Author: Akiko Design

Our franchisees have a wide variety of backgrounds. Some have owned franchises before, while others have come from the corporate world in search of a better work-life balance. If you’re researching franchises, you’ll be pleased to hear that Get Ahead includes opportunities for professional development. With a Get Ahead franchise, you can continue to learn new skills and develop your experience. This professional development will always support your career, whether you pay it back into your own Get Ahead franchise or take it with you if you start a new chapter.

In this blog, we take a closer look at the career development opportunities we offer our franchisees.

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When you first started your business, you probably managed very well with basic Excel spreadsheets and even pen and paper for keeping records and planning ahead. But as your business grows, you may benefit from dedicated software, developed with businesses like yours in mind.

In this blog, we look at the importance of having the right software when you’re scaling up your business, and consider some areas you could automate to make your business run more efficiently.

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A while ago, your business was a start-up. But now it’s a scale-up. How do you know? Well, if you’re turning away clients or customers because you don’t have the capacity, it could be time to scale up your business so that you can meet demand. And if you’re already reaching your goals easily, scaling up will give you greater profits as well as a greater challenge.

To ensure a seamless scale-up, it’s a good idea to write a business growth plan. In this blog, we look at how to write an effective business growth plan and what information you should include.

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At Get Ahead, we love business exhibitions. We love the energy in the room and we love meeting people. It’s exciting to learn about the latest industry trends, and some of our most productive relationships have been started at expos.

However, expos are not for everyone. They are great marketing tools, but they are not a magic spell to double your business or become the market leader. You might get a lot out of attending an expo, or you might not. In this blog, we look at what to consider before you sign up.

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Busy expos are tiring, but the work doesn’t finish when you take your stand down. It’s important to keep the momentum going by following up with the people you met at the expo as soon as you can. If you don’t follow up, some of your work at the expo will be wasted – a real shame when you consider how much you’ve invested in the event.

Here are our top tips for effective follow ups:

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If you own a public-facing business, a bank holiday may provide you with some great opportunities to generate more revenue and connect with new customers. However, in spite of the obvious advantages to opening your small business on a bank holiday, business owners may have questions about the legality of opening, employment rights, annual leave and overtime pay.  

This blog looks at small business rules and best practice for bank holiday opening.  

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When you’re building up to exhibiting at an expo, it’s easy to spend all your time planning your stand and designing a rock-solid lead generation form.  But promoting the expo in advance of the big day is important too, and plays a key part in increasing visitor numbers and helping you get the results you’re hoping for.

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Regular followers of Get Ahead will know that we love an expo, and our regional directors have really enjoyed getting back out to promote the business. But did you know that we also support our clients before, during and after business expos? An expo is a big commitment, but with our help, clients can get more from the event and embrace all the opportunities it gives them.

Here’s how Get Ahead supports businesses at expos.

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If you’re researching franchises and are considering joining the Get Ahead family, you might already have strong experience of people management. However, we also know that managing a team of employees is different from the Get Ahead model, where you’ll be working with a team of freelance virtual experts.

You’ll be pleased to hear that all our regional directors have established great relationships with the virtual experts they outsource client work to, even though they’ve had to navigate a learning curve. In this blog, we look at ways of building trust with your evolving team, and ways to empower themselves and you.

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We talk to Fiona Ibbetson who left the corporate world to have more quality time with her children while still pursuing a fulfilling career. Fiona is now RD of Get Ahead Leeds and Get Ahead York and Harrogate.

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