Read the two cases and answer the questions: (as posted in the last section)

\"fol \"fol 1138 regs 5533 iii 6 FM8CASEANA... / E CASE ANALYSIS: A. ARGOS FIRE 8r SAFETY Setting the Scene! it was back when Karen (owner) was a little girl that she was rst introduced into her family business, Argos Fire & Safety. She had begun to learn what the business was all about at this point. On one ne 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. [t 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 for, 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 cometothe 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 20M and 2015. A key factor for the adoption of the franchise model is to grow the business and to also help other prospective entrepreneursifranchisees 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 O '3 4f" \"Eel 1139 more 2523 El' 6 FMSCASEANA... / E 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 specically 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 benets of franchising were identied 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 faintly 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! Business format franchising was examined at the NFC, which is the most common and poputar type of franchising, in which a company offers a franchisee it successfully developed model for operating a business, using the companies branding, marketing, expertise and trademark. Usually the franchisor's company will provide the franchisee with an invaluable and signicant amount of guidance, training and mentoring in order to be able to start managing and operating the company. The franchisee has to pay a fee or certain privileges in return. This type of franchising has been adopted by Argos Fire & Safety, whereby they train the franchisees for a full two weeks about all the products that they provide, the advantages of them and on all aspects of the maintenance work. Maintenance training is an ongoing process as new regulations are paramount and continuous to the tire and safety industry. The franchisees buy into the business and distribute the products. Business format franchising has aided the business by helping to improve the vision of Argos Fire & Safety. Expansion and growth is imperative for the business, Karen and her family. She is certain that it will work due to a high market demand. Undoubtedly, all companies have to abide by re health & safety and duty of care regulations which can only improve their business. Franchising is a model that has been tested for Argos Fire & Safety and now they have adopted the model so that they can provide this key information to prospective franchisees Argos Fire & Safety is suited to business format franchising as they are helping to create jobs and provide people with the sense of job security, especially when economic times are at their most challenging. Expanding the business and labour activation through this type of franchising is imperative to her business. For many, the rture might have looked very bleak after being let go from work, redundancies and large our backs but Karen's family business is proactively improving this environmenL to give people a glimmer of hope and that light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Karen is trying to employ more people and get thorn back to work. They have a close working relationship with manufactures and have developed good business relationships with them. This will help to support the franchisees that come on board. There were many reasons as to why Karen decided to start working in her family business: the sense of employment security; giving back to the community; and she is a real hands-on, people person. The creation of a business that can benet societv as a whole and keep people safe. when at work 0 '3 \"fol \"Eel 1139 more 5533 El 6 FM8CASEANA... / E The creation of a business that can benet society as a whole and keep people safe, when at work or at home, were fundamental reasons for the creation of Argos Fire & Safety. What's Next? The plan for the lture for Argos Fire & Safety is clear, it is a growing business that wants to continue to expand and have a total of five franchisees by 2015. Franchising is the way forward for her business. Growth through franchising is nearing ever closer, the prospect of immense success is upon them! B. SOCO Setting the Scene! The Idea of SOCO began back when Niall (owner) was completing his MBS in Entrepreneurship in the University of Limerick, He is a recent graduate that has always had a keen interest in how the technology world operates, especially app design, web development and the marketing nature that coincides with that. The author knows Niall on a personal level and would describe him as a very down to earth, knowledgeable, hardworking and very intellectual, particular around the area of I,T. He has always wanted to set up his own business and is very entrepreneurial minded. Once he had nished his masters he started \"working with two start-ups during 2010-2011, but constantly lookingfresearching ideas I could work on myself. Tried some stuff out in early 2011, before choosing SOCO fully about April 20] 1.\" This highlights that he has a real appetite and willingness to try and succeed in setting up his own business. There are two key reasons as to why Niall (CEO of SOCO) choose to set up on his own \"(1) I've always wanted to do it and (2) timing: difcult to get jobs in what I wanted to do at the time. Only other real option was to leave the country but I saw that as a cop out. I'd prefer to stand and try fight the situation\". Undoubtedly, Niall was trying to proactively improve the enterprise landscape in Ireland by immersing himself into this epic journey into the Startup world SOCO is \"Your social concierge. Helping you find out what's happening near you in real time\". In today's business world, a firm like this is ingreat demand as people want toknow what is going on around them but want it at a fast pace. The main reason behind setting up this business was that underlying interest in technology, practicing marketing and the tirning in his life was right. Throughout his professional and academic career, Niall has gained invaluable experience, \"Experience in this field marketing. branding. relevant education, and deep understand on the new media and user behaviour". Entrepreneurship has always been a big part of his life as \"My father has a small business. Employing three. Set up when l was 9. Always helped out with that from the age of 9 (worked most weekends and all summers with him)\". Whilst most would agree that going into business for yourself is a challenging and life changing ordeal. Niall believes \"Yes, and No. Yes. if you are used of 9-5 and a stable pay check. It's not as life changing if you are used to living that way\". It is imperative to note that with great responsibility comes great rewards. The process of setting up a business can be extremely difficult. lonely