You’re apprehensive about starting a new career, you don’t know where to begin, you can’t start something completely new – or can you? Here at FASTSIGNS, we believe you can!

Venturing into franchising doesn’t have to be limited by your skills or experience. We give you the freedom to consider a fresh, new industry and an exciting and challenging opportunity. “I think a lot of people are put off by the fact they don’t know anything about signage,” says Emily Heathcote, FASTSIGNS UK Executive Assistant. “The basis of our business is sales and marketing. The majority of our franchisees had no signage experience prior to opening a FASTSIGNS centre, but with the tools we have, the initial training and with our ongoing support, you can learn everything you need to build a successful business.”

Emily is no stranger to FASTSIGNS, having been part of the FASTSIGNS support team since February 2016. She originally joined the head office marketing team before an exciting opportunity was given to her. Emily was invited to support FASTSIGNS Managing Director, John Davies in actively growing the FASTSIGNS network, whilst supporting the current franchise network with the day-to-day running of their businesses. She is committed to her role, and jumped at the chance to attend the FASTSIGN ‘Foundations’ training programme delivered at the Head Office in Dallas, Texas to understand first-hand, exactly what new franchisees experience.

The more you train, the more you gain

At FASTSIGNS, our initial training programme consists of four comprehensive weeks, delivered in both the US and the UK. For the first two weeks, you will begin by travelling to America for training delivered by our dedicated team of expert trainers. The team will guide you through the process of setting up your FASTSIGNS business, giving you everything you need to know, both practically and theoretically to provide you with a strong start.

When you return to the UK, you then spend a week with your mentor, at their centre. “We partner franchisees with an already established centre; we found this made it easier for new franchisees to better understand their business will work on a day-to-day basis, and can visualise how it will grow over time. Having a mentor provides new franchisees with someone they speak to directly, or can observe, which has a massive impact on to how quickly they grasp the business and begin making profit,” Emily says.

The way franchisees are paired-up is carefully considered by the FASTSIGNS Support Team, and is monitored to ensure both mentor and mentee are happy with the arrangement. “It’s based on location and the capabilities of the already established centre, without putting pressure on the existing franchisee.”

The final week of training is delivered by our dedicated business consultants, in your centre, in it’s first week of trading. This week is designed to be hands on and aims to help you get to grips with your new centre, iron out your processes and procedures and ask any questions. One of our business consultants will be with you for the entire week, however, once your training is complete, you will still receive frequent visits from the UK support team, to help ensure the success of your business following the initial training.

The programme FASTSIGNS has developed, covers every aspect, of not just running a signage business, but how to best run a business in general; showing franchisees how to review business plans, make the most out of marketing, and hands-on experience of creating the signs. Following her recent visit to the States, where she gained first-hand experience of the training sessions new FASTSIGNS business owners receive, Emily states, “I wanted to understand our training process, from the perspective of new franchisees,” she says. “The FASTSIGNS ‘Foundations training’ course offers comprehensive training in sales, through learning and role play. The course includes everything from going out and selling, to learning about the products.”

Exceptional training for exceptional franchisees

Emily was inspired by the FASTSIGNS ‘Foundations’ training team, “They are exceptional,” she says. “They’re incredibly focussed on what they present to new franchisees. The team of five people are dedicated solely to the training programme. When they’re not training, they’re working to improve and develop the training they provide.”

We believe our franchisees deserve the best we can give to them, after all they are our business, so we want to ensure our programme is as exceptional as they are. “The majority of our franchisees don’t have any background at all with signage. We built a programme which provides everything there is to know about signs. and following the FASTSIGNS business model to run a successful centre.”

Thinking of franchising? Think FASTSIGNS!

If you think this is something you could be interested in, or to find out more about becoming a FASTSIGNS Franchisee please complete the form below.