Small Organisation Competing with the Franchise Market: How can a privately owned Health club compete with a Franchise?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, for his suggestions, comments, patience and understanding. Very special thanks to my parents, my father, my mother, my brother and my sister who were continuously supporting me throughout my life and leaving me free in all my decisions. I would also like to thank my colleagues for his technical support whenever I needed. I would like to thank to Department, all the university managers, teachers and students with whom I have worked.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

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DECLARATION

I declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. I further declare that this work has not previously been presented in whole or part, for any other award, or published in whole or in part elsewhere, including this university. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

A business opportunity simply helps the entrepreneur to start a business. As soon as the business is started, the entrepreneur is on his own, he has to make decisions and things himself. He does not have anyone to help him or suggest him anything. On the other hand, if a franchise is opened it brings in a compact partnership between two people or between the franchise operator and the franchising company, and as both of them are stake holders they both have a part in decision making. The partnership continues till the end of the franchise operations. This is just a little example of the difference between two, other differences are explained well in detail below. Franchise business brings in a lot of opportunities for people who have little capital but have high hopes. These people can make use of their good analytical skills and get the maximum return through franchise operations. Many of these people with low capital chose to start off their own personal enterprise while few invest in a running business and maximize their profit. The people who chose to invest in an already established enterprise have a whole lot of opportunities and two of them are the franchise operations and business operations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

INTRODUCTION1

Background of the study1

Research Aims and Objectives1

Significance of the Study2

LITERATURE REVIEW3

Franchising3

What is franchising?3

Who is involved?4

Franchisor4

Franchisee4

Franchising In UK4

A background on franchising4

Growth and future of franchising5

Relevance to SME sector5

The strategy of franchising6

Resource scarcity6

Resource Scarcity theory and Franchising7

Agency Theory and Franchising8

Contributions of Agency and Resource Scarcity Theory10

Benefits of Franchising12

Benefits to the franchisee12

Benefits to the Franchisor13

Drawbacks of franchising14

Disadvantages to the franchisee14

Disadvantages to the franchisor15

Abuses of the Franchising Concept15

Premature entry into the market16

Uncontrolled Expansion16

Inadequate disclosure to prospective franchisees17

Unwarranted treatment of franchisees by franchisors17

Inherent Difficulties in Franchising18

Loss in control over the franchisee18

Tendency for a deteriorating franchisor/ franchisee relationship over time19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY20

Search Technique21

Additional Online searches22

Ethical Concerns22

Reliability/Dependability23

Validity24

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS25

Franchise Business and SME Improvement25

The Value of ...