Since the beginning of the Coronavirus lockdown, people have had time on their hands to consider new business ideas and opportunities for their future happiness. As a result of this people are considering running their own home based businesses or even buying into a full franchise opportunity.
Too many people leap into a great sounding idea and only ‘check it out’ AFTER all their money has gone – Here we suggest doing it the other way round – We show you how to look before you leap!
For over 30 years we have been assessing Business Opportunities and Franchises for clients. Using a set of experienced eyes can save you thousands of pounds and months even years of misery and regret but not everyone bothers to do it.
During the lockdown, we have received more requests than usual to assess various types of home business, franchises and commercial opportunities and to be clear, we are great believers in and supporters of second businesses, home businesses and the Franchise industry as a whole. Our objective is always to give the opportunity a ‘Green Light’ if we can.
However, the single most important thing that 30+ years of business analysis and assessment experience has taught us is ‘an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure!’ In other words, it will ALWAYS pay dividends to have someone check out the details and claims of any business you intend to invest your hard earned money into.
Remember, investment in a business is and always SHOULD be an emotional issue. All business owners NEED a passion for their business but in the beginning this passion and excitement can cloud your judgement.
Just this week, we have been asked to look into THREE nationally advertised business opportunities and in each case a major error was discovered saving our clients thousands of pounds.
In the simplest of terms, we believe that if a business is asking you for TENS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS the very least you can expect is that THEIR business is properly formed and running legally.
Just imagine, if you handed over your cash this week and they get closed down for some legal impropriety next week. They would be gone, taking your cash with them!
The Coronavirus has seen an increase in the number of business opportunities on offer and this fact has prompted us to write this article and publish the following short checklist to help people understand the sort of pitfalls that can easily be missed and wind up costing them a FORTUNE!
The years of experience we have in assessing businesses means that we can quickly tell if an idea is fundamentally sound. In fact some business and franchise owners have used our services to check their own offerings for problems and issues.
We offer all of our clients an initial business opportunity assessment and written report on our findings free of charge. The report will cover a number of fundamental checks that all business opportunities should be able to easily pass. If the ‘opportunity’ fails at this early stage you will have saved yourself a lot of time and potential heartache. If they pass, which they all SHOULD do, then you can look further into the business and who knows you may have found the ‘one’ for you!
The 10 point checklist below is for you to use yourself when assessing a business but if you would like to arrange your own FREE business assessment telephone us at Transition Law 0330 2233 506
Here is our initial Business Assessment checklist
1. How long has the business been trading?
2. Is the Company properly constituted on Companies House?
3. If claims of high earnings are made – What do their own accounts show?
4. Is the Company registered for Data Protection?
5. Is their Privacy policy up to date & legally correct?
6. How much are they asking for the Business purchase /Franchise fee and does that figure compare correctly with the number they have sold and their published accounts?
7. How many other people are successfully running this business and can you speak to them?
8. Are they members of a recognised trade body/British Franchise Association
9. What are the Ongoing costs/contributions to the Marketing budget/ repeating fees etc.
10. What VALUE do you get for your money?
E.g. if the fee is £30,000 for a day’s training and a T Shirt does that represent good value?
It might do but you should definitely check!
