Tweet

How To Find The Best Franchise Opportunity Right For You

Written by: Candice Clem

Article Overview: Starting a new franchise can be a scary prospect in and of itself, but the rewards will ultimately outweigh the risks. Here's a look at the best find to find the best franchise opportunity for you because the hardest part about starting your new franchise shouldn't be picking it out.

How To Find The Best Franchise Opportunity Right For You

Online cookbooks are one of my favorite ancillary benefits of today’s current technology. I’ve never been great in the kitchen, but once I found that I could find step-by-step instructions for making all kinds of food, I no longer had to worry about my own pitiful culinary sense, because someone had already done the hard work for me, and all I had to do was follow their lead. If everything in life were like that, this would be such an easier place to live, unfortunately, not everything in life is so easy. And though I’m sorry to say it, one of the most dauntingly non-recipe things in life is career: no one can tell you exactly what career is right for you and what steps you’ll have to go through to get there. And franchise opportunities aren’t any different; there are so many variables to every individual person that no one is capable of detailing the best experience for everyone beforehand. What I can offer, however, are some tips for helping you figure it out for yourself.

One of the most important things to take into consideration when piecing together your personal franchise plan is who you are. And because a full analysis of that will take us each a lifetime, let’s start broad. Aside from gender, one of the broadest personality classifications is the difference between introvert and extrovert, the first being people who are fueled by being with others, and the second being those of us who are energized by being alone. What you naturally are will help determine exactly what kind of business opportunity you should be looking for.

For example, knowing where you get your energy will help determine whether a home-based business or a franchise with a public storefront and a host of other employees will be a better environment for you. The difference, in this way, between a HomeVestors work-at-home operation and a Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees & Smoothies shop is huge. At the one, you will spend hours upon hours by yourself, in your home, making phone calls, studying housing market trends, shopping for real-estate, posting advertisements, and potentially not seeing another human being for days on end, which, for some of us, sounds like the ultimate vacation. At the other business, every day will be out of the house, dealing with a handful of employees in close proximity and line after line of guests looking for a tasty treat and personal service. If you’re like most people, one of these prospects will be very appealing and the other may sound like a nightmare.

Let’s try another angle: the difference between hands-on work with the public and the administration of people who do that frontline work. A franchisee with 1-800-905-GEEK has a completely different business role than an owner of a One Hour Parties small business, mainly because the 1-800-905-GEEK owner is primarily responsible for maintaining operations and receiving calls from clients, whom his employees then go out to help. In contrast, the One Hour Parties owner is actually the person at the client’s office, arranging the event and schmoozing with partygoers. Both are serving the public and corporate world, but their positions in doing so are utterly different, requiring two separate kinds of people for optimum success.

There’s one more way to look at this to help pick out whether you’re suited for a more introvert- or extrovert-ready business opportunity. Are you a bigger fan of people or projects? A Snap-On Tools franchisee is responsible for one thing: selling tools, which requires a high degree of interpersonal contact and an outgoing spirit, generally traits of an extrovert. Not that introverts are naturally mean or unlikable, quite the contrary, but after hours and days of sales, some get worn down. In contrast to this business model, whose success is built on personal interaction, the model of a franchise like Sure Step involves communication with the client, but the majority of the actual work revolves around physical labor. Some franchisees would much rather work on getting a task done than working directly with clients all day. What about you?

In the end, most of us are neither wholly introvert nor wholly extrovert, and the franchise business right you, whether work-from-home, project-based, or otherwise, is going to reflect a very specific combination of human relations and independence natural to your personality. Sit and spend some time thinking all these options through and then investigate in detail the franchises that sound best for you.

Related Articles
  Why Use a Franchise Consultant?
  How to find the best franchise opportunity for you!
  Finding a Franchise Online
  Internet Marketing in 2008
  Franchises Versus Licensed Business Opportunities

Article Tags: ancillary benefits, business opportunity, culinary sense, current technology, franchise opportunities, hawaiian coffees, home based business, housing market, important things, introvert and extrovert, kinds of food, lifetime, market trends, maui wowi hawaiian, online cookbooks, personality, smoothies, storefront, variables



Related Forum Posts
Fed rate cuts . . . - So just what do the newest Fed rate cuts mean to Franchise and Business Opportunity investing? Is it immediately felt? What timeframe do you think, or rather, where are we in terms of new vs. existing business investment? A similar question can be composed for the economic stimulus checks - will they a have any effect if consumers spend a little $$
Re: Enticing Franchises - Top 9 List - All Franchise listed above are in millions of dollars. Do you have the list of Franchise in thousands
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
how much for a franchise fee? - Dear Colleague There is no easy answer to this question. Things to consider: [list=] The sizeof the Franchise Clent base Expected Turnover Intellectual Property costs (recoup) Number of Franchises Number of employees Original Set up costs Franchise admin costs An example: A franchise that I was involved in setting was to a simple "lawn mowing/home repair" franchise. The Franchise included national/local advertising - preparation of client lists - general admin - central accounting etc The Franchise involved 300-500 clients - and an annual turnover of about $300,000 . The annual franchise fee was $30,000. Hope that this gives you some idea Take care Ian[/list]
Re: Franchise Surveys - Another good tool to researching a franchise is to speak with their existing franchisees. This contact information is included in most Franchise Disclosure Documents. In order to get a Franchise Disclosure Document or FDD as it is often referred to, you will have to complete a basic franchise application. The franchisor will then usually provide you with the FDD at that time. Included in that book of information is a list of the existing franchisees, the contract, the investment information etc... This information is required by Federal Law to be disclosed to your prior to making a purchase. So be sure to do your research and start with the Franchise Documents to get the initial information.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What is Discretionary Cash Flow

Igniting Your Unstoppable Business Destiny

Leader's Success Secret: Celebration

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.