Franchise Ownership Provides Competitive Advantages

An independent business operator takes on a lot of risk when trying to launch a new business. Starting a business from scratch is hard work, and more than half of new businesses fail to become profitable.

The success rate for franchises is 90+ percent. Franchising is a growing industry - consider these facts:

• The Franchising industry employs over 8 million people in the US.
• The annual payroll for franchises is more than $229 billion.
• A new franchise is 2.5 times more likely to succeed than a non-franchised business.
• Franchising generated one out of every seven jobs in the private sector.

The whole beauty of franchising is that someone has already done the work for you. The wrinkles are ironed out, and the system has been proven through real-world experience. Franchise owners don't have to reinvent any wheels. Instead they drive a complete, road-tested machine.

Buying a franchise dramatically decreases the learning curve for the business. Most franchisors provide the necessary training on how to run the business. It's like a fast conveyor belt to acquiring a lot of knowledge instead of learning by trial-and-error, which is the difficult, and often costly, course facing solo business owners.

As a franchise owner, you get to be your own boss within the comfort zone of a tried-and-true business. It's a proven commodity that works. The franchisor has demonstrated the success of the system, and can share a repeatable formula for a financial consideration - the franchise fee.

For those thinking about buying a franchise vs. starting their own business, consider these benefits:

• The franchise has already been proven successful. The franchisor and active franchisees can testify to the reliability of the systems and business operation.
• Training is provided and greatly accelerates the time to start up a business.
• The operating system can be learned and then followed to duplicate positive results.
• Brand name recognition - customers already exist and are loyal to the brand.
• Many franchisors provide location assistance, which can range from finding the right site to sales or rental negotiation. Franchisor input on location can be a key factor in success because of previous experience with other locations.
• Marketing support in the form of national and local advertising, as well as advertising and public relations templates to use, allow franchise owners to cost-effectively spread the word about their business.
• Franchisees can expect to get ongoing support from regional representatives, toll-free numbers, company intranet, meetings and conventions, as well as more training. The franchisor wants franchisees to succeed and typically does whatever it takes to get make a new franchisee competent and confident as quickly as possible.  
• Discounted purchasing of supplies and goods used in the business thanks to the power of group buying.

To find out more about buying a franchise, visit Franchise Direct and check out the "Guide to Buying a Franchise."