Bakers Delight to help fund new franchisees

Bakers Delight will attempt to solve the problem of franchisees struggling to find financing by launching a recruiting program designed to help 50 “young” franchisees own their own business within 12 months.

The ‘Manage to Own’ program will provide funding and training to successful applicantd who, CEO and co-founder Lesley Gillespie says, “have the competency and desire to own their own bakery, but lack the start-up capital required”.

Despite the downturn, which was expected to increase the number of franchisees as retrenched workers moved into the sector, Bakers Delight still has high demand for candidates.

Since the beginning of 2009, it has advertised for 150 franchisees to operate new and existing sites in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where the company trades as COBS Bread.

But Bakers Delight operations project manager Gabby Kelly told SmartCompany the new program is not aimed at expanding the number of franchises, but “injecting new talent into the company”.

Graduates may take over existing franchises for sale or company-owned bakeries.

Successful applicants will spend the first five months in of the program in paid on-the-job training completing the company’s internal training program for franchisees, which covers food safety, work safety, skills management and retail training. The same program is completed by fully-funded franchisees in about 16 weeks.

Trainees will spend the next six months managing an existing franchise or company owned bakery.

Bakers Delight will then help them purchase a bakery through a combination of financial assistance, possibly including working capital, vendor finance and bonus schemes, as well as ongoing advice, training and operational support.

“Applicants with a university degree and retail or hospitality management experience are the most likely to succeed,” Kelly says.

Bakers Delight has 630 bakeries in Australia, including franchises and company owned stores. On average, it costs $380,000 to open a Bakers Delight franchise.

The company posted global revenues of $581 million in the 2009 financial year. This is expected to increase to $608 million in 2010.