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A franchise business is SMART business

Written by: Harish Babla

Article Overview: This article presents that the best way to go in to a business is through a franchise business.

A franchise business is SMART business

A Franchise Business is a smart business

A franchise business is the smart way to go into business and there are many studies that reflect the success rates in franchising versus having an independent business.

The franchisor has invested time, money and other resources to create a business model that has the greatest chance of success. All this intellectual capital and know-how is now offered to franchisees to create their own successful business in their communities.

You receive the benefit of the research that has been done, training is provided, supplier relationships are established at bulk pricing and on-going training and support will continue to be provided and above all, there is a recognized brand under which you operate.

Over the years, from a few short-sighted people I have heard 'but I have to pay all these fees'. Let me tell you, that is the best money you will spend provided you avail yourself of all the resources your franchise provides you.

To be handed a formula for operating a business that gives you the greatest chance of success, with a franchise team behind you that is interested in your success, any fees you pay is small compared to having the odds of business success tilted in your favor. This is not to suggest that just by joining a franchise you will be successful. As the adage, 'you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink', so to in franchising, you can be handed the perfect formula for operating a business, but you have to take responsibility for following the formula to the best of your ability.

When I had my American Wholesale Thermographers franchise and I was the largest franchisee world-wide, I would have people ask of the benefit of the franchise to me, after all the closest franchisee was about ½ my size in volume. There were several reasons for my loyalty to my franchise:

• 1) I had become a successful business owner because of what the franchise had taught me,
• 2) I had the benefit of listening to and being heard by the top minds in franchising, where else would you get such advice and guidance,
• 3) I had other franchisees, who understood the business and were available to help and guide me and
• 4) I enjoyed and valued all the benefits the franchise offered to me.

Earl Nightingale defines success as, "the pursuit of a worthy ideal." For me joining a franchise was the smartest decision I made for it gave me a worthy ideal to pursue. I hope you can find your success with a franchise business.

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  About 60% of all franchise opportunities have less than 50 units.

Article Tags: adage, american wholesale thermographers, business model, business owner, business success, franchise business, franchise team, franchisee, franchisees, franchisor, horse to water, independent business, intellectual capital, loyalty, odds, smart business, success rates, successful business, supplier relationships, time money



Related Forum Posts
What are the reasons why you would NOT buy a franchise? - Even though I'm a strong believer that franchising as a great business model, I would personally not buy a franchise. My main reason for not buying a franchise is that you're not your own boss. You take all the risks without really being in control of your business. To me that's the biggest drawback. What about you? What are the reasons why you would NOT buy a franchise?
NEED SOME CLARIFICATIONS - My mother and I own a fantastic birthday party business. We have always thought it would be a good franchise for anyone wanting to work out of the home. How would we get our business to franchise? The parties include a costumed character, a birthday card art project, interactive story times, and themed games. We are based in Buffalo, NY . It is very successful here, and we want to get it out to the world, while making a couple bucks. How do we franchise this?
It's not easy - Evan, It's not easy to franchise a business! Franchising requires a strong business model, significant capital resources, and very talented people to be successful. There are over 3000 franchise opportunities out there, most (80%) don't have the three criteria I listed above. The biggest benefit to using franchising to grow your business is that you bring in someone else's capital and human resource. What you are giving up is control in operating that business. I have seen successful companies get in trouble attempting to franchise their business, franchising requires a different skill set than simply operating units. Growth would have been much easier if they had just opened their own units and sought grown from within.
Re: What is the Best Franchise? - As a franchise owner the things that I look for in a prospective franchise is: 1- A proven track record. Too many franchises try and branch out long before they have perfected their product, don't become a guinea pig for them to figure out what works and what doesnt. 2- Support. A good franchise should have great communication with it's franchisee's and be available to meet it's franchisees needs. Youre only contact with them shouldn't be when you have a problem. Good franchises involves it's franchisees in building it's business. 3- A Great System. McDonald's doesn't exactly make a good hamburger but they have an excellent system of conducting business. The real value in a franchise is the system, not necessarily the product. There are many other factors in deciding on a franchise but many of those are personal to you and your situation. The best thing to do is to conduct as much research as possible and speak with every current franchisee you can and get a feel for the franchise. garyshouldis.com
Franchising vs. Licensing - While Ken's definition of a franchise is correct, I disagree with his statement that a franchise and a license can mean the same thing. A franchise [u:2pwsjr5r]contains [/u:2pwsjr5r]two licenses. A trademark license (the name and fee) and a business opportunity license (a system and a fee). The combination of those licenses in the same relationship creates a franchise. If you want to license a business opportunity, you need to tell your licensee that they [u:2pwsjr5r]cannot use your trademark[/u:2pwsjr5r]. If this is your growth strategy, you will neglect to build a brand. While that is not always important, it often is. We tell our clients not to think of whether a particular business relationship will be, but instead to structure the relationship the way it makes sense from a business perspective. If it then turns out to be a franchise or a license, then so be it. The difference in cost between the two forms of expansion, done properly, is not very signficant. If you are interested in learning more, I would be happy to send you a free copy of a one hour seminar on "How to Franchise a Business." It goes into some detail on this topic. You can write to the email below or get it on my website.


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