Franchisees

Operating a franchise will bring along a whole new set of challenges and you will need an adviser who understands your business model. We'll help you to grow your business while staying in touch with your personal goals.

Buying the wrong franchise could not only cost you your initial investment outlay, the trading loss from the initial start up period, and your time costs, but also the opportunity cost of investing your money elsewhere. 

Whilst buying a franchise business is perceived to be a safer route to being your own boss, success is not automatically guaranteed. It can be a challenging process as you decide what type of business is suitable for you, and whether the business model is likely to generate the necessary profits to provide for you and your family. 

Sourcing funding is currently an issue for any new franchisee. Banks can lend up to 70% of the investment, and will require financial forecasts for the first two years of business to support your application. Bearing in mind the substantial financial and time costs involved in buying and setting up a franchise, it makes good sense to do your homework. 

In order to maximise the best chance of success, it is best to always seek professional advice from a franchise accountant to ensure that there is no fallout from an ill-considered decision. At Menzies we can help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of the franchise you are interested in buying, your business model and suggest how to improve it in order to give your franchise the best chance of success. 

We work towards forming long-term relationships with our clients. Our franchising team provides integrated advice delivered as solutions built specifically to your needs, to help you choose and operate your franchise more successfully. We'll help you to grow your business while staying in touch with your personal goals. By working together we can groom your business for your eventual exit, through:

Franchisor due diligence
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Given the extent of this commitment, it is surprising that many people looking to buy a franchise fail to conduct research and planning beforehand. Not all franchise opportunities offer the same level of training and support to their network of franchisees and surprisingly many individuals make a commitment to invest without anything other than basic enquiries. We can help you with due diligence on the vendor you are seeking to acquire an existing franchise, helping you to avoid making mistakes arising from business failure, or selecting the wrong franchise for you.
Advising on profit improvement and strategic planning
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We can give you an honest assessment of your franchise, providing you with advice on your profit and loss projections, cash flow forecasts, balance sheets, break even analysis and return on investment, giving you peace of mind about the shape of your business plan. We will always suggest practical recommendations to improve performance and reduce business risk. We can help you to regularly compare your achievements with your business plan and adjust your business methods or the plan, so that you know where you are going, how you are going to achieve it and when..
Financial forecasts to raise and structure finance
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A lack of finance can cripple a business so critical to getting started is structuring your finance appropriately to ensure the most tax efficient manner for you to raise your share of the investment funds. Banks will lend up to 70 per cent of the investment, and will require financial forecasts for the first two years of business support. By preparing financial forecasts for you, we can help you identify short-term borrowing (overdraft) and long-term borrowing (investment funds) through our trusted and specialist bank contacts.
Advice on setting up as a sole trader versus limited company
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Franchises are often structured in ways which result in significant amounts of unnecessary taxation. This landscape is constantly evolving, as we are currently advising clients on the effects of the 50% personal tax rate in relation to their business structure. It is also not unusual to incur a loss in the set up period, so you need to be aware of how your choice of legal entity may affect your tax positions and your business cash flow. We can advise you on setting up the right ownership structure to minimise your tax exposure and help with the future development of your franchise.
Bookkeeping and financial reporting
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We can help you to set up a system to collate all the necessary financial data from your franchise to enable you to monitor its performance.
Advice on VAT registration
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The timing for applying for vat registration can impact on the early recovery of VAT on initial start-up costs.
Tax planning and self assessment
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We have extensive experience in saving franchisees tax and can offer you a full tax planning service.
Exit strategies
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We advise on the full range of exit options using sophisticated tax structures to help protect your wealth by assisting in the franchise valuation and the planning of your personal tax and investments.

Our strong franchise client base and in-depth knowledge of industry issues and market cycles mean that we are ideally placed to advise you through these challenges. Please contact us to arrange a no-obligation initial consultation.

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