Franchise

Would you like provide a wonderful new resource for your community?

The Family Grapevine publish valued and respected family phone books. In 2007 our franchisees printed more than a million copies of The Family Grapevine. We would love every family in the UK to have their own local edition.

We make it easy for you to run your own publication as part of our group and fit your working life around your family. You benefit from belonging to a group with over 12 years of experience, a well proven management system, superb facilities to support new editors, a cooperative, non-competitive ethos and lots of freedom to develop your business. Read what our editors say about our group.

Are you looking to run a different kind of publication?

Would you prefer to run a publication which is not directed at the child and family market? Why not take a look at our fantastic new publication, The Warbler, a local what’s on guide that’s taking communities like yours by storm!

Ours is not a typical franchise

We take great pride in the ethical standards which underpin The Family Grapevine. This quotation from Henry Ford sums up our view on our franchise:

“Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service”
Henry Ford

We want to be really fair to you so we don’t ask for a huge up-front fee and we will not take a slice of your profit. In other words, there are no commissions or royalties relating to your income. Here’s what you pay and when:

  1. Enquiry stage - you are given all details about our franchise and our current fees. These can be found in the Prospectus.
  2. You have the opportunity to talk to our Directors and some franchisees and to research the market in your area
  3. After a minimum of 2 weeks, you sign your contract and pay your initial fee and your first annual fee (non refundable)
  4. You are given all of our current software and materials
  5. You pay your annual fee on the anniversary of your initial fee
  6. That’s it. We will never ask for any other money. There are no further fees, commissions or royalties, other than an administration charge of £200 + vat if you wish to add a new editon within your existing territory
  7. If an annual payment is not made, the contract ends
  8. If you do not publish an editon for a year, the contract ends

Of course, you may also need to invest in computer hardware and software. There is a full list of requirements in the prospectus.

Our top editors turn over in excess of £60,000

Our editors make money by selling advertising. Your main expense will be printing, followed by postage, telephone, other office expenses (stationery) and petrol. After you have covered all your expenses, anything left over is profit. Typically a first edition can expect to break even on its costs. If you devote time and energy to your business you will eventually be able to achieve a substantial income. We cannot and will not guarantee your earnings. We will only tell you what can be achieved with dedication and enthusiasm. Only one person can make your business succeed, and that’s you!

But what will I earn?

Have you spoken to any of our editors? We do not have any restrictions on who you talk to. Call a few for a chat! You’ll find some working full time, others working part time, some earning big money with a turnover in excess of £60,000, others a more modest amount. It is important that you get a proper picture of our group. What should shine through is how much we all care about our publications.

Why should I join a group?

Of course you could do it all on your own, but joining The Family Grapevine has lots of plus points. You will use our tried and tested business system. You enjoy all the advantages of self employment, but also benefit from belonging to a well respected, established group. Using our group’s brand and trademarks allows you to benefit from our reputation. Our franchisees are stronger in the face of competition because we cooperate with each other and respect each other’s territories. You can learn from your predecessors’ experience and mistakes! You can potentially make faster progress and go into profit sooner. You should also bear in mind that working at home can be very isolating. Keeping motivated after a string of rejections can be gutty, so good personal support is invaluable. That’s a combination of benefits which is hard to beat!

For those of you without desk top publishing experience

We have an optional desk top publishing service which must be booked when you join the group. The service costs £1000 plus VAT per issue and includes preparation of your media pack and layout and design of adverts and publications up to a maximum of 24 x A4 pages. This service is available for up to three issues during your first year of membership.

Why The Family Grapevine and not some other group?

We want you to be sure that joining our particular group is the right decision for you. There are several other magazines offering franchises and home publishing businesses such as Raring2Go, Families, Primary Times, Parents News, ABC and Parents Pages. It is important to choose the one which meets your preferences and ambitions most closely. Check for fees, royalties and hidden charges. Consider what will happen if you want to divert from the business system (is this allowed?) and check if you are allowed to continue in the publishing business locally, or indeed at all, if you leave the group. None of these businesses offers you a ‘get rich quick’ scheme or any guarantees. Whichever you choose you will have to work hard to reap rewards. However, one of the advantages of home publishing is that if you stick at it through the tough beginning stages it gets easier as you go along. Your skills will grow and if your publication is popular you will attract higher and higher levels of readvertising and unsolicited bookings.

What do I get if I join?

Your licence gives you exclusive rights to operate within your territory and use one of our brands. You will be independent and self employed but you will not be on your own. You will get access to our fantastic Pressroom which is packed full of useful advice, as well as access to our private editors’ mailing list and a huge range of templates and reference documents.

You will also be able to use Grapeworks, our amazing management application which runs every aspect of your business. You won’t need any other contact management packages. Note that this software does not include accounts facilities. Instead we recommend that you purchase appropriate accounting software, such as Sage Instant Accounts, for which you should take advice from your accountant or book keeper.

What is it like being an editor?

Running your own publication can be a part time job or a full time job. It just depends on you and how much work you want to put in. The work is hardest at the beginning when there is lots of research to do and lots of cold calls to make. You will need to be self-disciplined, well organised and determined. The most challenging areas are usually selling and desk top publishing. When selling, you have to be very confident in your own product to cope with rejection - but that’s easy with The Family Grapevine!

What skills do I need?

You will be responsible for every aspect of your local phone book including research, assessing the competition, building up leads and contacts, selling and designing adverts, preparing each edition for press, administration, accounts and distributing copies. You will need plenty of common sense and you may need to learn new skills.

How do I make money?

You make money by selling advertising. Your main expense is printing. After you have covered all your other expenses such as stationery and phone bills, anything left over is profit.

Can I do my own thing?

There are very few rules, but if you follow our format closely your business is more likely to succeed. You are welcome to try out your own ideas and develop your publication to suit your area. We encourage editors to share their ideas and experiences with the rest of the group.

What do I do next?

  1. Have you seen a copy of one of our phone books? You can download an example here or ask one of our editors to send you one. You should certainly look at any publications within or adjoining your proposed area. You can find all our editions listed here.
  2. Have you spoken to any of our editors? We do not have any restrictions on who you talk to. Call a few for a chat! You’ll find some working full time, others working part time, some earning big money with a turnover in excess of £60,000, others a more modest amount. It is important that you get a proper picture of our group. What should shine through is how much we all care about our publications.
  3. Find out whether we have an edition in your area - click Editions to see the areas which are taken.
  4. Download a copy of our Prospectus.
  5. Give us a call to have a chat about the area you are interested in and Don’t worry, we will not smother you with a load of ‘hard sell’ when you call. We will simply let you know whether the area you would like is still available and give you honest answers to any questions. You can call Nikki on 01749 678393, or Sheridan on 01793 849928.

Business Opportunity Watch

You may be interested that in December 2007 The Family Grapevine was awarded a coveted 9 Spots by the independent arbiter of business opportunities Business Opportunity Watch. We are also listed as one of their top 24 top rated business opportunities in their Best Home Business Opportunities Directory 2008. Business Opportunity Watch is a research company which receives no advertising income or commission income from business opportunities, and whose editor has been investigating and researching business opportunities for 13 years.