The Franchise Shop Update

It has been a while since I last visited Blue Mau Mau and I have came back to find 6 comments on my one and only post I have ever made here which is very refreshing.

For a good part of last year I did visit very regularly however as the site does seem to focus on articles and discussions on franchising across the water from me (me being in the UK) I did start coming less and less.  Nice to be back though and I see that the website is going from strength to strength.

So, what have I been up to in my absence?  Well.  A little like here, my site has gone through a redesign and we have been adding a lot of new features and content.  2 main areas we have been working on are the Franchise Marketplace and NetFrog.  

Franchise Marketplace :  As a client of mine you can now access an area where you may post unlimited adverts, success stories etc into a search engine optimised directory of classifieds.  Although it has came out of beta mode we are still tweaking this but it has been a huge success with over 1400 entries to it so far.

NetFrog : Very much still in beta mode we now offer a franchise networking platform for UK (and otherwise if desired) franchisees, prospective franchisees, small business owners and franchisors themselves to come and network together, ask questions and generally learn more about the industry.  Platforms such as these do take a while to get up and running but the building blocks are now there and we are very much looking forward to seeing it grow and grow.

In my last post I did mention that I am no franchise expert.  Having taken my first steps into this most interesting of industries some 20 months ago I feel I am very much still learning and it's been one hell of a time too.  What from the outside appears to be a pretty standard section of the business opportunity industry I have found that this is not the case at all.  Competition is huge and the rivalry between franchisors is nothing less than out and out war.  I have fielded dozens of phonecalls from franchisees who have asked me to delist franchises from my site and on several occasions have done so.  I honestly did not know that setting up a simple franchise directory would make such a huge change to my life.

Having gone from listing every franchise I can find to list we have cut back a lot and taken on board comments via email or phone, as well as done a fair bit of research ourselves.  Reasons for a franchise getting delisted are simple, if they do not play fair or deliver what they promised, they are out.

Over the past 10 years I have set up and sold my fair share of Internet businesses, I get a little bored doing the same thing all the time so this has worked quite well for me in the past.  I never thought for one second that I would be sitting here almost 2 years on and still running a franchise directory however it looks like I will be doing so for a very long time.  After all the hard work though it appears I may finally have the time to sit back a bit and let it run itself, which of course means that I can start working (yes i did say relaxing!) on some new ideas.  Next up is going to be a bartering site crossed with a business directory.  Basically a hand picked bunch of businesses which we will list for free, these businesses will have the option to barter/exchange good and services between themselves as well as promote their services to the public.  We will run this free for at least 1 year whilst we build it up and look to monetise it once the site is fully established.

Fun and games :-)

Well, it's now Saturday afternoon so the time to take a break and enjoy the last of the Autumn sun.  Take care folks.

Matthew Anderson
The Franchise Shop
UK Franchises For Sale