Is Franchising The Way Forward For A New Business Venture

[Paul Carcone]

...another excerpt from a book I'm writing...on franchising...

Do you dream of being your own boss, do you wish you could be in charge, work your own hours? Investing in a franchise can make that dream a reality and at the same time eliminate all the hassle of starting a business from scratch.

If you want to run your own business, even working from home or a small office and earn a significant income, investment in a franchise should really be considered.

Although well-established franchises with recognisable corporate branding will be more favourable to a lender if you require extra funding, you do not necessarily have to take on such a huge challenge. The world of franchise is so extensive and varied that you can even invest in a small franchise and work from the comfort of your own home. For example, you could invest in a magazine franchise.

When investing in a franchise you gain a license granted by the franchiser, this gives you permission to trade under the name of the company/business and to make use of the entire package from a comprehensive business system to the uniform if necessary. You will be trained and will always have someone to advise you if required.

The advantages of investing in a franchise as opposed to starting a business from scratch are:

• You don’t have to come up with an idea or even test the idea you have and find it fails.
• You will be offered a training program
• You are likely to be offered financial loans from the franchiser
• A well-established franchise will have the benefits of regular sales.
• You are the boss and invest as much or as little time as you wish.

Each business outlet or franchise investment will be owned and operated by you, the franchisee. However, the franchiser will remain in control of the products and services and how they are marketed and sold. This is beneficial in the way that you do not have to create marketing campaigns or even deal with generating ideas for new products. Furthermore, surveys have shown that approximately 93% of franchisees are running profitable businesses and failure rates are significantly lower than for independent businesses.