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A Coffee Franchise by the Numbers

Guest post by: John Henning

Article Overview: Franchises often make expensive partnerships though many people find them far less expensive than building a brand new business venture. There are still plenty of expenses that go into building a franchise that are often overlooked until too late. Before you even consider buying into a coffee franchise you need to sit back and take stock of your overall financial situation. Business is risky, even going the lower risk route of purchasing a franchise there is no small degree of risk involved that you will lose your investment and perhaps any collateral you had invested in your business venture.

A Coffee Franchise by the Numbers

Franchises often make expensive partnerships though many people find them far less expensive than building a brand new business venture. There are still plenty of expenses that go into building a franchise that are often overlooked until too late. Before you even consider buying into a coffee franchise you need to sit back and take stock of your overall financial situation. Business is risky, even going the lower risk route of purchasing a franchise there is no small degree of risk involved that you will lose your investment and perhaps any collateral you had invested in your business venture. How much cash do you have available to invest in your coffee franchise? Most franchises will require a personal commitment of finances even if you can arrange for a good portion of the costs through financing. The reason for this is that most people are going to work twice as hard when their own money is on the line to make the business a success. It is a sound business move on their behalf and one of the reasons that they are able to become franchises and maintain a solid reputation for quality goods and services.

What is your net worth? There are quite a few bigger named franchises that require you to have a certain amount of net worth before they will even discuss an investment opportunity with you. There are various reasons for this and each company has its own reasons. The bottom line is that you should expect to be asked for your total net worth and prepared to divulge that information when applying for franchise partnerships.

What are you willing to use as collateral in order to secure any business loans you may need? This is an important question to ask yourself. It is best; if at all possible, not to risk your personal home or your family's security (IRAs and 401Ks) to secure the funds needed to buy into a franchise business. That isn't always possible however and extreme caution is urged when doing so. It is best to go into this with your eyes opened to the risk rather than wearing rose colored glasses. You run the risk of losing whatever you use to secure the funds for your business. Are you willing to accept that risk? Is your family?

What money are you going to live on while building your business? It takes a little time to build a steady profit that will provide a sustainable income. Do you have enough money set aside to pull you through the lean months while you are building your business or do you have some other methods of earning income during that important time for your business?

Finances are surprisingly the most overlooked aspect of building a business such as a coffee franchise and one of the most important and necessary for doing so. You need to plan to support your family while you are building your business in addition to having the money that will be needed to start your business in the first place. It takes money to run a business and this is more true in the first few years of your business than at any other time.

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Article Tags: Franchise



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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.
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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.


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