Apr 26, 2013 | Coconut in the Media, News
Many franchisors jump in and allocate their franchise recruitment marketing budget without taking the time to really understand their ideal franchisee profile, causing long-term problems, says Sally Butters, Director of Coconut Media.
Whether you have a brand new franchise opportunity or you have a 100-strong network, taking time out of your everyday workload to research and compile an accurate profile of what your perfect franchisees are like and how they behave during the franchise purchase journey is absolutely invaluable. This will save you a lot of problems in the future, as it not only gives you an insight as to where you should allocate your budget to generate franchise prospects for the best return on investment (ROI) but also ensures that you attract the right franchisees with the right messages and, therefore, successfully grow your network.
Click here to read the full blog post on Select Your Franchise or visit our services section to find out how Coconut Creatives can help you identify your perfect franchisees!
Apr 23, 2013 | Clients in the Media, News
Clive Woodward
Being your own boss has never been more popular – the number of people running their own business has risen by 367,000 since the start of the economic downturn in 2008.[i] For those people looking to be their own boss, yet enjoy the support of a well-known brand and support network, buying a franchise in a fast-expanding industry like business coaching is a tempting proposition.
ActionCOACH is the world’s leading business coaching firm and their coaches use their training, experience and skills to motivate other business owners and help them achieve success.
But who motivates the coaches? Who can they turn to for guidance and inspiration?
ActionCOACH see this issue as extremely important and so their franchise partners benefit from having access to a wide range of inspirational speakers. ActionCOACH regularly invites its franchise partners to events where they can hear success stories from high-powered entrepreneurs or take part in workshops with experts in everything from improving information retention to change management.
Already, in February, the ActionCOACH conference held in Portugal welcomed not only ActionCOACH Founder and Chairman Brad Sugars but also Sir Clive Woodward. Sir Clive is one of the most successful British sports coaches of recent times leading the England Rugby team to World Cup Victory in 2003 and playing a key role in delivering the most successful British performance in an Olympic Games as the Director of Elite Performance for the British Olympic Association for the 2012 Games. His talk on “Creating Champions” transfers his experience in the sporting arena to the world of business to help business owners reach their potential.
ActionCOACH has an exciting programme of speakers lined up for Spring and Summer 2013. Action Coaches are also encouraged to invite their coaching clients to take advantage of learning from inspiring speakers including:
- The UK’s leading speed reading trainer Alex Garcez, who explains how to quickly absorb and retain information
- Michelle Clarke, the UK’s leading expert on Talent Dynamics Pathway,
- Andy Hemming, of ActionCOACH, sharing his insights on keeping an ActionCOACH franchise simple and profitable and how to build a team of coaches in the West Midlands
- The fascinating story of William Kendal, founder of The New Covent Garden Soup Company, speaking about the trials and successes of growing his business before selling up to buy Green & Black’s, which he and his colleagues then sold to Cadbury’s in 2005
- Damian Hughes lecturing on change management, he has written books including: “How to Change Absolutely Anything”, “Liquid Leadership”, “Liquid Thinking”, “Change Inspiration” and “The Survival Guide to Change”
- Adrian Webster will offer his expertise during a workshop on team building and customer service. He is also well-published, having written “Polar Bear Pirates and Their Quest to Reach Fat City” and “Polar Bear Pirates and Their Quest to Engage Sleep Walkers”.
This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not
contact us!
Apr 15, 2013 | Clients in the Media, News
Kim Richardson (OPC) and Sir Michael Bibby (Costcutter)
National supermarket group Costcutter has awarded Silver for the National Direct to Store Supplier Award to Coconut Creatives’ client The Original Poster Company (OPC) at its annual Supplier of the Year ceremony.
The awards ceremony in Harrogate was attended by over one hundred top suppliers from across the United Kingdom. The Costcutter Supplier of the Year awards recognise suppliers who have been dedicated and supportive in helping Costcutter retailers increase sales. At the awards ceremony suppliers in 11 different categories including national direct to store suppliers were rewarded for their hard work. Costcutter deals with 350 direct to store suppliers, both regional and national across a variety of products, so this was a great honour for OPC, having only been supplying the group with greetings cards for 6 years.
