Attitude, not a background in football, is the all important asset, because step-by-step training is provided from the very outset. If you like space to do your stuff, yet would welcome the ongoing support of a passionate squad of enthusiastic, like-minded go-getters we’d love to hear from you. Please drop us a line today because it’s only through people like you that we’ll achieve our end goal of providing more pre-school kids with a positive introduction to sport. The awards represent an opportunity for the UK’s best franchisors to gain recognition for their achievements in 2010: a year when many businesses had to work harder than ever to compete successfully in a tough economic climate. Little Kickers were particularly pleased to have got through to the finals in the “Franchisee Support” category. Christine Stanschus, Managing Director, commented “We focus a lot of effort on the support we offer to our franchisees, and constantly strive to enhance this aspect of the Little Kickers business. Our franchisees regularly comment on the quality of the support we offer, and now we are delighted that the efforts we go to are being publicly recognized through the bfa awards.” This is the second time Little Kickers have made it through to the final of these prestigious awards, the first being in 2009 when they were finalists in the “Award for Enterprise” category. The winners of the 2011 awards will be announced at a gala dinner on 16th June in Warwickshire. Click on this link to watch Karen on BBC Working Lunch... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BE5Qqppses Little Kickers were very proud to be finalists in the HSBC Award for Enterprise category of the BFA's 2009 Franchisor of the Year Awards. In addition, Julia Levene, Little Kickers franchisee for the NW London area was announced as a finalist in the BFA's 2009 Franchisee of the Year Awards, due to take place this October. If you are considering purchasing a franchise and you want to ensure that the business you are investing in has been subjected to the rigours of the BFA review process, a full list of BFA members can be found on the BFA’s website at www.bfa.co.uk In addition to the obvious considerations- “do I like the idea and do I think I could make a commercial success of it?”- if you are thinking of embarking on a new career as a franchisee, we think there are a few points you might want to address with the franchisor before taking the leap. These include: Why Little Kickers? Little Kickers has a proven track record of success both in the UK and internationally, and has experienced impressive growth. This is due, in part, to an increased focus on the importance of encouraging children to participate in sport, and also to the quality of the people we select as franchisees, and the extensive training we provide. In addition to the obvious financial rewards, franchisees are provided with ongoing Head Office support, and many have commented that they thrive on the satisfaction of running their own successful business, whilst enjoying the feeling of being “part of a team”. We do not encourage franchisees to compete with each other, but rather to support each other and work together. Interestingly, we rarely advertise our franchise programme – all of our franchisees have approached us through word-of-mouth on the recommendation of friends. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Salli on 01235 859250. Read our success stories . . . . I left my full-time position as an Account Manager to buy a LK franchise, & did this in order to take greater control of my life. The franchise has given me a much better work-life balance & is definitely a decision I'm glad I made. At times, it's a rollercoaster, however the overall experience to date has been very rewarding. Steve Finn – Fleet and Basingstoke Franchise I was Little Kickers' very first franchisee joining in 2004 and my life has been completely transformed. I have a work / life balance now, walking my children to school each morning and picking them up every afternoon. Initially, I opened 4 classes and with hard work and dedication have now expanded to over 20 classes a week and the feedback that I get from the children and parents is wonderful. Everyone involved in Little Kickers is passionate about what they are doing and we all benefit from being part of something bigger and growing. I am very proud to say I am part of the Little Kickers winning team. Julia Levene - North London Having worked for many years in Human Resources, I was eventually made redundant in 2003. This allowed me to take time off to spend with my with my gorgeous baby boy and also enabled us to move to Australia for a year with my husband’s career. When we returned from Australia, my son attended Little Kickers classes in London during 2005. He loved the classes and we were totally impressed by both the coaches and the content of the courses. At the end of 2005 (by which time we also had a little girl) we moved back to Dublin. It had always been in the back of my mind that there were no classes like Little Kickers in Ireland and that therefore it was a fantastic business opportunity. There were other pre-school activities, but nothing of the nature and professionalism of Little Kickers. Once we were settled back in Dublin, I made enquiries with the Little Kickers Head Office about franchising here in the Republic of Ireland. It took some time to get things up and running as there were some significant fiscal differences between the UK and Ireland which needed to be ironed out first. Once this was done, I was good to go! I started running 4 classes in September 2007 and have had full classes since day one and now have waiting lists for all my classes. By owning a Little Kickers franchise, I have been able to set up my own business and work the business around my family life. I generally do my administration in relation to the franchise in the mornings when my kids are at school/Montessori and then I run 4 classes on a Saturday morning. It has truly allowed me have the satisfaction of running my own business, whilst always being here for my family. To back me up, I have found the team in Head Office to be so helpful and always available to answer any queries. I have not looked back since I first made the enquiry about purchasing a Little Kickers franchise! Niamh O’Connor - Little Kickers Ireland No. 2 Wow! What a year so far…. Since training in January 2009, we started running classes in May and here we are 4 months old and my classes are full. The response from parents and children has been overwhelming and their feedback is very positive; in fact a large number of my customers have been from referrals. I have my own Little Kicker(!) and balancing motherhood with having a successful business is never easy, however with the support that I have received from Head Office, balancing both roles has been a busy but very enjoyable experience and I really love my working day which I can balance well with spending time with my son. The product is very appealing to the Australian market and coupled with the excellent support from Head Office I have managed to get up and running so much faster than I (and my Accountant) could have expected! Karen Tannoch-Bland - Master Franchisee Queensland, Australia
