smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Are you working too hard?

News that UK entrepreneurs are clocking up 50-hour weeks will...
Have your say »

RSS

Q: My franchisor wants me to move into retail premises but I am happy running my business from home. I want to maintain a good working relationship but I’m worried my franchisor may penalise me for staying home-based. What should I do?

May 11 2007

Email a friend

Answered by: Élise Billy Ask a question

It depends on what your franchise agreement sets out and whether or not you can be obliged to move into retail premises. Even if this is not set out, there may be other obligations in relation to increasing your revenue or maximising the business or meeting targets. The franchisor could argue that this means you have to expand to retail premises if the same targets can not be reached from home.

I suggest that you check your franchise agreement, and in any event discuss your concerns with your franchisor if you feel that you can still manage your business effectively from home.

Comments

There are currently no comments on this article

Prize Draw

Enter our prize draw!!

You've probably noticed smallbusiness.co.uk has a brand new look. You can personalise the homepage to suit your needs and there's lots of new content including video, blogs and the small business resource centre.

We're interested to know what you think about the new small business site, so we'd like you to take this opportunity to have your say. All entrants will be entered into our free prize draw to win a bottle of champagne provided by our partners at Laithwaites! Enter here

Polls

Q & A

UK Franchise expert

Mark Scott, Natwest Ask a question

Business technology issues

Chris Lindsay, BT Ask a question

Sales and Marketing tips

Jackie Jarvis, MarketingCo.biz Ask a question

News

smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Confidence-boosting scheme for women entrepreneurs

A new scheme has been set up to help encourage more women to go into business by building their self-confidence.

BPF: Lower rent bad news for small firms

Experts are saying the recent drop in rent on shops is not good news for retail businesses as it will result in lesser availability of premises.

Graduates lack necessary skills

The majority of small businesses value school and college leavers above university graduates, according to a survey by the Forum of Private Business.

Don’t forget the new tax return deadline, warns HMRC

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is issuing a reminder to people filing paper self assessment tax returns of the new 31 October deadline. The penalty for missing the deadline is £100.

Family brand identity 'helps sales'

Marketing a firm as a family business can help increase sales, a new study finds.

BCC: Bank of England must cut rates

The longer the Bank of England takes to cut rates, the worse the economic situation will be, according to the British Chambers of Commerce's (BCC's) quarterly economic forecast.

SMEs working longer weeks

British entrepreneurs are clocking up 50 hours every week, according to a survey on the work-life balance culture of Britain's small business managers.

Smaller businesses have greener staff

Smaller companies are more than twice as likely to have environmentally aware staff than their larger counterparts, according to research by gas and electricity provider E.ON.

Increase marketing spend to survive

Small business owners intend to combat the economic slowdown by increasing marketing spend and taking pay cuts, according to a survey by the Open University Small Enterprise Research Team (SERT).

Do not rely on virtual offices, association warns

Although virtual offices can be useful for keeping a business going after a disaster, it can be difficult to rely on them for the long term, an industry expert warns.

CEBR says Bank of England has little power over inflation

The Bank of England cannot do much to fight inflation and policymakers are being forced to ‘sit on their hands’ rather than address the problem, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) believes.

Guides & Tips

Karen Bremner: beyond The Apprentice

It seems there’s nothing Apprentice star Karen Bremner won’t try. Having worked as a solicitor to the RAF, and trained as a stockbroker, she has now set up her own clothing boutique. One year on and her turnover has hit £250,000.

Make your website a success

Having a well designed website can be crucial to the success of your business. Here are some top tips on how to secure your visitors interest and get ahead on the web, from SmallBusiness.co.uk and Bea Hatherley, co-founder and director of online specialist Mr Site.

Deduplication made easy

The amount of data stored by businesses may exceed the world’s storage systems by 2010, claims markets research firm IDC.

Store

FT Guide to Personal Tax

Formerly the Lloyds TSB Tax Guide, the FT Guide to Personal Tax is now published by Pearson Education. Written by Sara Williams, CEO of Vitesse Media Plc and Jonquil Lowe, this unique guide gives step-by-step advice to completing your tax return as well as 100 tax-saving tips.

FT Guide to Business Start Up

Formerly the Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide, the FT Guide to Business Start Up is now published by Pearson Education. Written by Sara Williams, CEO of Vitesse Media Plc, this unique guide has sold over two million copies. It offers practical advice about starting and running your own business.

Growth Company Investor

Growth Company Investor is widely recognised as the leading magazine for investors interested in AIM and smallcap companies. Published 10 times per year, and brought to you by an award-winning analyst team, it offers subscribers unrivalled insight into high-potential smaller companies. Subscribe today with a 50% discount in your first year.