How To Find The Best Small Business Opportunity For You

There are many reasons that someone initially decides that it’s time to begin a small business or purchase a franchise. It can be very financially freeing to have additional income on the side, for some the desire to work at home and escape a commute or a cubicle is the driving force behind the decision to begin something new. Whether it’s a way to invest funds into a safe and profitable sector, or simply a passion for a service or product that the new business opportunity will provide one of the most important things in preparing to start a new franchise business is understanding what options are available and which options have the largest potential for success. There are many different kinds of small business opportunities and franchises for sale, but those options can be narrowed down considerably by asking two critical questions that help determine what type of small business opportunity is the right fit.

#1 What is the financial commitment to the franchise, liquid capital, total investment, and overhead cost?

Knowing what costs a small business is going to encounter is the biggest part of researching a franchise opportunity and the most important thing to figure out before any decisions are actually made about beginning a franchise business. Most providers, contractors, employees are going to need payment immediately or in advance for their services, while income from a new franchise or small business can be slow and in most cases will take at least 30-90 days to see any cash flow actually come out of a new business. With this in mind, the total amount of liquid capital available to a new franchise owner must be calculated carefully and understood so that the level of investment and commitment matches the financial requirements to make the franchise a success. For example if a franchise owner has a total liquid capital to invest in a new franchise business of $50,000, there needs to be a careful examination of what the costs will be of purchasing a “low-cost” franchise.

A Liberty Weight Loss franchise may appeal to the investor and advertises that their franchise requires a liquid capital of $46,000-$100,000. And while it’s true that the franchise can be run starting as low as $46,509, an investor with only $50,000 to spend on their investment will encounter extreme stress and an inability to purchase and provide marketing, promotional materials, discounts, and even basic equipment needed to make running their own franchise comfortable and successful. It’s much wiser to not shoot for the limit, but rather to find a franchise that is closer to the low to mid range of liquid capital available and use the additional finances available to insure success and satisfaction to all those involved in the initial phases of beginning a franchise. Something such as CompuChild which is a franchise that teaches basic computer skills and typing in a classroom format to children requires a liquid capital of $20,000, which leaves the investor with plenty of extra capital to use to pay contractors, suppliers, and market their business without needing to see revenue first in order to promote and maintain the new business.

#2 What is the skill set, type of franchise, service, or product that the franchise owner is capable to provide and competent to lead?

The second most critical thing that needs to be answered about a franchise is what type of franchise will it be. Because a DVDNow kiosk franchise fits the right price; range for an investor does not necessarily mean that DVDNow franchises are the perfect fit. There may not be a passion for the video rental business, there may not be a desire to service machines, or a desire to be in a relational business might not be met in a kiosk service style franchise business. It’s important to know that within every price range for investors there are multiple franchise opportunities and the most successful franchises are those that are run by businessmen and women who understand the product or service that they are providing and are passionate about that franchise. Even with a more specific desire for a franchise like being able to work at home, there are many franchise that are home based businesses. Working from home doesn’t mean the franchise is limited to internet based tech services, though there are many of those available. It can also be businesses such as Stay at Home, which is a business that is operated from a home and provides in home care and services for customers that are elderly or homebound. There are tutoring centers like Mathnasium, and community building franchises like Virtuoso music, which teaches music lessons in homes and coordinates community events, concerts, and recitals. All of these franchise opportunities are home based, and each one fills a different niche and requires different skills and passions to operate.

Knowing what the cost will be of a franchise, and not just the advertised cost but the actually day to day operating costs will help narrow the choice to businesses that are affordable and likely to succeed within the financial limits of the investor. And combining that knowledge with the knowledge of what type of service or product the franchise owner is capable to deliver can help focus the choices even more to the type of franchise opportunity that will have greater and greater chances of being a successful business. Being able to work from home and run that small business well can provide all of the things that franchise owner’s dream of when deciding to start their own businesses. The chances of achieving that greatly increase when time and care is put into researching the franchise beforehand with the same passion and care that will eventually go into running that successful business.

How To Find The Best Small Business Opportunity For You - To learn more about this author, visit Candice Clem's Website.

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Anne Barr Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Leanne Hoagland-Smith Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Michiel Jonker As a Certified Information Systems Auditor, Michiel assists businesses in a professional capacity by evaluating the threats to their businesses. He acquired the necessary knowledge, skills, and techniques to minimize a business owner’s risk of business failure and to maximize his chances of high growth and success. He strongly believes that you CAN maximize your chances of business success, by implementing the business solution he has advocated for more than 12 years in your business plan and planning. Michiel has decided to share his experience with business owners by putting almost everything he knows in a business plan and survival guide (compiled in an e-book format) and written as a high growth SMB coaching course for SMB business owners, directors and managers - titled as the “Survival Kit for Small and Medium Businesses - Profit from your Business Risks!” According to Michiel, his goal was to add new techniques to a business owner’s business planning survival kit and instruct him or her in using these in the future - without any help from a consultant! For more information about the benefits of implementing profit protection planning in your business, please visit: http://www.business-around-the-globe.com - Visit Michiel Jonker's Website

John Alexander John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website

David Barr David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

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Kim Castle With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

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