A striking franchise opportunity! In a nutshell what we offer is a fresh start, a challenging and rewarding career, where you manage and control your own business. Obviously head office is always on hand, like a pair of tight fitting goalie gloves. Their aim is to provide a little extra protection whilst you find your feet. More than that, our dedicated backroom team will do everything in their power to provide helpful guidance. Attitude, not a background in football, is the all important asset, because step-by-step training is provided from the very outset. If you like space to do your stuff, yet would welcome the ongoing support of a passionate squad of enthusiastic, like-minded go-getters we’d love to hear from you. Please drop us a line today, because it’s only through people like you that we’ll achieve our end goal of providing more pre-school kids with a positive introduction to sport. July 2009 Newsflash! Little Kickers were very proud to be finalists in the HSBC Award for Enterprise category of the BFA's 2009 Franchisor of the Year Awards. In addition, Julia Levene, Little Kickers franchisee for the NW London area was announced as a finalist in the BFA's 2009 Franchisee of the Year Awards, due to take place this October. If you are considering purchasing a franchise and you want to ensure that the business you are investing in has been subjected to the rigours of the BFA review process, a full list of BFA members can be found on the BFA’s website at www.bfa.org. Comments from existing Little Kicks Franchisees: Things to consider when choosing a franchise In addition to the obvious considerations- “do I like the idea and do I think I could make a commercial success of it?”- if you are thinking of embarking on a new career as a franchisee, we think there are a few points you might want to address with the franchisor before taking the leap. These include: Why Little Kicks? Little Kicks has a proven track record of success both in the UK and internationally, and has experienced impressive growth. This is due, in part, to an increased focus on the importance of encouraging children to participate in sport, and also to the quality of the people we select as franchisees, and the extensive training we provide. In addition to the obvious financial rewards, franchisees are provided with ongoing Head Office support, and many have commented that they thrive on the satisfaction of running their own successful business, whilst enjoying the feeling of being “part of a team”. We do not encourage franchisees to compete with each other, but rather to support each other and work together. Interestingly, we rarely advertise our franchise programme – all of our franchisees have approached us through word-of-mouth on the recommendation of friends. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Christine on 01235 859255. Having talked about the franchise this evening I am now certain that I would like to go ahead and purchase the 2nd franchise. This will give economies of scale with overheads and all the back office is already set-up so it should be limited incremental work. Both Simon and I have been very happy with the support we have been given to date from the team and having started to haul my 2 children around to various activity classes I am very confident in the product we offer. With the enhancements on credit card / on-line bookings this will further reduce admin. Everyones a winner!?! Sarah Whale – St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Potters Bar Franchise I left my full-time position as an Account Manager to buy a LK franchise, & did this in order to take greater control of my life. The franchise has given me a much better work-life balance & is definitely a decision I'm glad I made. At times, it's a rollercoaster, however the overall experience to date has been very rewarding. Steve Finn – Fleet and Basingstoke Franchise After I had my son I knew I wanted to work with children (or maybe I just went a bit mad!). I started teacher training but realised that while I was enoying working with everyone else's children I was never seeing my own! When I heard about Little Kicks I loved the concept and enrolled my son into our nearest classes straight away. He loved it too, and I knew that franchising was the perfect opportunity for me. I could run my own business using the skills I had developed in my previous employment, continue to have fun working with children and achieve the work / life balance I had been looking for. It's not always easy but it is rewarding and the support from head office and the other franchisees is fantastic. A year and a half later, I can safely say that Little Kicks has given me everything I hoped for and it was the best decision I could possibly have made! Natasha Peck – Amersham and Beaconsfield In 2003, I gave up a long-standing career in Human Resources, to look after my two young children. It only took me a short while to realise that as much as I enjoyed being a full-time Mum, the ‘working urge’ was still inside me - I knew I could always find time to work but just not full time anymore. In 2003, I brought an exhibition company, which I successfully grew for 2 years. Unfortunately, in 2005, we moved house, and ended up too far away for me to continue to run the business, so it was sold. In our new town, I started looking for various activities that my children could join. I found that there were many activities that interested my daughter of 4yrs however, not so many for my son who is 3 (who, by the way, is obsessed with football!) By a fluke return to our old home and catching up with friends, someone mentioned ‘Little Kicks’. “Sounds great” I said, and when I got home I searched for a class in Salisbury on their website, however, I found there were none. Whilst reading though the site I found myself so impressed that I ended up pressing the Franchise button. Why?.Well, I was looking at how far this company had come in a short space of time, the manner in which they present themselves, the way Little Kicks has been developed by professional bodies and the products they have to offer, however most of all the