Venture Studios franchise

Min investment
£35,000

Outlets
21

Venture Studios franchise

Transforming stunning images into bespoke art

Venture Studios is the UK’s leading portrait photographers and offers a proven franchise model for driven individuals with a desire to run their own business, regardless of their background.

Minimum investment
£35,000

Funding support
Yes

Total investment
£70,000

Franchise fees
N/A

Business type
Franchise

Expected revenue after 2 years
£444,000

  • Operating fee:
    N/A
  • Advertising fee:
    N/A
  • Royalty fee:
    N/A
  • Average floor space:
    N/A

Minimum investment
£35,000

Outlets
21

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About Venture Studios
Franchise

Stunning Images Becomes Bespoke Art

Why choose Venture Studios?

Do you want to join an exciting creative business, offering consumers a personal and bespoke experience, resulting in happy customers and generating excellent earning potential?

Venture Studios is the UK’s leading portrait photographers and offers a proven franchise model for driven individuals with a desire to run their own business, regardless of their background.

How much can I earn?

As a Venture Studios franchisee, you will have the opportunity to make an average annual turnover of £440,000. The Venture model is designed to generate earnings for our franchisees of 10 -15% of turnover, in addition to a salary of approximately £25,000. In fact, our top performing UK studios generate sales over £700,000

Consequently, the earning potential of a Venture Studio is comparable with many much larger franchises on the market, However, with start-up costs starting at just £70,000, (compared to three times this number for other franchise opportunities) the potential return on investment with Venture studios is exceptional.

How do we compare?

According to the BFA 2018 survey, the average turnover of franchises providing personal services was £344,000. However, the Venture model significantly outperforms this sector, with Venture franchisees in the UK achieving an average of £440,000. Your earning potential is supported by our cost-effective franchise fee. With a combined franchise and marketing fee of only 7.5.%.

Proven Success

Venture has operated its franchise model for the last 20 years, and in this time has established itself as the premium market leader in the photography market. It is the only nationally recognised brand in its sector, making it truly distinct as a franchise concept. It dominates the space that it occupies in the market and supports studios from day one. With an exceptional training programme, we have taken a non-photographer to a franchise turnover of £500,000 within their first year of trading. 

Worldwide Brand

Venture now operates its franchise model across three continents, with 16 studios in the UK, as well as studios in Asia and the USA. We pride ourselves on a tried and tested business model, which combines:

  • world-class customer service,
  • market-leading standards of photography,
  • effective routes to market to generate customers,
  • unique and contemporary range of products.

 

 

Training and support provided

Venture has been training franchisees on the implementation of the Venture model, regardless of their background, for the last 20 years. Training predominantly falls into two areas, the output of which is to deliver a high average order value and the required customer volume:

Photography:

Trainees complete a predefined course, divided into “Core Skills” and “Advanced Skills”, the objective is to give photographers the knowledge and skills to create the standard of photography that is synonymous with the Venture brand, whilst delivering an amazing customer experience.
Venture’s photography training is accredited by the BIPP (British Institute of Professional Photography) – meaning that those photographers completing Venture training automatically receive BIPP qualifications.

Commercial and Sales:

New franchisees complete a mixture of classroom and studio placement training. The objective of which is for them to be able to manage each part of studio operations and ultimately deliver the required customer volume for the studio. Training courses are also available for all studio roles once staff are in place.

Venture Studios is a full member of the BFA (British Franchise Association) meaning that the Venture model and training is endorsed by the regulatory body for the UK franchise sector. Venture is a previous winner of the BFA’s franchisee of the year award.

The ideal Venture Studios franchisee

Is it for me?

Our current network of franchisees is from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, and whilst you don’t need specific photographic or studio experience, it’s important that you have the ability, passion and determination needed to lead your business and your team from the front.

Regardless of background, our application and approval process will make sure that anyone who becomes one of our franchisees possesses the qualities and skills that will give them every opportunity to succeed.

What we look for in a potential franchisee:

  • A customer focused individual
  • A hands-on approach to marketing
  • A leader
  • A basic grasp of financials
  • Someone with discipline

 

Venture Studios' history

The beginning

Founded in 2000, Venture Studios has become the UK’s leading family portrait photographer. The Venture team is passionate about the photography business and each member works together to create a service that is second to none. It produces unique and beautiful products which can be handed down from generation to generation.
Our tried and tested business model combines first class customer service, effective routes to generate customers, world class photography, and a marketing support service, the result of which makes Venture unique in the portrait photography market.

Venture is proud that all its products are British made by one of the country’s foremost printers and framers, Premier Image. Premier Image has a high-tech laboratory facility in Cheshire which combines traditional printing methods with state-of-the-art technology.
All products are hand-made and go through intense testing to guarantee that you receive the quality that Venture and Premier Image have become renowned for.
Venture…

  • Has studios in the UK, USA and Hong Kong
  • Produces an average order value per customer of £700
  • Has photographed over half a million families
  • Has created over 2.5 million pieces of framed art
  • Has previously been awarded Superbrand status
  • Are full members of the British Franchise Association
  • Have been recognized as Franchise of the Year by the British Franchise Association
  • Are accredited by the British Institute of Professional Photography

 

Case studies

VENTURE MIDLANDS

Chris Barber, who is the franchisee in Leamington Spa, opened a second studio on the outskirts of Birmingham city centre in June 2017, and added a third to his portfolio opening in Leicester in February 2019.


Having traded in Leamington for nearly 10 years, Chris saw the opportunity of opening a second studio adjacent to his Leamington Spa territory.

“2016 and 2015 had been good years in Venture Leamington Spa and I wanted to expand the business, and it seemed the right time to look at a second studio and Birmingham made sense both from a location perspective and the size of the potential market. With the experience that I had gained from running a Venture studio, working hard and following the model I knew the financial returns from Leamington could be replicated in a second studio.

The franchise fee that I pay to Venture Studios is more than covered by the number of customer appointments that I receive through their central marketing function and the resultant sales, so I have always taken the view that the rest of the services and support that I receive from the franchise basically costs me nothing.

Obviously opening a second studio whilst running a current business was hard work, but one of the reasons that I took this decision was that my team in Leamington Spa are extremely experienced.

We did a lot of work with Venture’s support on the initial marketing of the Birmingham studio, and have run a number of successful digital customer acquisition strategies with the Venture marketing team.”

In its first full year in 2018, the Birmingham studio exceeded its business plan target achieving sales of £500K.
With both Leamington Spa and Birmingham producing strong financial results, Chris took the decision to open a third studio in Leicester.

“I wanted to use the experience of opening Birmingham, and open another studio in the Midlands that would benefit from the marketing that we were already doing in the area. Again, like Birmingham the Leicester territory was a fairly obvious choice”.