Frequently Asked Questions

Venture sits in a unique position within the portrait market, with no other brand of it’s size or quality of customer service and product to compete against. The competitor market is largely independent studios within the territory.

We are looking for individuals with excellent customer service, interpersonal and leadership skills. Our franchisees need to demonstrate that they lead from the front and work to the successful Venture business model. Adhering to the our framework ensures the highest chance of success. Our most successful Venture franchisees are typically owner-operators immersing themselves within the day to day running of the business for at least the first three years.

The initial franchise fee is £20,000 (ex VAT) with a monthly fee thereafter of 7.5% of sales and 2.5% marketing contribution.

The fee includes bespoke support in opening your studio, ensuring the process is as simple as possible. We will assist you in finding the correct location for your studio and all aspects of staff recruitment and training, field sales and a business and marketing plan, as well as legal and financial matters such as property lease and a FCA license. We are heavily invested in your success from day one and work closely to support you in ensuring you have everything you need to follow and deliver our proven franchise model. All of this activity is supported by an online operations manual.

Approximately £120,000

Prospective franchisees are being advised to have a minimum of £35,000 liquid cash available. Venture has strong relationships with the leading banks to help you secure competitive funding for your new Venture Studio.

We have the following territories available for phase one of our regional rollout.

• Belfast
• Brighton
• Cambridge
• Chester
• Dublin
• Exeter
• Maidstone *UNDER OFFER*
• Newcastle
• Nottingham *UNDER OFFER*
• Oxford
• Sheffield *UNDER OFFER*
• Swansea
• Watford

If you are interested in a territory that isn’t listed, please contact us to discuss.

A Venture Franchise Agreement last 5 years, usually running alongside the duration of the property lease

Yes, Venture encourage on prospective franchisees meeting with existing studio owners. We feel this is important so you can ask any questions and see how an existing franchise is run.

No, Venture has many successful ‘non photographer’ franchisees, we support all our franchisees with training, development and documents that can give you the desired level of knowledge and skills of the Venture photographic process. We invite all new franchisees to go through the Core Skills training program, alongside new members of staff. All Venture franchise services staff and directors are available to answer questions and support any skill gaps that you might have. Recruiting and training a strong team, who are continuously developed with head office training programs is essential to a successful studio.

We can fully assist in the recruitment of your new team, including where to advertise, managing candidates, the interviewing process, issuing contracts and new starter training programs. We will work with you on the process giving you the training and confidence for the future needs of the business.

The Venture team will support a new franchisee through the entire set up process to the point of opening the doors for the first time. From finding a suitable studio location, all legal and financial matters through to staff recruitment and training, building a marketing strategy and completing a business plan, we are here to support you. Our photographic training is the best in the business ensuring your photography team are at the forefront of the best family portraits on the high street.

As the leading Family Photography Studio brand in the UK, broadly speaking our ideal client is middle class young families, with the female usually making the decision to purchase. The life span of a customer begins when pregnant and follows the family journey through newborn, toddler, children and teenagers, including the grandparents and family pets. We cover all our customer profiles when onboarding the franchisee.

We have a dedicated team who will support with marketing to get you open successfully and to also create campaigns to assist in ongoing marketing strategies for business development. Our central marketing team are focused on creating leads for franchisees and you will be trained on the way to convert these into revenue at studio level. The team run campaigns throughout the year and share content, best practice and support for both national and local initiatives. All artwork needs to be on brand and you have access to a graphic designer for any support needed. Training sessions and webinars on different marketing aspects to upskill your team are also available.

A normal working week is required, but as an owner / operator business you need to flex to the needs of your business.

Arrange an initial meeting with our team. We can go through all the opportunities of running a Venture studio and understand more about you, your hopes and desires as a franchisee.