchisee of the Year' 2008 Angie Baynes, of Venture Portraits

Published: 3 November 2009

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