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FRANCHISE MATCHMAKER

Profits are booming for this franchise

Nigel Mayne, president and founder of MatchPoint Franchise Consulting Network, isn’t exaggerating when he says he knows how to sell franchises.

Mayne is co-founder and former president of Toronto-based WSI, whose network of more than 1,500 Internet marketing experts in 87 countries make it the world’s leading provider of Internet marketing solutions to small and medium-size businesses. Under Mayne, WSI awarded 76 franchises in one month alone.

“We knew how to sell franchises, but I was more interested in the changing landscape… the different means that were becoming available to franchisors to help them sell franchises,” said the 49-year-old Mayne, who founded MatchPoint in 2006.

MatchPoint specializes in matching individual franchise buyers with the franchise opportunity that is best suited for them. Services are provided free to the franchise buyer, helping individuals save both time and money while finding their ideal business. At the same time, franchise organizations expand their franchise networks and improve their system by targeting franchisee recruitment costs and improving the quality of new franchisees coming into a system.

According to industry estimates, franchise consultants successfully match more than 3,000 new franchise owners each year with franchise companies. Given that these type of services were not available a dozen years or so ago, it is quite impressive that, according to Franchise Update Media, 17 percent of all franchise sales made in the U.S. are as a direct result of franchise consultant or broker groups including MatchPoint. Clearly, this is a high-demand trend within the realm of franchising.

As a franchisor, Mayne saw firsthand the ever-increasing costs of franchisee recruitment, especially in the use of online lead generation portals. As an alternative, he recognized the importance of pre-screening candidates and providing them with a base of information and education through a network of franchise consultants who had the skills, experience and knowledge to match their clients with the right franchise opportunity.

With a network of approximately 60 consultants throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, MatchPoint expects to add 25 consultants in 2009, primarily in the United States and the UK. About half of MatchPoint consultants are in the United States.

“My vision is that there will be a day when the majority of people who buy a franchise will do so through the free expert services of a franchise broker, Mayne said.

U.S.-based MatchPoint consultants work as independent contractors and MatchPoint is recruiting additional consultants who have strong backgrounds in franchising. Consultants work from home and all communication with clients is done via phone or online, allowing consultants unparalleled flexibility in establishing business relationships and scaling their business to fit their needs. Consultants receive the lion’s share of each placement fee paid by a franchisor.

“One of the things I hear continually from our consultants is the satisfaction they get after placing someone with a franchise and having them call six months later to say how much they are enjoying themselves,” Mayne said. “It is a very satisfying career.” Furthermore, much of a consultant’s business comes from referral made by those already placed in the right franchise.

Franchise consultants are in demand. According to Franchise Update, “brokers continue to play a pivotal role in franchise recruiting.” Eighty-five percent of franchise companies responding to Franchise Update’s 2009 Annual Franchise Development Report said they had closed deals from brokers.

MatchPoints’s own marketing division generates leads for consultants while also providing numerous other programs and tools to aid consultants in generating additional marketing initiatives in their individual markets.

“In these challenging economic times, there are more people looking at their career options,” Mayne said. “They are finding it’s not so easy to find a job so they are considering franchising. That’s why we’re seeing such an increased demand for the services we offer.”

Many MatchPoint consultants are former senior franchise executives. Mayne said their experience and past success in the franchising industry have paved the way for their success as MatchPoint consultants. The opportunity is the same for others with similar experience.

“If you talk about a traditional business being about location, location, location, well this business in all about relationships, relationships, relationships,” Mayne said. “It’s the relationships our consultants have with their clients and franchisor partners. Our consultants use their experiences to build very successful businesses for themselves.” •

FINDING THE PERFECT MATCH

Could a MatchPoint Franchise be the right business for you? Consultants work at home and receive all of the necessary training.

Concept: MatchPoint Franchise Consulting Network specializes in matching individual franchise buyers with the franchise opportunity that is best suited for them. Services are provided free to the franchise buyer, helping individuals save both time and money while finding their ideal business. Opportunities range from $30,000 to well over $1 million.

Conversely, MatchPoint helps franchise organizations expand their franchise networks and improve their system profitability. Franchisor costs are more controlled when using MatchPoint, as payment is on contingency only when a deal is done, versus all other more traditional lead sources that have all the risks up front with no known guarantee of a result.

Training: MatchPoint offers a comprehensive training program including an online e-learning system and one week of classroom training at MatchPoint’s corporate headquarters in Toronto. There is a strong focus on ongoing support and consultants benefit from regular briefings from leading franchisors and industry experts around the world.

For more information, contact MatchPoint Franchise Consulting Network 107 Woodbine Downs Blvd., Suite 12, Toronto, Ontario M9W 6Y1, Canada. 416/644-1040. www.matchpointnetwork.com