The great franchise rip-off
Yes, hark back if you will to the early days of the DEA/HI and the momentum we had towards the roll-out of HIPs.
Remember all those get-rich franchise schemes? Quite a few to choose from as I recall, but not many left right now are there?
Who sold regions, territories, areas with the promise of a nice stream of work if you paid up and bought-in to their, and hopefully for them, your, dream? Off the tip of the tongue I can think of Hipstar, Habitus and 1stForHips but then it seems rude to exclude panels that want DEA/HIs to pay for the privilege of joining them with no guarantee of work of course. So lets add Gas-Elec to the list then. And lastly what about all these websites popping up almost weekly now which encourage DEA/HIs to pay to have their names listed- and pay extra if you want top-billing etc.
Honestly, its just pathetic!
Hipstar- gone
Habitus- gone
Others- all over the place really!
Where to turn?
So if you are new to the industry and someone asks you to pay for something, and it looks even the slightest bit fishy, please do not part with your cash! Post the topic and your thoughts on the Home Inspector Forum and get the opinions from around the country of industry folk who have been around for a long time, and have come across almost all the rogue companies in one guise or another.
Fancy reading the sad story about one franchisee who has gone down to the tune of 14,000 pounds. Its not pretty but he was asking for legal advice here on the UK Business Forum.
Remember all those get-rich franchise schemes? Quite a few to choose from as I recall, but not many left right now are there?
Who sold regions, territories, areas with the promise of a nice stream of work if you paid up and bought-in to their, and hopefully for them, your, dream? Off the tip of the tongue I can think of Hipstar, Habitus and 1stForHips but then it seems rude to exclude panels that want DEA/HIs to pay for the privilege of joining them with no guarantee of work of course. So lets add Gas-Elec to the list then. And lastly what about all these websites popping up almost weekly now which encourage DEA/HIs to pay to have their names listed- and pay extra if you want top-billing etc.Honestly, its just pathetic!
Hipstar- gone
Habitus- gone
Others- all over the place really!
Where to turn?
So if you are new to the industry and someone asks you to pay for something, and it looks even the slightest bit fishy, please do not part with your cash! Post the topic and your thoughts on the Home Inspector Forum and get the opinions from around the country of industry folk who have been around for a long time, and have come across almost all the rogue companies in one guise or another.Fancy reading the sad story about one franchisee who has gone down to the tune of 14,000 pounds. Its not pretty but he was asking for legal advice here on the UK Business Forum.
Labels: The-great-franchise-rip-off Habitus-Hipstar-1stForHIPs
posted by Neil Kurz at
08:30
2 Comments:
Being a DEA myself, I have heard many terrible stories about the 'life-changing' franchise opportunities associated with Hipstar and 1stforHIPS. I was approached by 1stforhips within 2 weeks of becoming a full DEA. I strongly considered it as the future they were painting sounded so rosy. Guaranteed work and good fees, however, made me think twice about it... And thank goodness I did. It was about two months later that I came to have a conversation with a fellow DEA who unfortunately had indeed been blinded by the 1stforhips light. He had been doing a minimum of 2 jobs a day for just over a month when he received the call he had not seen coming. Held over a barrel, he was forced to choose between losing his initial investment or losing all the work. Realising his error, he stopped the work and lost all his original investment, around £3000 for a camera worth a fraction of that price and the right to work for peanuts. Since then, he has made it his personal vendetta to warn DEAs of the dangers of working with 1stforhips and so whenever I think about it, I also do my bit to help him out. After all, if we don't stick together then there really is no hope for the future.
Yes sadly there are many DEAs who are not from the property world and have not necessarily thought to carry out research about who they are dealing with. Driving instructor training schools, no lose injury claim lawyers and failed estate agents can all be found lurking like sharks waiting for DEAs to take the bait. Of course there are many with other existing businesses which they look to expand and exploit. 1stForHips have upset quite a number of DEAs with their aggressive tactics. They also have various other trading names and run other internet property businesses- always sensible to "do your research".
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