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A franchise that helps drive success

Sarah Stowe

Inside Franchise Business: The Alternative Board is on a growth trajectoryWhich emerging franchise is turning the heat up with its expansion plans?

It’s not a household name, and as a business services concept it’s quite new in Australia but The Alternative Board plans to double its franchise footprint this year.

Doug Downer heads up the Aussie network which one year ago had a single franchise – today there are six franchisees and he has a goal of 10 franchises operating by the end of 2017.

Three of the new franchisees were already running their own business coaching firms but, Downer says they chose to convert to a franchise model.

“They found they weren’t getting traction or any intellectual property doing it themselves. Buying a business is about equity building, this is something they can leverage and scale.”

A franchisee with two income streams is better placed to ride the highs and lows of business than an independent operator focused on one niche offer, says Downer.

The Alternative Board (TAB) began in the US in 1990 helping business owners achieve success through business advisory boards – it continues to offer this service and has added business coaching services for small and mid-sized business owners.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were more than 2.17 million actively trading businesses in Australia in June 2016, up 2.4 per cent from June 2015, primarily driven by growth in small businesses (those with fewer than 20 employees).

And the market has more potential with one in six Australians who are not currently self-employed wanting to run their own business, according to NAB.

  • Interested in a business services franchise model? Find out more about TAB.
  • TAB will be at the Sydney Franchising & Opportunities Expo on 25 and 26 March.