Author of:  How To Franchise Your Business

Tell Us A Bit About Yourself... I have had a very varied business life; from being a teacher to running health clubs, working with a large city bank, setting up and running my own a la carte restaurant, becoming a senior business advisor for the government before starting up and running my current company Business Options. Business Options is one of the UK's leading franchise and business expansion consultancy firms and I frequently speak at seminars and exhibitions as well as being a regular contributor to articles in the media.  

What Is Your Book About? This book is designed as a guide for business owners explaining all the steps in successfully franchising a business. It explains in a plain speaking style, what a business owner needs to consider at each step of the process and when initially deciding whether franchising is the right expansion model for their business, through what should be included within the initial franchise development model, the key elements that should be contained within the franchise agreement and other legal documents. The book discusses the format and content for franchise operations and how it should be used in practice. I also talk about the whole franchisee recruitment process - from how to develop a recruitment strategy to what supporting recruitment material is required. 

 Who Is It Aimed At? Business owners considering franchising their business.

What Inspired You To Write It? Having been involved in franchising for over 15 years, I have found the same questions are continually being asked by business owners when assessing whether to franchise their business or not. Many of the articles written bout franchising often over complicate the subject and I wanted to provide business owners with sound advice, in a plain speaking, easy to understand manner, tohelp them get to grips with what is involved in franchising a business and how to know whether franchising is the right expansion model for them.

What Would You Like Your Readers To Get From Your Book? A clear understanding as to whether franchising is right for them and what will be involved if they decide to go down this route for expanding their business.

When Did You First Realise That You Wanted To Write This Book? I have wanted to write a book on this subject for a number of years but had been put off by the misconceived belief that it would be very difficult to get it published.

What Gave You The Push To Get Published? Finding out about Live It Publishing and that getting the book published was a real possibility. The final decision to write the book was taken in late 2010 with a view of having it ready for a National Franchise Exhibition that Business Operations was sponsoring.

Did You Have Any Difficulty In Getting Published? Absolutely not - Live It Publishing made the process seamless and effortless on my behalf - thank you.

What Hurdles Did You Face Whilst Writing & How Did You Overcome Them? Writing the book was the easy part - the tricky bit was proofing the book. I used the services of two separate people to proof read the book which meant that the end result was much better than the original draft transcript.

How Did It Feel Seeing Your Book In Real Life For The first Time? Very good and it inspired me to write my next book.

Do You Have Any Tips For Our Budding Authors? If you believe you have something to say - go for it. The writing part - if disciplined - is relatively easy but do get others to help you with the proofing.

What's Next For You? I am in the process of writing a second book and hope that it will be published early 2012.