It is not so long ago that the maxim for any franchise organization in terms of success all revolved around location, location, location.
Invariably the franchise organization in question was very much consumer-oriented. Passing trade was a major part
street level was crucial. It might be argued that we have moved on from those days with literally thousands of franchise offerings now available. Location, location, location will however still be a crucial location factor for many industry-specific franchises.
To complement this situation we now see many more franchises being created and run on a home-based business basis. Obviously the great advantages of a home-based operation are centered on cost and ease of use. Franchising has also come a long way from just fast food outlets.
Now franchising embraces in-home care facilities; automotive service options in a variety of formats; tutoring and business mentoring; financial services, and the list goes on.
The Interface Financial Group has an interesting lineage in that it was conceived and created over 40 years ago when the ‘location, location’ theme was very prevalent in the franchise world. What made Interface different was styled from inception as a home-based franchise.
To further add to the interest is the fact that Interface offers a financial service. An area that hitherto had always been ‘office’ based. Over the ensuing years Interface has continued to be innovative with their franchise model, both in structure and geographic outreach. This to the point where Interface is now a market leader in their specific service area, and they also operate on a 9-country international basis.
Interface franchisees service the business marketplace with a strictly B2B franchise approach. They provide cash flow acceleration or invoice discounting services to their business clients. They buy from those clients invoices representing products sold and delivered or services rendered, and they turn that invoice into instant cash for the client. This alleviates what is often weeks of waiting for payment for their client and advances their business to a ‘cash on-delivery’ basis which, in turn, facilitates exponential growth for their client base.
Taking this service and turning it into a successful international franchise has been an ongoing adventure for Interface. The one thing that they have strived to supply for their franchisees from the outset has been a high degree of support. The Interface mantra might be described as Support, Support, Support.
In any franchise, support will be a key element that franchisees will look for from their franchisor. It is not sufficient for a franchisor to just offer a training program for franchisees, there has to be an ongoing lifeline for franchisees as their franchisor represents their partner in their franchised business.
Interface has taken this support requirement to the next level with their IFG 50/50 franchise model. This particular model not only supports all franchisees on a day-to-day basis but it also engages with the franchisees on a day-to-day basis.
Surveys show that one of the tasks that most business owners dislike, and the same is said for franchisees, is the day-to-day paperwork of running a business. Interface addressed this by effectively taking the paperwork away from their franchisees and leaving them free to handle the all-important people relationship aspects of the business. This reduction in paperwork also enables franchisees to focus on greater business acquisition opportunities, and an opportunity to rapidly expand their client portfolio base.
Interface however did not stop their innovative approach with just the handling of paperwork; they continued to engage with their franchisees in the financing process for buying invoices. When you buy an invoice to accelerate your clients’ cash flow, you have to engage your working capital.
Interface has created a formula whereby a franchisee now only has to contribute about one sixth of the capital required in each transaction – thus allowing more business to be handled with the same capital base. This procedure also helps franchisees to quantify and manage risk much more effectively.
Support is a key element of the IFG 50/50 franchise and is in part what perhaps sets Interface apart as a franchisor. In most franchises it is rare to see the franchisor actually engaging with their franchisees in running the business on a day-to-day basis. Interface has successfully achieved this without in any way competing with their franchisees.
The 50/50 concept is simply that things are done together, so franchisees can leverage over 40 years of experience with every transaction, and also take advantage of the capital leverage facility that is built into the infrastructure of the franchise for each franchisee.
The Interface Financial Group clearly believes that the success of their franchise relies heavily on Support, Support, Support.
For more information, visit: www.interfacefinancial.com