Established in 1991, OPC is the world’s leading greeting card distribution franchise, operating in an industry worth over £1.4 billion just in the UK. OPC’s franchise network has had complete UK coverage for over 20 years and is a full member of the British Franchise Association.
Kim Richardson, National Account Manager for OPC, pictured here with Sir Michael Bibby, Managing Director of Costcutter’s owner Bibby Line Group Ltd, at the awards ceremony, says:
“All of us at OPC are extremely proud and honoured to receive this award for great service, product and increasing sales within the Costcutter group. This is due to a combined effort from our franchisees, OPC support office and sales team, and the Costcutter buying and sales team.”
Over 90% of OPC’s franchisees surveyed agree that their home-based franchise system gives them the flexibility to enjoy their family life. Some franchisees are now selling their existing territories as they retire or move on to new business opportunities, creating huge potential for new owners to step in! These franchise resale territories are already established, so you start with an existing profitable business, including stock, cash flow and customers.
All new franchise owners follow an initial comprehensive training programme with regular ongoing field support from a dedicated Business Development Manager. This provides you with all the support you need to grow your sales and keep overheads low, whilst achieving great profit margins.
This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not contact us!
Apr 9, 2013 | Clients in the Media, News
Fiona O’Mahony
Coconut Creatives’ client Rosemary Bookkeeping continues to add strength in numbers to its franchise network as three more Franchise Partners complete their training. Chereen McCarthy, Fiona O’Mahony and Jon Lewis all launched their franchises in March and, having come from very different backgrounds, found their pre-launch training extremely useful.
Jon, Franchise Partner in Sutton Coldfield, after being out of civvy street for so long, felt that he would benefit the most out of the three from the training: “After 24 years’ service in the Royal Air Force as an aircraft engineer, I knew that I wanted to get into the business world. The opportunity to be my own boss really excites me. I hope that from humble beginnings I am able to grow a sustainable and successful business and hopefully reap the rewards that come with this.’’
The Rosemary Bookkeeping™ Franchise now has over 20 franchisees nationwide, servicing the SME market of over 4 million businesses in the UK. The franchise is based on a business concept that has been established and refined for over 11 years providing a unique bookkeeping system within a fully supported franchise package. Franchisees obtain huge flexibility with superb work-life balance potential.
Fiona, Franchise Partner in Redditch, is a qualified Accounting Technician and, with two children in full-time education, decided that now was the time to become her own boss: “With my experience and qualifications plus the support of the Rosemary Franchise, I feel confident that my business will flourish.”
The franchise is backed by four successful entrepreneur business women, Claire Watson-Bardot, Joanna Dennis, Sarah Cook and Lisa Curteis who have over 60 years of business and bookkeeping experience between them. As an Associate Member of the bfa Rosemary Bookkeeping has a proven ability to sustain a franchise network successfully. This is something Chereen, Franchise Partner in Chelmsford, was particularly interested in: “If you are looking to buy into a franchise, you need to ensure that you are completely committed to investing time and energy into it. What reassures me is that each of the Rosemary team are experts in their fields and can support me with friendly, professional advice to reach my goals.’’
This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not contact us!
Mar 20, 2013 | Coconut in the Media, News
Videos are a not only a great tool to allow customers, franchisees and prospective franchisees to see the human side of your business, they also feature your messages in a digestible manner, says Sally Butters, Founding Director at Coconut Media.
Videos have become an essential marketing tool in the franchise industry. They are in most cases relatively easy to make, can drive sales for your franchisees and attract new franchisees to your network. However, as with any other marketing activity it is important to understand what your customers or prospective franchisees want to see and what information they are after.
Click here to read the full blog post on Select Your Franchise or visit our services section to find out how Coconut Creatives can help you create powerful videos!
Jan 17, 2013 | Coconut in the Media, News
When you’re looking to recruit franchisees, it’s important to make your business something prospects can relate to. A key way of doing this is by publishing case studies so that prospects can see what the people who have chosen your franchise have to say about their experiences. Sally Butters from Coconut Creative discusses how this can benefit your franchise and shares some of her top tips for writing a case study.
Click here to read the full blog post on Select Your Franchise
