A Perspective on The Tax Shop Franchise Value

Nico Viljoen

Written by Nico Viljoen, Executive Director, The Tax Shop Franchise Group

The term ‘brand’ originally derives from traditional farming practices, where farmers used branding irons to mark their animals, so that they knew which animal belonged to which farm.

The term was later adopted by producers of consumer goods to distinguish their product from others that were similar.  ‘Coca Cola’, and ‘Pepsi’ are obvious 20th century examples of this.  A brand became the name which told the client or consumer the source of a service or product.

In today’s world of sophisticated marketing communications, the brand concept has become more complex.  The term ‘brand’ no longer only refers to the name of a service or product, it extends to a company’s whole offering – ‘the intangible sum of a service’s or product’s attributes’ as David Ogilvy put it.  The Tax Shop Franchise is a strong brand that provides value to the organisation well beyond its tangible worth.

But, what is The Tax Shop Franchise brand value?  
Brand value refers to the financial value of a brand.  It results from many factors of which brand equity (responses based on recognition, associations and judgements of the brand made by the consumer) is just one of these.  The Tax Shop Franchise brand value can be considered in a variety of ways: the cost to The Tax Shop franchisee of replacing the The Tax Shop brand with an equivalent one; the price which other firms have paid for similar brands; and the impact which The Tax Shop brand has on future earnings for The Tax Shop franchisee.

Now what constitutes The Tax Shop Franchise brand?
It is The Tax Shop Franchise business’ intangible assets, like trade marks (logo’s), reputation, recognition, system and other forms of intellectual property (IP), and it is these assets that need protection if The Tax Shop Franchise is to thrive.  The Tax Shop Franchise brand protection doesn’t stop at trade marks.  There are other forms of intellectual property protection that matter as well, such as copyright, database rights, design rights and confidentiality of information.

The Tax Shop Franchise protects confidential information, including know-how and trade secrets which are a key part of The Tax Shop Franchise business model through legally sound confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.  The Tax Shop Franchise operating procedures, our website, various other systems and strategic associations are immensely valuable assets to The Tax Shop Franchise business, and robust procedures are in place to protect it.

Takeaway: Franchise value does not refer to the traditional franchise business model, but instead is used to describe a company or brand that has such superior popularity - it has extraordinary ‘mindshare’ among clients or consumers; that, all else equal, it is the one brand associated with a service or product they are going to reach for on the ‘shelf’.

Buying a franchise, and particularly The Tax Shop Franchise, works best for individuals who work well in a team environment and who will benefit from access to a community of professionals with sound business and industry background.  Before finalizing your decision about buying into a franchise operation, include your family in the deliberations, because being the franchise owner takes a lot more time and energy than you might think, and your family will be affected the most by your choice.

For more information about The Tax Shop Franchise, click here.