Franchisees’ 3 Worst Nightmares

(and why the Soapbox Franchise group is different)

Many would-be-entrepreneurs prefer to buy a franchise as opposed to starting a business from scratch, for obvious reasons: A successful franchise offers a proven business model; A franchise group already has brand awareness among its target market, which gives the franchisee a head start in marketing; The franchisor provides thorough training and ongoing support.

While buying into a franchise seems like your best bet, a lot of people would argue that just like a new start-up, being a franchisee has its fair share of challenges. Below are a Franchisees’ 3 worst nightmares and how and why Soapbox offers a different franchise solution. 

1. High cost of purchasing a franchise

Franchises can cost anything from R500,000 to R10,000,000 and unless you have that amount of money at your disposal, gathering those funds can be extremely difficult, and can put you off the franchising route altogether.

However, a Soapbox Franchise can be purchased for only R250,000. This great purchase price includes a fully functional office, a show-room section with display cabinets, promotional stock and marketing material, plus our full guidance and support. You also get a thorough business plan and business coaching with practical strategic planning sessions every quarter to make sure you are headed for success.

2. High overheads

Many people only realise how obscene their overheads are once they buy into a franchise.  The high cost of rental space in malls, and large staff components that will result in a huge salary bill. Even a small shop in a busy mall can cost up to R50,000 per month.

Soapbox is different in that it can be run from a home office with good internet or a small rented office, and you’d only need 2 people to run a successful Soapbox Franchise.

3. Having to buy all stock from the franchisor at inflated prices.

Many franchise groups require their franchisees to purchase stock from head office at set prices. These prices are often higher than that of similar products bought from other suppliers, making it even harder for the franchisee to make a profit.

A Soapbox franchisee has direct access to all suppliers AND gets a group discount on most products from day 1, making the franchisee competitive in the market.

Buying into the Soapbox Franchise makes running your own business a more pleasant experience, leaving you more likely to succeed. The branded corporate clothing and gifts industry is big business and show no signs of slowing down. All the more reason to side with us.

Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about becoming a Soapbox Group Franchisee.

You can also contact Mias at mias@soapboxpromo.co.za for more information about becoming a Soapbox Group Franchisee.

4 Reasons Why Good Systems are key to Small Business Success

The importance of good systems within a business or company should never be underestimated. Poor systems or the complete absence of systems can cost you your business.

Below are reasons why good systems are crucial if you want to realize small business success.

1. Systems that deliver consistent results drives Customer-satisfaction
   A successful business system is usually customer-centric. One of the best ways to measure if you have a good system in place is whether they are producing desired results – ultimate customer satisfaction… and delivers it time and again. Good systems ensure that the customer gets a consistently positive customer experience. This leads to trust, repeat business, customer loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals. And having your customers recommend you to their circle of influence, is more valuable than any other form of marketing.
2. Well-documented systems facilitate effective change management
   Good systems that are well documented, ensures that organisational or staff changes don’t result in disruption in service levels to your customers or overall low productivity levels. For instance, in small businesses a lot of the knowledge leaves when a staff member resigns. If the knowledge is built into the system, a new staff member can be trained quickly and with minimal impact on the customer experience.
3. Effective systems produce maximum productivity
   A good system transcends the people who are doing and managing the work. A poor system can make your business inefficient. They usually result in tasks taking longer to complete, and unnecessary time and effort being wasted only to achieve minimal results.  Good systems mean less people can do more work in a shorter space of time. Greater productivity means a greater return on investment with regards to your salary bill.
4.  Thorough reporting systems means business performance analysis becomes simpler and more accurate.
   Good systems provide the business owner with the tools to measure each aspect of his/her business’ performance. These insights help the owner to make good decisions based on actual data and not on guess work.

One of the most important advantages of buying a franchise as opposed to starting a new business from scratch, is the tried and tested systems for every part of the business. Soapbox Group has spent 11 years perfecting the systems, putting business success well within your reach.

• HR systems Human Resource Systems (HR)
• Financial systems
• Stock control systems
• Marketing systems
• Sales systems
• Systems for operations (Operations management systems)
• CRM systems

So why not get yourself an up and running, safe and secure franchise business, today!

Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about becoming a Soapbox Group Franchisee.

You can also contact Mias at mias@soapboxpromo.co.za for more information about becoming a Soapbox Group Franchisee.