and daunting but there are positive aspects. For Niall the key POSITIVE aspect was the \"Feeling of accomplishment. Most people probably think you get time off whenever you want. etc. It's the opposite your mind is always turned on. I found it very hard to relax and hard to turn off from work. Although I didn't succeed with SOCO (I will in the future with something else) what drives me is the pomibility of building something great and lasting. and providing jobs! better lives for others (That might ..... A It]... I..." 1.... \"an... I \"Jul. A'LoI-:nAnn l' old-l. n'nnln. elm. ink. I ARI-Ia Inn-d'n'll \"-01; 1...... O '3 'st 'st 1139 more 5533 El 6 FM8CASEANA... / E always turned on. I found it very hard to relax and hard to turn off from work. Although I didn't succeed with SOCO (I will in the iture with something else) - what drives me is the possibility of building something great and lasting. and providing jobs;r better lives for others (That might sound like bull, but when i think of business, I think about the jobs i could possibly create, one of the main things in my mind)\". As mentioned. he is very determined. not to just make a success of himself and his own business but to enhance employment generation opportunities. Many of the real high profile and successrl entrepreneurs have the same trait of embracing and acting on the idea of creating jobs. To Franchise or not to Franchise! For many entrepreneurs when they look back on their journey of setting up their business and engaging in business activity. they have some regrets and the feeling that they have missed opportunities. Certainly this was no different for Niall, as he states that he should have \"been STRICTER with myself and stopped sooner. I couldn't get a technical co-founder. if I had one from the start, I guarantee I would have got investment\". SOCO, an independent business and for this reason Niall felt that franchising has no relevance to this case. Developing a business that is started from scratch and has the ability to change the world is of major interest and importance to him. Although, he did say that franchising is more for the person that wants a higher level of security and support around himi'her. It was the LEAP programme in which Niall participated on, which is primarily focussed on nurturing the development of indigenous businesses. He describes his experience of the NFC positively as it had a \"Good atmosphere, good place to bounce ideas and get quick user feedback\". SOCO did not succeed as he just couldn't find the right individuals to help him take it to that extra level which it needed in order to become sustainable and successrl. it wasn'tfor the want or tryingas the right people werejust too difficult to identityandcome by. Unfortunately, the NFC wasn't that important in the early stage development of his business but it did help him to realise that the business was feasible but maybe that it was time for him to think about other employment options. It has to be emphasised that this is a major success in iISel What's Next? Furthermore, the NFC didn't change the business model of SOCO and no real challenges were encountered for Niall whilst participating at the centre. However, it has been suggested that changes be made to help make the NFC more effective \"focus more on a specic industry. There were too many people, all doing different things. I, for example should not have been accepted, but referred to a tech-specic incubator such as NDRC Launchpad in Dublin or similar\". The NFC is helping to effectively improve the Irish business landscape by nurturing and aiding the development of new rms that will createjobs for the economy but Niali believes that it should be only recommended for entrepreneurs that want to enter into franchising \"Yes, for 'anchising (FAST programme). For the LEAP, i'm unsure. [ think " needs more focus I don't think you can mix technology with 'everything else'.\" Whilst it . A ' clear that the business didn't get off the ground and up and running, he is still very positive sink the idea of setting up a business \"I failed but I will try again\". The future is as clear as the horizon is on shot summer's day for Niall, he wants to A '3 III E 4G 4G 11:39 0.00 66 KB/s FM8 CASE ANA... . . . needs more focus - I don't think you can mix technology with 'everything else'." Whilst it is clear that the business didn't get off the ground and up and running, he is still very positive about the idea of setting up a business "I failed but I will try again". The future is as clear as the horizon is on a hot summer's day for Niall, he wants to have another crack at setting up his own business, whether it be SOCO or something else! Undoubtedly, it is important to place an emphasis on how the National Franchise Centre has successfully rolled out three effective programmes, LEAP/FAST/Franchise START. All three are contributing to the betterment of the national and regional enterprise support structure. Undoubtedly, the NFC acts a platform for entrepreneurs to succeed in creating their own business. It acts as an intermediary between education and enterprise development, both benefiting the wider community and the entrepreneurs themselves. It is also important to note that with the establishment of the centre, a cluster was created between education and enterprise; it is a form of social enterprise as it is not-for-profit and is helping to achieve pathways to employment by nurturing new enterprise developments. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that through Franchise START, the NFC is supporting existing businesses that want to achieve expansion through franchising. Thus, further exemplifying the true value of the centre and franchising as a model in general. On establishment, the NFC adopted a blue ocean strategy by creating the first European Third- Level Franchise education and development centre for franchising in Ireland. More NFC support mechanisms need to be rolled out nationally, this will improve entry rates, success rates and establish the franchising remit as a central part of enterprise development in Ireland. This will also help to improve the Irish franchising community, new enterprise developments and the overall government objective of labour activation. The NFC can be seen to present a blueprint for future franchise support mechanisms across Ireland. The case for franchising is strong given the current economic and social climate. It's time to open up the debate for franchising to form part of the national enterprise support framework in Ireland! Questions: 1. Identify and discuss any common key trends between all the two case studies? 2. Franchising is imperative to the Irish enterprise landscape. Critically analyse this statement? 3. Design a SWOT/TOWS Analysis on each of the cases which highlights their USP's (unique selling points) and future perspectives? 4. Give your own opinion (5 key points) on each of the case studies