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Deciding if a Franchise is Right for You

Written by: Nick Strong

Article Overview: In these times of financial difficulty people are considering their path into the future. Alot of people are driven by the impulses of ambition, redundancy or even preparation for retirement and contemplating self employment through franchising as a potential way forward. Without a doubt self employment through franchising is not right for everyone.

Deciding if a Franchise is Right for You

In these times of financial difficulty people are considering their path into the future. Alot of people are driven by the impulses of ambition, redundancy or even preparation for retirement and contemplating self employment through franchising as a potential way forward. Without a doubt self employment through franchising is not right for everyone.

Below are a number of pointers for deciding on the right franchise for you. The tips will help you decide if in fact franchising will work for you.

1. Think about what it is you are best at and most enjoy doing. Making a major lifestyle change will always work the best when your work revolves around doing what you enjoy and do best.

2. Speak to your family and tell them about wanting to build your own business. Its important that those close to you that will be most affected by any change in your employment status understand your motives. Ensure that your family will support you financially if necessary but more importantly, emotionally.

3. Admit that running any business is hard work and like anything in life has its ups and downs. Replicating a proven system is what franchise business is all about so this minimises the downs and makes the most of the ups. You can see why its so important that you want to follow a system that has been tried and tested.

4. Visit information rich sources online such as franchise directory sites and franchise exhibitions where you can research information about franchising and genuine franchise business options that could be of interest to you.

5. Arrange to visit the franchise companies that interest you the most. Meet the key people that would train and support you. Do you like them? Can you see yourself working with them? Does the visit create confidence in you?

6. Obtain permission to speak to some of their franchisees. Chat with them and ask about their experiences. Ask questions such as, do you feel happy with running this franchise? Do you make a profit? What support do you get? Has the recession affected your business sales or profits? Knowing what you know, if you were me would you buy the franchise?

7. Having completed your research, identify which franchise opportunities are of genuine interest to you. Make a short list.

8. It is vital now to speak to your bank. You can ask the bank for a report of what they know about the franchises on your short list. The banks keep their own records of all franchise businsses known to them. With this information you can gain an independent report about the bank’s view of your short listed options.

9. If you need to borrow money banks will often lend up to 70% for a proven franchise concept. This is by virtue of the fact that over 90% of UK franchisees run their businesses at a profit according to the British Franchise Association National Franchise Survey which gives the banks a lot of confidence to lend to first time franchise business owners.

10. Finally you will need to look closely at the franchise contract for the franchise you have decided upon. The franchise contract rules the trading agreement between the franchisor and yourself. Consulting a British Franchise Association accredited lawyer is highly recommended.

After completing the above steps you should be well enough informed to make a choice of which franchise is right for you. It will then fall to you and the franchisor to sign contracts, arrangement payment of fees, book in for training and agree on your franchise business launch programme.

Take your time, find the right franchise to suit you and then work hard with your franchisors and customers support to build your own successful business.

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Article Tags: ambition, business options, employment status, financial difficulty, franchise business, franchise companies, franchise directory, franchise exhibitions, franchisees, impulses, lifestyle change, motives, own business, pointers, proven system, redundancy, rich sources, self employment, ups, ups and downs



Related Forum Posts
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.
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":2gam0klq][quote="BuzzAroundBooks":2gam0klq]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.[/quote:2gam0klq][/quote:2gam0klq] That is really what I look for in any industry publication. We lead busy lives and when people fill their magazines with fluff, not only does it benefit no one, but it makes us truly appreciate those that don't. Thanks!


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