Suzie McCafferty is the founder of Platinum Wave, an Edinburgh-based consultancy that helps businesses achieve growth through franchising. The company has a team of 11 people operating throughout the UK and clients around the world.

What is it exactly that you do?

We are the UK’s largest independent franchise consultancy offering a a range of services.

We work with entrepreneurs in every sector to franchise their proven business models, and help them recruit the best franchisees nationally and internationally. We also offer comprehensive mentoring and coaching packages to help these networks achieve maximum performance.

We even help them recruit experienced franchise professionals for their support and operations teams. To be honest, after 25 years in the industry, there isn’t much we can’t now help our clients with.

Who are your clients?

Not every business can be franchised, and not all of the ones that can, should be. We take business owners through a rigorous process to help them establish their likely success in franchising before they get too invested financially. We’re proud of our willingness to tell people that franchising might not be right for them.

Done right, though, franchising done right can be amazing. We have helped brands achieve phenomenal results from all sorts of industries including food and beverage, children’s activities, professional services, sport and fitness, and education. No two days are the same when you have clients ranging from global giants like Wendy’s and Ben & Jerry’s, through to theatre schools and psychology clinics. 

What is your company's turnover? 

High six figures. Ask me again next year – we’re planning to break a million.

Why did you take the plunge? 

I didn’t so much take the plunge - it was more like I was plunged into franchising before I knew what was happening.

My first business was a refillable printer cartridge shop in Edinburgh, which became so popular I was able to grow it to more than 70 franchised locations across six countries from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Before I discovered franchising, I would never have believed that kind of growth was possible.

After exiting the cartridge business, I became the franchise director and board member of a £30 million turnover recruitment franchise, Select Appointments. I then set up Platinum Wave in 2008 to help other aspiring franchisors learn from all the experience I was gathering.

In recent years, I have been on the boards of some of the UK’s leading franchise brands, including Premier Education Group and Right at Home. I am also a consultant to Scottish franchise legends HERO Brands, owners of several international franchises including German Doner Kebab and SIDES. 

What do you least enjoy about your work?

I least enjoy doing the things I’m least good at! The joy of building up a business is having brilliant people around you who each have skills that I don’t have, so there’s no need for me to be doing anything I’m not good at.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

Time flies by. It seems like only a minute ago we were the young guns of the franchise industry trying to shake things up and make our mark, yet now here we are setting the standard internationally for what a franchise consultancy can and should be. 

I want Platinum Wave to keep growing and never lose that desire to be number one. For me personally, my ambition is to keep doing more and more to help new people into the industry, whether that’s people launching franchises, buying franchises, or working in franchises.

I’ve talked at schools and colleges and I want to do more of that. Did you know that some business courses don’t even mention franchising? I also want to see more women excelling in franchising. I am the Scottish Chair of Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF), and we do a lot of great awareness work.

What would help you achieve these ambitions?

Greater education and awareness. According to the latest data, franchising contributes £19.1 billion annually to the UK economy and 50,421 franchised units in the UK employ 770,000 people, and yet people still don’t generally know much about it beyond burgers and pizza.

Starting your own business can be terrifying and the risk of failure is high, but with franchising you get a proven business model that comes with full training and ongoing support – you get to be in business for yourself, not by yourself. 

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned?

Successful businesses are all about people. I learned this when I was studying hospitality and tourism at Queen Margaret University and waitressing at the Glencorse Golf Club outside Penicuik.

My boss was the chef, John Rae. He was a great manager who built a team around shared values and respect and made everyone feel good about themselves. I loved that culture and I learned a huge amount from it.

Where do you find yourself most at ease?

Around my people, of course! I’m perfectly at ease by myself, but I’d rather be with family, friends and colleagues. From a business point of view, I’m really happy planning scenarios – picturing the outcomes I want and then working to achieve them.

If you weren’t in your current role, what job would you most fancy?

I am genuinely in my dream role, so if I couldn’t do it, I would want to put my efforts into something really worthwhile like running a charity, or maybe full-time mentoring.

What phrase or quotation has inspired you the most?

John Rae’s mantra - it’s all about people!

What is the best book you have ever read? Why is it the best?

Who Moved My Cheese? It’s about why, if you keep doing the same thing, you keep getting the same results, so embrace change. I like to reread it every now and then as it acts like a little tap on the shoulder that says, "Go on, why not think a little bigger?".

What has been your most challenging moment in life or business?

Like everyone, I’ve had some horrible things happen to the people I care about the most in the world, particularly with illness. I can’t fix that, so I go around fixing whatever else I can.

Keeping a business running through the pandemic? That was a heck of a challenge, but I conquered that with hard work and determination. Other things you can’t.

What do you now know that you wish you had known when starting out in your career?

Surround yourself with the right people and you can go further than you ever imagined.