Crunchers franchise - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

Doug75 · Newbie

Crunchers franchise

AccountantsCircle · Senior Member

I've heard of them, but had no direct experience aside from a glance at the software. I'm also unaware of any franchisees but if I do come across any I'll let you know.

I may be wrong but I understand it's based around the MORE software, so it would be worth looking into that further to see what you think.

Another bookkeeping franchise is Bookcert, though I think a little more expensive.

It'd be good to think about what you want out of a franchise as opposed to 'going it alone'. Consider the ongoing costs, how much easier a franchise might be and see how it might work for you.

-- Edited by AccountantsCircle at 17:31, 2008-10-30

Paula · Member

Looks interesting! Had a look at their website and it appears to be a bit more hands off than other franchises I've looked at. Seems as though you can do less of the bookkeeping yourself and concentrate on building the business. Like John mentioned, they seem to be pushing the software as a key component of the franchise, but I can't tell what software it is?

If you take it further can you please keep us informed as I'm looking at options myself.

Thanks.

Paula

AccountantsCircle · Senior Member

From Paula's response... it does have me curious what it might be people look for in such a franchise.

Is it the support?
Or more the name, marketing and advertising?
Or maybe the systems and processes that are already in place?

How would you rank the benefits of these or any other aspects of going with a franchise?

Paula · Member

For me I'm looking more for the technical and business support. I want to be able to contact someone if I don't know how to deal with something. I'm also looking for the franchisor to generate leads for me. I don't think any of the bookkeeping franchises I've looked at have a brand strong enough at present for small businesses to recognise. Therefore persoanally I wouldn't place any real value in the name of a franchise, unlike if I was purchasing a McDonalds franchise (I wish) where I know the name and brand would generate sales and customer loyalty for me.

-- Edited by Paula at 17:52, 2008-10-30

Doug75 · Newbie

Thanks for the feedback. Not being from a bookkeeping background I feel I need the franchise to offer a comprehensive training package. Like Paula, access to technical support is also high up on my wanted list.

Paula, I'll certainly keep you informed of my findings with Crunchers and others.

Thanks again!

Doug

Mike · Veteran Member

The only thing I would say about the Crunchers franchise is that you are required to pay a fixed mangement fee each month, irrespective of turnover whereas most franchises will have a management / servicing fee based on a percentage of your sales, the maxim being that the franchisor only gets a return if the franchisee is also making money. This gives the franchisor an added incentive to find leads and help the franchisee to develop their business.

James · Member

Not sure if I'm allowed to link to other forums on here, but a new foum has opened over at UK Business Forums. It's a franchising forum and makes interesting reading. If you're looking to go with a bookkeeping franchise it may be worth a look at. The website is http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=107.

___________
James

Brewsie · Veteran Member

I have just been approached by Crunchers and am interested in any experiences anyone has with them.

What is the business model?
What sort of support do they give in building your business?

steve12 · Veteran Member

One of the most important aspects for anyone new to bookkeeping in a self employed capacity is to have good support from people experienced in this profession. There are many situations that can come up when looking after the books of small businesses and and it is important to ensure they are dealt with correctly. There are many regulations that now apply to self employed bookkeepers and it is very important that all bookkeepers are fully familiar with them as they must be complied with by law. This is something all potential self employed bookkeepers should carefully consider when planning to set up in practice.

BobHarper · Guru

Crunchers is a way to make money from bookkeeping without doing any bookkeeping, based on a book called The E-Myth. We are expanding using the franchise model because we need good people on the ground.

The business strategy is based on two revenue streams (software rentals and bookkeeping services). We have developed sales, marketing, pricing, operational and management systems.

It's early days and we're getting lots of enquiries from the franchise world and we'd like some business minded bookkeepers on board.

Nimac · Senior Member

BobHarper wrote:

Crunchers is a way to make money from bookkeeping without doing any bookkeeping, based on a book called The E-Myth.

Can you explain this a bit more to me?

