Don't just go for a 'good' franchise...

Don’t just go for a ‘good’ franchise, buy into one that provides a spectacular wealth-generating opportunity!

Most franchises involve the franchisee purchasing a product from the franchise owner and selling it at a profit, according to a prescribed sales process. The business becomes a means of earning a wage and can, in time, become a worthwhile asset in its own right. But rarely does a franchise involve either the franchisee owning premises or the business having an in-built profit-escalator, generating outstanding capital growth in addition to regular cash profit from the outset.

One company, Platinum Property Partners, which launched its property investment franchise in July 2007 is offering precisely those things, and is earning plaudits right across the industry.

Despite the current media obsession with uncertainty in the property market, the simple fact remains that in the medium to long term, no other investment category accounts for as much of today’s global wealth: not stock markets; not oil; not art; not even gold and other precious metals. On average, UK property has doubled in value every 7 years since World War II and, while growth over the next 7 years is unlikely to be at quite this rate, as long as there continues to be a significant shortfall in housing stock in the UK, allied with population growth forecasts, who would bet against it performing at a very good level over decades to come?

In late 2006, PPP’s founders, Steve Bolton and Nick Carlile, recognised that in building their own substantial property portfolios, they had created a robust template that was just perfect to replicate as a franchise. They had refined the process for analysing an area’s viability as an investment location, established strategies for identifying and acquiring suitable properties, gained expertise in a number of financing structures and techniques, and systemised the property letting and management side. In short, they had produced the perfect system to take even novice investors right through the process.

PPP already had 10 ‘foundation’ Franchise Partners (their term for franchisees) when the franchise launched, and today, less than 9 months later, there are 22, with another 4 couples in the early stages of the signing up process, making PPP currently one of the fastest-growing franchises in the UK.

The integrity and ethics of the company shine through, and this is just one of the things that generates such huge enthusiasm and loyalty between Franchise Partners. There is a shared philosophy that everyone involved should inspire and help each other to be more, do more, have more and give more in their lives. Says Steve Bolton, “In creating PPP, Nick and I wanted to generate our own wealth, of course, but we also wanted to bring together a community of people – our Franchise Partners – who recognised and bought into the ethics and values that both Nick and I held; people who wanted financial freedom so they could make choices about the lives they lead and give something back for the greater good.”