On the road to Independence or ... the dead end!

[Frizzle]

I currently work in a real estate office that works under the coverage of a well recognised logo. My Boss is considering cutting ties for himself and the office and taking the path along a more independent track. Mainly to save some of the "funds" outlayed annually.
I would be most interested to hear from any SSers who may have been through similar experiences, either as the employee or employer, to hear whether such a move works out to be a positive or negative experience.
The regional town in which we are located has four other real estate agencies. 2 are well known "names", 2 are 'locally' owned.

I have looked for SS threads on this subject and haven't been successful. If there are some, I really would like to read them as well... if someone could point me in the right direction.

Frizzle.

 

[depreciator]

Depends entirely on the boss, I reckon.

If he is well known and respected local, he can leverage off his own name.

Otherwise, leveraging off a brand is probably the way to go.

 

[Propertunity]

Depends entirely on the boss, I reckon.

If he is well known and respected local, he can leverage off his own name.

Otherwise, leveraging off a brand is probably the way to go.

^ ^ what he said.

Everytime (and I mean everytime) there is a downturn in the market, you see agencies try to cut costs - and the franchise fees are an obvious first place to start.

If you ask any employee who moves from a big name brand to an unbranded independant, they'll all tell you the same - that their listing enquiry rates goe WAY down afterwards. If they have the listings they will sell things but without them, they die.

 

[lizzie]

I've seen it with an agent I did some work with.

Lovely person - big town but she wasn't a "personality" - worked her butt off and ended up folding.

 

[Crabnet]

An agent I recently used did a similar thing by going independent. I don't know if it's working out for them but did notice that a new branch of the Franchise that they left opened up a new office nearby to their premises.