It wasn’t until my teenage years that I fully fell in love with football. I remember my primary school days as been not the most enjoyable football experience which could easily have put me and a lot of other children off football for life. Those were the days when the idea of coaching football was simply kick the ball as hard as possible and run after it as fast as possible therefore ultimately only the biggest and most physical children got a look in. Times have since moved on, however through over 35 years of playing and more recently coaching football I never really considered until a few years ago how little opportunity there still was for our very youngest children to enjoy their first football experience. When I seriously thought about setting up a football coaching business I was heavily involved in the running of local junior football club for ages between 7 and 13. This was originally set up some 6 years previous by my wife and I run on a purely voluntary basis. Also at this time I was becoming increasingly disillusioned in my full time job working in a very volatile and aggressive Construction industry as a Senior Quantity Surveyor. I was getting no real job satisfaction out of constant confrontations about money that was not even mine!. Basically I was looking to put all my energies into something more positive and which I was very passionate about. As I investigated as how best to go about starting my business i came across a number of franchise businesses who offered and provided a similar service. Little Kickers stood out as one of those businesses. On initial investigation Little Kickers appeared to have the same ideal as me regarding how young children should be introduced to football in a fun and active way without been pressurised. When I contacted Little Kickers direct it became clear that they too were very passionate about their business and as well as great coaching methods had a very well developed support and administration system in place. Also, although well established in the South, there was limited Little Kickers franchise businesses in the North especially in the North East. Added to this was the fact that there was a very few other businesses offering this kind of football coaching in the north region. After numerous discussions and meetings with Little Kickers it became clear to me that, rather than starting out on my own, the infrastructure was in place at Little Kickers to enable me to go out and offer a great service and opportunity to children. Once I agreed to buy the franchise for the York area I was offered the opportunity to purchase another existing franchise in North Leeds and Harrogate which seemed ideal as the 2 areas were next to each other. I subsequently bought both franchises which if I am been honest I have found a little frustrating as I have not been able to grow them as quickly as I first thought. I think there were possibly 2 main reasons for this. Despite what I would call a learning curve I have no doubt I made the right decision as there are so many positives that outweigh what I would call teething problems. Coaching the children and seeing them so much enjoy and develop their skills is giving me a huge amount of job satisfaction and in addition to this the feedback from both parents and children have been so positive. Flexibility of time has also been a huge factor and has helped me to have a better work life balance giving me the opportunity to spend more time with my wife Caroline and 2 boys Robert 14 and Nicholas 10 (All football mad!) giving them an opportunity to have an interest in something that they can be a part of. On reflection I now feel fortunate to be part of such a positive and well run franchise business which is something quite different to the hard business world I worked in before. This has naturally made me think why didn’t I do something like this years ago. But as the saying goes ‘Better Late Than Never!!’ Phillip Hutton - Little Kickers York & Leeds 
Whether you want a change from your current role, or are just leaving college and about to enter the job market, or are a Mum wanting to return to work after a career break, a Little Kickers franchise can offer you a career with excellent flexibility and rewards, and the opportunity to really make a difference to young children's lives.
We suspect many of you are at an age when you’ve realised that your current career isn’t perhaps all it was cracked up to be. Tetchy bosses, long hours, mundane routine or a lop-sided work life balance are no substitutes for more quality time with family and friends.
In a nutshell what we offer is a fresh start, a challenging and rewarding career, where you manage and control your own business.
The team at Little Kickers Head Office view your success as their mission and the company has invested heavily in creating a world-class infrastructure to help support your new business. This, coupled with the personal support they offer, means that the Little Kickers Franchise Programme is the most successful of its kind.
We realise that taking the leap into self-emploment is a daunting one, even for the most fearless amongst us, so Little Kickers have had our documentation and procedures reviewed by the British Franchise Association (BFA), and have been granted Full Membership. We are also members of the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) and Franchise Council of Australia (FCA). The fact that Little Kickers have twice reached the finals of the prestigious British Franchise Association / HSBC "Franchisor of the Year" Awards, is further testament to the quality of our programme. Most recently, Little Kickers beat off stiff competition to reach the finals in the "Best Franchisee Support" category - the winner is due to be announced on June 16th 2011. We feel that this recognition from the UK's franchise governing body provides prospective franchisees with further reassurance that we're an ethical, established business and have an excellent reputation within our industry.
May 2011 - Newsflash
Little Kickers are delighted to have beaten off tough competition to make it through to the finals of the “Franchisor of the Year Awards 2011” which are being run by the British Franchise Association (bfa) in conjunction with HSBC and Express Newspapers.
Little Kickers was recently featured on the popular daytime program BBC Working Lunch. Karen Rumsey, our franchisee in Amersham talks to BBC Working Lunch about having a Little Kickers franchise.
British Franchise Association Awards - Double Nomination for Little Kickers!
Little Kickers is an Associate Member of the British Franchise Association (BFA). The BFA is the body which governs franchising in the
Comments from existing Little Kickers Franchisees:
Things to consider when choosing a franchise
Experiences of Little Kickers® Franchisees
As recently published in Families North West Magazine:
"After our first meeting I was totally intrigued, the financial forecasts were sound and all my questions were fully answered – I was impressed."
A franchisee's story...
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