FAQ's
By now you should have an endless list of questions to ask us! And that's great, the more questions you ask us the better informed you will be about franchising in general, our franchise and if it is the right decision for you.
We have collected a number of frequently asked questions from people just like you below.
Hopefully you will be able to find the answers you’re looking for, if not please contact us with your question and she will be able to help you, we’ll also add it to our ever growing list.
The Jasper’s franchise fee is a one off payment of £29,997 + VAT. This grants you the right to trade as a franchisee under the identity of Jasper’s Corporate Catering Ltd for the duration of the franchise agreement.
During this time you have access to our ongoing knowledge, support and the supply of all your training, sales and marketing material and more. The one-off franchise fee covers:
- Your franchise agreement specifying your exclusive franchise territory (the area in which you will operate)
- Assistance with the location of your production unit and advice on leases
- The design of your production unit and project management of the set up and opening of your business. With your involvement, of course
- Detailed training course on all areas of the business before you begin trading, plus business manuals on Sales, Operations, Production and Human Resources
- A pre-launch development programme and marketing campaign
- Jasper's unique customer identification process isolating at least £500,000 worth of business for you to target in year one
- 100 new prospect appointments made for you in your first year
- A license for the award-winning Jasper’s Business Management System which will enable you to smoothly manage the administration of your business
- Web-based CCTV inside your production area to help manage your operation
- Support with recruitment and training your staff
- All the hardware and software you need to run your business: A projector (essential for use in your production room), printer and fax machine, lap top and desk top computer with two LCD monitors.
When it’s been agreed that we both want to proceed, you will need to pay us a deposit of 10% of the franchise fee. This will secure your territory and allow us to start proceedings. You will need to pay the remainder of the franchise fee on receipt of your signed franchise agreement.
Alongside the franchise fee, you will also need £54,500 plus VAT for the complete fit-out of your production unit including ovens, walk-in fridges, freezers and all other equipment. In addition, every business needs an adequate amount of working capital to get if off the ground. We recommend you have £25,000 of working capital for items such as stock and supplies, utilities, wages, fuel and customer debtor days. These costs can be funded through bank loans. Jasper’s works with the franchising teams at Lloyds TSB, Natwest and HSBC, can ensure you talk to the right people.
In addition to the one-off costs, as with all franchises, we require an ongoing Management Service Fee (MSF). This is 10% of your turnover of up to £8,000 a week which is payable to us on a monthly basis. This percentage will reduce on turnover above £8,000 a week as we believe you should be rewarded not penalised for growing your business. The Management Service Fee covers the costs of our monthly support activities, including:
- Ongoing development and updating of Jasper’s systems
- Continuous research into new products and suppliers
- Regular reviews of your business's performance to help your continual growth
- On-site support from our team
- Support in converting leads into clients eg tendering for contracts
- Development of your local sales and marketing strategies
- Lead generation through head office sales and marketing activity
- Training
- Continuous development of the Jasper''s brand, website and marketing material
We have spent years working on our business model and systems. Without the monthly management fee we would not be able to keep our support structure in place for the benefit of all our franchisees.
When you become a Jasper’s franchisee you will be allocated your own exclusive territory: an optimised area in which you will operate to grow your business. No other Jasper’s franchisee can trade in your territory. We work with a specialist mapping company to define a territory that contains sufficient business opportunity for you to achieve the figures you deserve. Your Jasper’s territory will be based around the following criteria and more:
- Density of companies in the area
- Number of companies with more than 20 employees registered at the site
- Turnover of companies
- Industry type and sector
- Customer propensity to buy
As your turnover grows, your MSF as a percentage drops and more opportunities to build your catering empire will arise.
From the moment both parties agree that a Jasper’s franchise is the right move, it takes about 16 (busy!) weeks to get you established as a Jasper’s franchisee.
Activity in these weeks includes confirming the territory in which you will operate, finding your production unit, designing and equipping the unit, researching your competitors, undertaking training, and kicking off your pre-launch marketing programme - which includes isolating that half a million pounds worth of business to start winning.
We will teach you how to identify genuine prospects that want your services. In your pre-launch program we will train you to isolate at least £500,000 a year worth of business for year one.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to keep promises are essential when meeting prospects and customers. It is your ability to build relationships with people that enables you to gain and retain customers. When you become a Jasper’s franchisee, we provide you with our proven sales and marketing systems to help you win and keep customers - these provide step by step guidelines.
Of course. We will arrange a fixed appointment for you to talk to existing Jasper’s franchisees once we know that you are seriously interested and we agree you are the right candidate.
Our franchisees are busy running and growing their businesses so we don’t want to waste any of their time. They will tell you what they think about their Jasper’s franchise experience, the team they work with, the challenges and high points.