Article contained within:  Case Studies, Helen Dowling and Exceptional Thinking

Helen Dowling and Exceptional Thinking

A successful standalone business, Exceptional Thinking is now selecting its first franchisees.

Its founder, Helen Dowling, talks to us about a franchise opportunity offering fairly regular hours, the chance to learn a range of skills, and, unusually, a framework that encourages franchisees to tailor the franchise’s modus operandi to suit them.

Do you know of many other business consultancies that have franchised?

Helen: The main one is Action International. They do mentoring for businesses, specialising in small businesses. We have aspects of mentoring but focus on more on the practical side. They will help them prepare a business plan or do marketing, whereas we will actually do it for them.

I would say Action International is the nearest competitor. But we actually work with them quite a lot. It’s good to have competition, because one, it shows there is demand for the service and secondly, I never see them as competition because we work together sometimes. We also work with Business Link for instance.

What do franchisees get for their money?

Helen: Six months of training, operation manuals, all the stationary, use of the logo and brand, a website, email – all the practical stuff needed to start up.

The other thing I have done to make it attractive financially. Franchisees can often work from home, so that lowers the costs.

Many franchises receive a percentage of turnover from their franchisees, but I have set the monthly fee at £200 plus VAT. And the simple reason for that is that if the fee is proportionate to revenue, then the more money you make the more you will pay, even though you will need less mentoring and coaching. If you are paying more but don’t need as much help then it is a bit unfair.

What distinguishes your franchise?

Helen: It gives people the opportunity to use a lot of skills in a unique way.

There really are very few companies that specialise in dealing directly with small businesses. Understanding their needs can involve a lot of different skills – training, mentoring, creativity, analysis, coaching…

People tend to have a range of skills and I think this franchise offers them the chance to use them in a unique blend.

How much can a franchisee expect to earn running a business under the Exceptional Thinking name?

Helen: A turnover of around £55k and profit margins of about 70% for the first year

How many hours do you expect them to put in?

Helen: That’s a difficult one because it depends on what works for them. But I would say about a normal 40-hour week would usually be fine – but that can be flexible.

Do you expect your franchisee to have much experience in consultancy?

Helen: I’m not looking for any particular experience. I just want them to be creative, flexible and organised.

I need them to be able to get into the minds of small business owners – which are generally fascinating.

And I need them to be able to learn and to challenge me: to say “well that works for you but it isn’t working for me, so here’s how we can do it differently”.

That’s unusual. Most franchisors FranchiseSales.com has spoken to are more insistent that franchisees follow an established business model because, they say, it works…

Helen: Well, I spoke to several franchisors when I did my research. A lot of them were saying you have to do it a certain way because it is a long-established system.

However, if I’m teaching someone some marketing I may send them to do seminars and speeches, but they may not be confident enough to do it. I cannot force them to do it so it’s about being flexible enough to try techniques that do work for them.

Would you expect franchisees to have any experience in business consultancy?

Helen: Not particularly.

In fact, sometimes it’s better if they don’t. You can work with someone to develop the right skills, and even if they have a lot of knowledge you still need to work with them to see if they can adapt to your system.

What is your support structure for franchisees like?

Helen: They will have a dedicated person to contact if they need any help or support. We have also taken on a part-time marketing and admin person to help.

We provide a six-month training programme as well.

For more information on the Exceptional Thinking franchise opportunity, visit the website >>