Mature workers who’ve been made redundant are investigating opportunities to work for themselves through franchises, a leading Australian franchise business says.
“We’re seeing more and more people in the situation where they are made redundant and want some certainty with what they want to do in the future,” says John Stanton, Australasian franchise recruitment manager at mobile coffee business Cafe2U.
He told StartupSmart that laid-off workers are using their redundancy payments to invest in a franchise they can work in and use as a nest egg.
“We see people from all walks of life – blue and white collar.”
Cafe2U says in a statement that according to a Labour Mobility Survey, 345,800 people in Australia were retrenched from their jobs in the year to February 2013.
A wide range of industries have seen jobs cut in recent years, including the car industry, manufacturing, banks and telecommunications.
Stanton says workers who’ve been made redundant are looking for new opportunities and business ideas as they worry that they may not be re-employed in the sectors where they had built their careers.
He also says in a statement that Cafe2U has received a consistent line of enquiries from mature aged workers made redundant.
“The benefits of franchising, as opposed to going it alone with a small business start-up is that you have the brand recognition of an established business.
“You have marketing support through the master franchisor and support in terms of training and development of your individual franchise and most importantly proven systems to follow. It is the perfect bridge between being your own boss without having to conjure a business model and customer base from nothing.”
