Let this be your ‘sign’ to take action in 2020

FASTSIGNS has helped over 720 franchisees build a business and recognise their potential in 10 countries

If you’re considering launching a franchised business in 2020 and are waiting for the right opportunity to present itself, let this article be the sign you have been waiting for.

Launching a business of any type can feel like a daunting task. Some people with an entrepreneurial spirit may find the experience exhilarating, inspiring and thrive on the activity. However, others who are naturally more risk averse may not relish the level of uncertainty that can come with setting up a business.

While these people are more than capable of running their own business and, indeed, have a wealth of experience and transferable skills that would make them fantastic business owners, there could always be a reason not to take the plunge and begin building a business that benefits themselves. This is where opening a FASTSIGNS franchise could be the solution.

Great opportunity

The dawn of a new year is always a great opportunity to take stock and set goals for the coming months. If 2019one of your goals is to step outside of your comfort zone and current job role, realise your potential and start working for yourself, franchising is a way to mitigate some of the risks and help to turn your dream into an attainable reality.

Franchising offers a route to business ownership that means you can build a business for yourself, but not by yourself. A good franchisor will have a proven model that gives you access to supplier relationships, marketing collateral, business plans and accounting support.

In 2020, FASTSIGNS celebrates 35 years as a franchisor in the signage industry. Over the past three and a half decades the company has helped over 720 franchisees build a business and recognise their potential in 10 countries, currently with 23 being located in the UK.

A FASTSIGNS centre helps local businesses, operating in virtually any industry, to effectively communicate with their patrons and customers through the use of signs, graphics and visual communications. The business- to-business customer base means the required working hours are a standard Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm working week, so franchisees can maintain a positive work-life balance.

End-to-end service

To service their customers, FASTSIGNS franchisees make use of the company’s vast product range, which includes anything from outdoor signage and banners to cutting edge digital screens, vehicle graphics and exhibition stands, to create bespoke comprehensive signage solutions. These solutions aim to help customers overcome their communications challenges and have a big impact on their business’ success by making them more visible, promote a product or service or provide important information.

FASTSIGNS centres offer an end-to-end service, working with customers on their project from idea generation and graphic design to production and signage installation, thus reducing their requirement to coordinate numerous suppliers and creating a seamless approach to achieving their signage goals.

Due to the nature of the offering, a FASTSIGNS franchisee does not need to have any specific signage industry experience and can have virtually any work history. All the company requires is for franchisees to have a commitment to following the FASTSIGNS model, a desire to work hard, achieve and have the capacity to learn.

Initial and ongoing training

As the franchisor, FASTSIGNS believe it’s important that franchisees know every area of their business. Its four-week initial training programme is designed to teach them everything they need to know about signage and the FASTSIGNS model.

Two weeks of training takes place at the FASTSIGNS head office in Dallas, Texas. Upon the franchisee’s return to the UK, they spend a week in another FASTSIGNS centre with their franchise mentor. The final week of initial training takes place in their new centre, with one of the company’s UK-based business consultants, who help the franchisee to become acquainted with their new business.

The training doesn’t stop there, however. In their first year, new franchisees receive weekly visits from FASTSIGNS business consultants and are invited to attend a calendar of training events to help them excel in their centre.

Getting off to a good start

To ensure a FASTSIGNS centre gets off to the right start, the company believes a prominently located, highly visible unit of approximately 2,500 square feet makes the perfect site for setting up a new centre.

The site will be located within a protected territory made up of 5,000 businesses, which franchisees can actively market to in order to create sales opportunities. Upon launching, FASTSIGNS work with new franchisees to devise a marketing plan that will promote the new centre’s presence in their local area.

As part of its launch package, FASTSIGNS help franchisees locate and build out their centres to the company’s specified brand guidelines, purchase the required equipment (including a printer, plotter and laminator) and hire a small team of staff.

The team members FASTSIGNS helps franchisees recruit will complement their own capabilities and planned role within the centre. As an example, if the franchisee was initially planning to head up sales, FASTSIGNS will help them to find the staff to facilitate graphic design, signage production and front of house roles.

High investment - high return

FASTSIGNS is a high investment, high return franchise. The company recommends having a minimum of £36,000 in working capital at the start of your journey to franchise ownership.

To help you raise the funds, FASTSIGNS works with most of the high street and independent banks, which are willing to lend up to 70 per cent of the required investment.

At a glance FASTSIGNS

Established:

1985

Number of franchised outlets:

Over 700 globally. 23 in the UK

Location of units:

Birmingham, Bolton, Brighton, Chelmsford, Crawley, Enfield, Gloucester, Guildford, Hammersmith, Huddersfield, Hull, Islington, Kingston upon Thames, Leicester, Leeds, Maidstone, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton and York

Investment range:

From £125,000

Minimum required capital:

£36,000

Contact:

enquiries@fastsigns.com fastsigns.co.uk