Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The honeymoon showed Lord Beaverbrook, First Baron, (1879-1964) Canadian-born British publisher, financier, and politician; founder of the Daily Express and the Evening Standard, at his characteristic best and worst.
He overwhelmed his bride with lavish gifts such as she had never known before. He gave her a brief taste of gay life in New York. Then carried her off to the West Indies and spent his time looking at business propositions.
A letter of May 5, 1906 to a friend gives some idea of their curious honeymoon: "While in Cuba I bought the Puerto Principe Electric Light Co for $300,000. I bought 200 acres of land in the city of Camaguey, and 217 acres to the north of Sir W Van Horne's car works. I bought the old Mule Tram franchise, and I acquired the electric railway franchise in an almost completed condition. When the tramlines are completed they will pass through the lands I have purchased. On account of the congested condition of the population of the City I expect to make a very large profit out of selling business lots."
All well for Beaverbrook who wouldn't care even if one of his franchises went terribly wrong.
But for the commoner who sees buying a franchise as a handy shortcut to his dream of owning his own business, there are dangerous pitfalls - and possible drawbacks to even the best franchise deals.
Despite that more and more young businessmen and women are starting up their own companies even in the Middle East by taking on a franchise operation.
Franchising has witnessed a 20 per cent increase in the Middle East in the last five years, with local and international brands looking for greater market penetration.
What is that factor that makes young people turn to franchising?
In a time of economic uncertainty with the cost of living increasing, it would seem more people are turning to franchising to safeguard their futures.
Results from the recent NatWest/British Franchise Association 2008 UK Franchise Survey show that the UK's franchising industry has grown by an additional 5.8 per cent franchised units in 12 months, with 36,200 franchised business now in operation.
Even though the average age of a franchise owner stands at 47, surprisingly more than one in 10 of franchises are operated by an under-30. The question is why are so many young adults keen to become businessmen and women and why are they turning to the franchise industry?
Stu Anderson, executive director of Shell Livewire which has helped 600,000 16- to 30-year-old entrepreneurs explore the avenues of starting a business, believes young people are keen to own a business so that they can "build a respectable career and have more control over their lifestyle".
"The franchise model offers unique opportunities to young entrepreneurs looking to establish a business in the Middle East. The UAE government is taking all steps to encourage young UAE nationals to start and manage a business on their own, thereby playing a major role in the economic development of the country," says Abdul Rehman Falaknaz, president of International Expo Consults (IEC), organisers of Franchising Middle East (FME) exhibition.
Falaknaz says that organisations such as Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders are providing guidance for young entrepreneurs, encouraging them to think about how to become successful business people. The establishment assists young entrepreneurs with funding as well as vetting their business plans.
Food and beverage is currently the biggest area of growth for franchise operators. This is followed by the hospitality sector, which involves very expensive capital investment; then consumer and retail services, and logistics.
The benefit of investing in a franchise is that one has an idea of how much one needs to put into the business before one gets a return because the initial costs are upfront. When one sets up on one's own it's not as clear.
The most common problems being firstly underestimating the costs involved in setting up a business from scratch, and secondly underestimating how difficult it is to market a new product or service in a hugely competitive and crowded market.
Another common cry of new business owners is that funding for small business is almost impossible to come by, but banks are much more receptive to lending money to fund a tried and tested franchise. The reason for this is that banks hate risk.
But given that the failure rate of franchises is less than five per cent compared to the fall-out rate of something like 65 per cent for normal business start-ups, plus the fact that most established franchises offer buy-back schemes, banks can be reasonably sure they will be repaid the money they lend to franchisees.
