Yes, you can run the business as a part time or full time business. Obviously, if you run the business part time, it will take longer to achieve your target revenues.

You do not need any specific qualifications to run the business – our people come from many different backgrounds. We do however suggest that if you come from an executive or management background, or if you run your own business, or if you come from a family business background, that any of these would be very suitable backgrounds for this business.

Yes you may. However, we suggest you do the business yourself for some time before you consider a Master Franchise. It is important that you yourself know the business and have some real experience before you consider a Master Franchise option.

Yes this is your business and, while we train you in a proven business model, you may still feel the need to modify the model slightly in line with local conditions.

Yes this is a continuous program whereby we will always continue to improve. You can obtain the latest version of all items from the BCM Intranet site.

Yes.

Only if you want to. Some people want to have staff, some people prefer to work by themselves and simply subcontract such tasks as computer data entry as and when required.

Yes.

The Training Course normally takes five days and can be done online.

After the Training Course is complete, we will continue to support you in all aspects of the business. No matter what you need assistance with, we are there to help you.

We have 10 methods of client acquisition as follows:

• Business Networking
• Existing clients
• Referrals
• Social Media
• BCM Partner Program
• Limited direct mail
• Exhibitions
• Affinity Marketing
• Telesales
• Advertising

Some of these work better than others depending on the business culture within each country (and also of course depending to some extent on the personality of the franchisee) but in any case we cover all of these in detail as part of the Training Program.

We generally find that advertising is not the most effective means of client acquisition in this business. This is because CEOs and CFOs generally do not respond to advertising for this kind of service. Referrals and personal knowledge are much more important.

No, it is not directly proportional to effort as we work on a % of savings basis. So for example you could work on a project and save $40,000 and later on you could spend exactly the same amount of time on another project and save $100,000. There is no cap on your income.

You can hire staff and/or extend your territory.

Included in the BCM Franchise package is the following:

• 5-Day Training Program
• Use of BCM branding, logo etc.
• BCM email address
• BCM website listing
• CRM System
• Project Management System
• Access to BCM Cloud Based Knowledge Database
• Access to other BCM offices
• Your own territory
• Support by email, phone, Skype, webinar or On-site
• Templates for sales materials, analysis etc.
• Microsoft Office 365 Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint

• Personal Computer/Laptop
• Personal Computer Backup Unit
• Printer
• Imaging System/Camera
• Report Binder
• Desk, chairs, filing cabinet etc.
• Telephone line, telephone & cell phone
• Answering Machine
• Photocopier
• Shredder

Typically, approximately 60% of our clients are in the small to medium sector. By this we mean clients with employees ranging from 10 to 150 people. The balance of our clients are larger clients employing from 150 employees to greater than 1,000 employees. There are no sectoral restrictions, we have clients who are hospitals, schools, factories, warehouses, shops, stores, professional firms etc.   Cost reduction clients are typically medium to large size, revenue clients are typically micro to SME size.

Larger consultancies do not really do what we do, most of them might suggest particular categories which need more cost effective solutions but we actually deliver the solution and monitor that solution for the next 2 years. 2/3rds of our clients are in the small to medium sector (approximately 10 to 150 employees) with the remaining clients being larger and sometimes up to several thousand employees.

We work across all business sectors, our clients are across all sectors because a lot of the categories we find savings in are generic e.g. every business has a telephone bill, electricity, waste, printing, stationery etc.

Electricity is a good case in point for your question, In Ireland when we started the business over 20 years ago, there was only one monopoly state provider for electricity. However, there were 24 different tariffs a client could be on depending on their size, usage and type of business. Most clients were completely unaware of this and did not understand the tariffs anyway even if they had to choose a new tariff. Some clients used to be on the correct tariff and then their business grew or shrunk and nobody reinvestigated the tariff. There are also engineering problems which need to be fixed and also of course various techniques to actually reduce consumption.

We have a contract agreed with the client before commencing the project.

Answering your question as a percentage of sales is going to be misleading as the ratio of non strategic costs to sales can vary wildly depending on the business. A better explanation is to take the example of a midsize manufacturing company with total cost overheads of €20m consisting of labour costs of €9m, raw material costs of €9m and everything else €2m, we look at the €2m. You can assume that there may be no savings on approx. half that figure and typical savings of 25% to 35% on the remainder.

We mainly, although not exclusively, look at the non-strategic overheads and so we generally (although not always!) exclude labour and raw materials. These categories tend to get high cost scrutiny whereas the categories we cover tend not to.

No, it is not directly proportional to effort as we work on a % of savings basis. So for example you could work on a project and save €40,000 and later on you could spend exactly the same amount of time on another project and save €100,000. There is no cap on your income.

The key thing to understand is that we are typically analysing the Non-Strategic cost categories which generally do not get the same level of attention as the strategic cost areas like labour and raw materials. We look at categories like stationery, printing, electricity, print management etc. which are not core costs. We bring a level of focus to these categories that clients by themselves do not. We also bring advantages like the cost benefits of bulk buying, without the client having to be a bulk buyer, as you will be developing strategic relationships with suppliers in various categories.

Savings, client reports, client management, supplier management etc. Support can be provided on-site, via email, via Skype, from BCM HQ, from other BCM franchisees or from our Online Knowledge database.

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