Julie · Senior Member

BobHarper wrote:

Crunchers is a way to make money from bookkeeping without doing any bookkeeping, based on a book called The E-Myth.

I agree with Nigel, explain !

No disrespect to you Bob, but you make it sound like bookkeeping is a get rich quick scheme. Im sure other forum members will agree - it certainly is not.

BobHarper · Guru

Julie - I can understand that something new can look different but Crunchers isnt a get rich quick scheme, it's about building a business based on a very focussed strategy. Hvaing said that, our financial model is financially rewarding and is based on each office making £75k net profit without the business owner (YOU) working on day-to-day issues.

Nimac - Theres a lot behind the Crunchers strategy but in essence its about generating revenue/profit from two sources a) software rentals (because we own our software) and b) basic bookkeeping services (delivered using data entry clerks using the software who do 99% of the work).

Doug - we do encourage potential franchisees to speak to existing franchisees after we do the outline evaluation together because this gives the final peace of mind. Get in touch and we'll send you a little pack which explians a little about us. If you like what we're about I'll go through the model and you can see if it makes sense for you. No pressure and no commitment on either side.

Mike · Veteran Member

Only thing I would say is that online bookkeeping would appear to be the future of the bookkeeping industry going forward with multiple users being able to view their accounts online from any location and being able to generate 'real time' financial reports and data (ie as opposed to historic).

Do Crunchers have any plans to pilot an online version of their simplified bookkeeping program or is this deemed not to be something that is likely to appeal to their target market (ie predominantly small and micro businesses)?

BobHarper · Guru

Mike - online bookkeeping is an interesting question. We have a number of thoughts and at the moment we don't think our key market see value in this. However, we like the idea of a hybrid approach - offline data entry with online reports, reviews and corrections which synchronise.

Offline is best for speed and data validation for quality intelligent control. Online is good for collaboration but whats right is what makes money!

TrustyColt · Newbie

Doug

I have just joined Crunchers and am more than satisfied with the model.
If you join you will get professional advice from an Accountant, IT specialist and a Maketing Guru. They will give you free training on how to build your business and work on your business, not in it. They will give you the marketing material and advice on how to use it.

It's not a matter of training you to be a Bookkeeper, that part should already be in place, it's purely a matter of using a Nationally know brand, 'Crunchers' to build your business.

Paul Carey

-- Edited by TrustyColt on Thursday 28th of May 2009 08:51:22 AM

lor · Guru

TrustyColt wrote:

Doug

I have just joined Crunchers and am more than satisfied with the model.
If you join you will get professional advice from an Accountant, IT specialist and a Maketing Guru. They will give you free training on how to build your business and work on your business, not in it. They will give you the marketing material and advice on how to use it.

It's not a matter of training you to be a Bookkeeper, that part should already be in place, it's purely a matter of using a Nationally know brand, 'Crunchers' to build your business.

Paul Carey

-- Edited by TrustyColt on Thursday 28th of May 2009 08:51:22 AM

Can I just ask when crunchers phoned me they asked me if i wanted to be a bookkeeper or the person who owns the business and has bookkeepers doing the work for them, i take you have chose to the bookkeeping? this is what i chose and i haven't heard anything back from them.

second thoughts its sounds as though you are what they call a cruncher, you get the bookkeepers to work for you can you clarify?

-- Edited by lor on Thursday 28th of May 2009 11:34:19 AM

TrustyColt · Newbie

Being the Person who does the bookkeeping or the person who runs the business is at first, one and the same, but it is seeing that there is another way to build the business that matters.

At the outset you will gain customers and do the bookkeeping as well, but you will still me trying to build your business by gaining new customers.

When the bookkeeping starts to take up the time you should be building your business you then become the business manager and employ data entry clerks that you train to do the input, giving you the time to check their work and gain more customers.

Further down the track you can then employ a Business Manager to set up and control the staff whilst you work at building the business. You then have a bookkeeping business that you draw the profits and not just a JOB!

lor · Guru

Makes more sense now.