children looked like they were having great fun! Everything then happened quite quickly. My enquiry was submitted and as I excitedly waited for a reply, I received an application form. A few weeks later I had a meeting with one of the Directors. I was so impressed with what I had been told about Little Kicks, all my questions were answered and I learned where the company was going. After the meeting was over I then knew I wanted to be part of this business. And I now am…… I have only been up and running for a month (brought the business in August ’06, so quite an achievement for me to launch so quickly!) and I have worked hard to market and promote Little Kicks into Salisbury. I, or should I say my fantastic Coaches, are currently running 8 classes a week and we are about to source new venues for additional areas quite soon. What has Little Kicks given to me? Well, apart from the Directors continuous support: always there to answer your questions, generous in giving up their time (not quite sure if they do actually sleep!) - it is a professional company to be involved with. I get to spend fun and quality time with my family, working when I want and all the while knowing that I run a successful business as well. Sarah Warrington – Salisbury Franchise I was Little Kicks' very first franchisee joining in 2004 and my life has been completely transformed. I have a work / life balance now, walking my children to school each morning and picking them up every afternoon. Initially, I opened 4 classes and with hard work and dedication have now expanded to over 20 classes a week and the feedback that I get from the children and parents is wonderful. Everyone involved in Little Kicks is passionate about what they are doing and we all benefit from being part of something bigger and growing. I am very proud to say I am part of the Little Kicks winning team. Julia Levene - North London Having worked for many years in Human Resources, I was eventually made redundant in 2003. This allowed me to take time off to spend with my with my gorgeous baby boy and also enabled us to move to Australia for a year with my husband’s career. When we returned from Australia, my son attended Little Kickers classes in London during 2005. He loved the classes and we were totally impressed by both the coaches and the content of the courses. At the end of 2005 (by which time we also had a little girl) we moved back to Dublin. It had always been in the back of my mind that there were no classes like Little Kickers in Ireland and that therefore it was a fantastic business opportunity. There were other pre-school activities, but nothing of the nature and professionalism of Little Kickers. Once we were settled back in Dublin, I made enquiries with the Little Kickers Head Office about franchising here in the Republic of Ireland. It took some time to get things up and running as there were some significant fiscal differences between the UK and Ireland which needed to be ironed out first. Once this was done, I was good to go! I started running 4 classes in September 2007 and have had full classes since day one and now have waiting lists for all my classes. By owning a Little Kickers franchise, I have been able to set up my own business and work the business around my family life. I generally do my administration in relation to the franchise in the mornings when my kids are at school/Montessori and then I run 4 classes on a Saturday morning. It has truly allowed me have the satisfaction of running my own business, whilst always being here for my family. To back me up, I have found the team in Head Office to be so helpful and always available to answer any queries. I have not looked back since I first made the enquiry about purchasing a Little Kickers franchise! Niamh O'Connor - Little Kickers Ireland No. 2 Wow! What a year so far…. Since training in January 2009, we started running classes in May and here we are 4 months old and my classes are full. The response from parents and children has been overwhelming and their feedback is very positive; in fact a large number of my customers have been from referrals. I have my own Little Kicker(!) and balancing motherhood with having a successful business is never easy, however with the support that I have received from Head Office, balancing both roles has been a busy but very enjoyable experience and I really love my working day which I can balance well with spending time with my son. The product is very appealing to the Australian market and coupled with the excellent support from Head Office I have managed to get up and running so much faster than I (and my Accountant) could have expected! Karen Tannoch-Bland - Master Franchisee Queensland, Australia As recently published in Families North West Magazine: "After our first meeting I was totally intrigued, the financial forecasts were sound and all my questions were fully answered – I was impressed."
Whether you want a change from your current role, or are just leaving college and about to enter the job market, or are a Mum wanting to return to work after a career break, a Little Kickers franchise can offer you a career with excellent flexibility and rewards, and the opportunity to really make a difference to young children's lives.
We suspect many of you are at an age when you’ve realised that your current career isn’t perhaps all it was cracked up to be. Tetchy bosses, long hours, mundane routine or a lop-sided work life balance are no substitutes for more quality time with family and friends.
British Franchise Association Awards - Double Nomination for Little Kickers!
Little Kicks is an Associate Member of the British Franchise Association (BFA). The BFA is the body which governs franchising in the UK. The membership process involved a rigorous assessment of a number of factors including: Little Kicks Franchises Limited’s financial books and records, the contract we enter into with our Franchisees, offer information and references from all existing franchisees. The objective of this review was to confirm that the Little Kicks Franchise Programme is:
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