Reference no: EM133559644

Case Study: Argos Fire and Safety

Seeing the Scene!
It was back when Karen (owner) was a little girl that she was first introduced into her family business, Argos Fire & Safety. She had begun to learn what the business was all about at this point. On one fine summer's day, sitting on the cliff-side, looking out upon the bay, it suddenly dawned on Karen that she wanted to take up her family business and to start having a real input on the key decisions of the business. She was always very passionate about her family business and spent countless days helping out her father as much as she could when she was younger. It was from there that Karen then believed that going into work every morning amidst family was the most perfect, happiest and most life changing decision that she was ever going to make. "Argos fire & Safety distribute fire and safety products throughout Ireland and provide a full back up service to all clients." Clients respect this as they get full support from the company. Any issues or maintenance problems, the company will be on speed dial to fix, providing prospective franchisees and clients the feeling of comfort and a sense of relief. "The aim is to grow the business and help others become more independent in their professional careers by having their own business."

To Franchise or not to Franchise!

"Argos Fire and Safety is a family run business that has been in operation for over 32 years." Now is the time for Argos Fire & Safety to take the world by surprise and expand. This has forever been playing on the minds of each individual in the Corcoran household and now they have come to the conclusion that franchising is the route for them and for the business to achieve expansion. Franchising has been selected as the route of expansion instead of other strategic options for instance: mergers; acquisitions; and partnerships due to its robust model, high growth rates and lower risk factor. Karen is embedded within the second generation of Corcoran's, taking over the family business. Going live with the franchise part of the company in 2014 is currently of major importance to Karen. Furthermore, the selection process for the products and services that the company should sell was a rigorous and time consuming process. Karen would have liked to complete this decision making process earlier.

Franchising is a fundamental part of growing her business and she hopes to have that up and running between early 2014 and 2015. A key factor for the adoption of the franchise model is to grow the business and to also help other prospective entrepreneurs/franchisees become their own boss. What has become apparent is that the Corcoran family have always wanted to give back to their roots and support people to go into business for themselves. The family have a wealth of knowledge and skills in the IT sector and on what it takes to be an effective trainer. Karen's sisters have also helped to grow the business so it really is a tight-knit family that is working together to make their business a success. Were it not for the efforts of many, this life changing ordeal of setting up and expanding the business couldn't have ever been on the cards. Long hours, vast commitment, effort, and a lot of capital has been allotted to the business by the family to make it a triumph.

The journey has been long, challenging but ever so rewarding. The training that Karen personally received at the National Franchise Centre was "great, constantly learning new things, helped with the vision of the business and the business mentoring was very helpful", due to being specifically tailored to her needs. For the development of the business, the National Franchise Centre has helped "steer them in the right direction and put things into perspective for the company". Also, the true benefits of franchising were identified whilst on the FAST programme at the NFC.

Balancing the training at the NFC with trying to run her own business was a very challenging task for Karen. Furthermore, the NFC served its purpose for her by providing invaluable resources that has helped strategically position Karen and her family business in a very effective direction. Since leaving the FAST programme, the business is growing and the adoption of the franchise model is occurring. Every business encounters challenges, hiccups and bumpy roads as they are part and parcel with every day business life, but the main CHALLENGE which she encountered was time. There's just not enough of it!

Questions:PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS BELOW AND MIND THE RUBRICS.

1. Determine the franchisability of Argos fire and safety by evaluating various factors discussed in this topic. JUSTIFY and PROVIDE an IN DEPTH ANALYSIS of your answers.

2. Will Franchising help in expanding Argos fire and safety business? Justify your answer

3. What will be the pros and cons of Franchising this business?