​Age isn’t a barrier when it comes to Franchising

We’ve witnessed a huge upturn in self-employment since the turn of the millennium, which ultimately means there’s no discrimination when choosing the route of becoming ‘your own boss’.

Franchising has aided towards the elimination of the discrimination card that is preventing so many over 50’s from finding full time employment, in fact, 82% of franchisees within the UK are actually over the age of 30 with 48,600 franchised units currently in operation throughout the UK.

Over 50's in Franchising

Age may be a hindering factor when applying for a new role for over 50’s, the alarming truth is that most recruitment agencies simply discard the ‘older’ CV in favour of the younger candidate. This isn’t right, but unfortunately, it’s difficult to control and this discrimination is happening in every recruitment agency up and down the country.

Fear not! For most over 50’s they’ve accumulated greater wealth than the ‘younger candidate’ and this actually places them in the unique position where they can consider being their own boss through Franchising. It then gives them the opportunity to be the ones scouring over CV’s (the tables have turned) as you search for potential staff members to join your franchised business.

Pension freedoms have made it easier for people to access pension funds from the age of 55, which ultimately means it’s easier to obtain valuable lump sums – or even borrow against the value of a pension – to assist in funding the acquisition of a franchise.

It’s not just the option of pension capital to use to fund the acquisition of a franchise, over 50’s are more likely to receive redundancy payments that they can also use to acquire their dream franchise. This age range can also witness inheritance packages being divided out, which has again seen some over 50’s opting to use this to fund the start of a business.

Some older workers have turned to the franchise route, buying into a ready-made business and starting their own franchise unit within their local area (Franchise territory). Why wouldn’t you? Greater security, no fear of being top of the cull list due to your age and it gives you greater freedom and the potential to earn a fantastic living.

 Organisations that relinquish high-earning employees of their duties (over 50) are basing their decisions on cold calculation to ultimately improve their bottom lines. Most of the larger businesses have little care or empathy for the individual they’re relinquishing of their role and don’t consider the fact that the individual simply isn’t ready or prepared to stop working as they still have so much to offer. This is exactly why the over 50’s are battling back through the self-employment route, that gives them the chance to be their own boss.

According to recent ONS statistics, over-50’s account for 43% of those self-employed, however, they are much rarer within the work place with less than a third of employees being over the age of 50.

To further enhance the route of franchising for over 50’s, the number of self-employed people over the age of 65 has doubled within the past 5 years and 60% of those still in work over the age of 70 are actually self-employed as well!

The purpose of this article was to both ‘promote’ the franchising avenue but to also reassure anyone concerned with employment opportunities over the age of 50 that it’s OK, and there are options to continue working. 

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