FAQ's

So many who set up on their own fail, or merely scratch a living, precisely because they’re on their own. To be recognised, they need a unique trading name which is available as a web domain name, a Twitter and Instagram handle, and a limited-company name, and they’ll be amazed how many clever names they dream up are already taken. Their van won’t be seen as often as ours, which are all over the place and keep our identity in the public’s consciousness. Who’ll help them with technical queries, IT support, tax, regulations, health and safety, and marketing? Our franchisees, in contrast, get all that support as well as being part of a network who help each other, share expertise, and step in if someone’s sick or needs an extra pair of hands for a short-notice job. And our software system makes our franchisees so much more efficient.

It certainly is! Some people work hard for years to build up their business then simply shut up shop when they retire or want to do something else. At Ed’s, we encourage our franchisees to regard their business as an asset from day one, building it bit by bit into a nest-egg, a business they can sell on for serious money when it’s time for them to move on. So, strange as it may seem to be planning your exit before you’ve made your entrance, that’s what we help our franchisees to do - and it also helps preserve the perception of our franchises as a valuable and tradable asset rather than something others can pick up for a song when a franchisee retires.

Yours. 100%. You own it, you shape it, you run it, you’re responsible for it. But (and yes, there is a but) you have to run your business within the guidelines you sign up to in the franchise agreement. That’s because franchising means we effectively grant you a licence to share in our success, enjoy the benefits of our established and hard-won reputation, follow our proven business methods, and be privy to all our trade secrets and know-how. Set up on your own and you’ll find business rivals won’t generally want you to prosper (why should they?) whereas we offer you a leg up, a chance to stand on giant’s shoulders, and we do everything we possibly can to help you succeed, because your success is our success, too.

Some of our franchisees want to have multi-van operations and take VAT in their stride, whereas many, perhaps you included, prefer to stay just beneath the VAT threshold so they don’t have to register and pass the cost on to customers, which might put them at a price disadvantage against other small local operators. So what they do (and we help them to do it) is to sell off a tranche of customers to other franchisees, meaning they pocket a handsome fee and, at a stroke, remain below the VAT registration threshold. Some of our franchisees do that repeatedly, making their life simpler and their business more lucrative.

Possibly, but probably not. We don’t do gardening, but we do offer garden services including tidying, lawn-mowing, hedge-cutting, pruning and power-washing. So while having an interest in gardening helps, our franchisees don’t need to have any gardening experience and won’t be gaining any with us, either. Of course, you might be perfectly happy carrying out garden maintenance services as an Ed’s franchisee (in which case, please contact us [LINK]) and continue to indulge your passion for real gardening at home or on your allotment.

You bet! While many of our franchisees are happy to be a one-van operation and remain below the VAT threshold, others want to progress to multi-van operations as soon as they can, as well as acquiring extra territories to add to their empire. The efficiencies of our system and our software helps them do that, and we’re proud to see people taking our idea and running so far with it. So if your own ambitions run way beyond having just the one van, we’d love to hear from you. [LINK]

A lot less than you probably think. Take a look at our Prospectus [LINK] then give Ed or Annette a call.

We’ve just asked him, and he’s most insistent that he does. Unlike Colonel Sanders of KFC fame or Ronald McDonald, Ed remains a key part of the business. As someone who understands the business inside-out, Ed is always happy to advise and encourage franchisees, drawing on his vast experience of doing the same job himself and discovering the most efficient and profitable ways of doing it.

Sufficiently. Garden maintenance and other services can involve hard, physical work, sometimes using heavy machinery, going up and down ladders, and wielding hedge-trimmers, for instance. While we at Ed’s are an equal opportunities employer, you will be a self-employed business owner so will have to make your own decisions about your physical suitability to do the work involved.