(PRWEB) June 1, 2006 -- With a Master Franchise fee that is less than what many people pay for single unit franchises, Precision Badges’ Managing Director Lance Goodman expects a rapid take-up of these Master Franchises.

This is an opportunity for smaller investors to join the big league. The size of Master Franchise licence areas will vary. In some countries, one Master Franchisee will administer the entire country. In others there will be several regional Master Franchisees due to the very large number of potential Unit Franchises in those countries. In every case the company has taken pains to ensure that the area will be viable and can yield a high return on investment.

Years of research have gone into the preparation for this worldwide expansion. Precision Badges began operation in 1987 as a home business located on a farm 120km (72miles) from Sydney Australia. The unusual marketing system proved an immediate success, even from such a long distance away, rapidly gaining a big market share in Sydney. The company is still family-owned.

Growth in other states was so strong, that to maintain momentum, franchises were put in place, firstly in Victoria in 1992, then NSW in 1993. These were followed one by one until successful franchises were operating Australia-wide.

In 1999, the system was seamlessly transferred to New Zealand with the sale of two franchises there. Many people do not appreciate that New Zealand culture, while similar to Australia’s, has stronger ties to the United Kingdom, and is not a clone of Australia. With no previous presence in New Zealand, the franchisees quickly established market leadership; even to the extent that one major competitor now buys their entire badge supplies from Precision Badges.

Master Franchisees do not have any inventory to worry about because close to 100% of items sold are made to order. Another great benefit of this franchise system is that there is no manufacturing required. Instead, with massive buying power, Precision’s franchisees import goods at unbeatable prices and make excellent profit margins. In the first two years problems with suppliers were disastrous because the manufacturing section of this industry has always had a casual attitude towards quality control and delivery times.

Lance Goodman says that long-term relationships with a number of suppliers (including back-up ones) have led to Precision’s standards being strictly adhered to by those suppliers in relation to both quality and delivery times. A bonus for franchisees is that Precision Badges have such a good reputation in Asia that suppliers allow franchisees to buy on monthly credit terms provided the company vouches for them. This is an otherwise unheard of privilege.

The whole system is designed to ensure maximum return for minimum labour. The procedures are so well established that the very thorough training scheme for unit franchisees takes only 5 full days. The training includes on-the job attention to real orders for the new franchisee flowing in from the very first day. This is a result of the marketing campaign provided to launch each new franchise.

Many businesses, including some franchise groups, supply lapel badges as a sideline to their wider promotional products range. Precision Badges do not view such companies as competitors because as a general rule they know very little about the products and are unable to buy at competitive prices. In fact, many of them become customers of Precision Badges through their reseller program. Precision Badges call their policy of working in a relatively narrow product range: “The Power of Specialisation.”

Mindful of the need for confidence in the way the system is administered, the company subscribes without reservation to the European code of ethics for franchising and the extension and interpretation of that code as published by the British Franchise Association.

Information of areas available and franchise fees may be found on the company’s franchising website www.master-franchise.biz