Choosing the Right Franchise
Franchise Business Goals: Does It Take Two?
One of the most important things to do when you get ready to invest in a franchise business opportunity is to determine your goals for the franchise. Do you want a side gig that will let you earn money and have fun while you’re in school or raising kids or…
Franchise Business from a Virtual Office With Management Software
Talk with a franchisee who works from a “virtual office,” and you might think it’s the same as “work from home.” In some ways it can be, but there are definite differences. A virtual office centers around the software being used. It might involve virtual filing, virtual meetings, virtual…
Healthy Franchises vs. Unhealthy Franchises
Americans are eating healthier, going paleo or giving up red meat, choosing chia seed puddings over cupcakes. They’re also working out more, hitting the gym for grueling boot camps and intense strength training, and spending more of their free time on outdoor sports. Or are they? 60% of North Americans…
Is There a Local Market for Your Franchise Idea?
Joanna was thinking about opening a business. She had enough severance pay from the job she had just left to cover the start-up costs of a business. She knew that she could work for a couple of years without drawing a salary, because of her husband’s job, and then she…
Does Prestige Matter in Your Franchise Choice?
Two wrongs don’t make a right, but when you’re deciding on the best franchise to own for your needs, a whole bunch of rights will certainly lead you to the right choice. Here are some of the things you’ll consider: Is it right for your personality? Do you have the…
Does a Franchisee Have to Follow Labor Laws?
A pizza franchisee in New York, the owner of five franchises, has found himself in hot water. Here are his transgressions: He didn’t pay for fractions of hours, but instead rounded down hours to the whole hour. He didn’t pay his delivery people overtime. He didn’t reimburse drivers for their…
Do You Want a Controversial Franchise?
Once upon a time there was a little boy in India who cleverly tricked tigers in the jungle into running so fast that they turned into butter instead of eating him. And once upon another time — 1957, to be precise — there was a pair of Italian immigrants in…
Connecting Your Skills with a Franchise Opportunity
Often people seeking a franchise business look for something similar to what they’ve been doing. You’ve got experience with accounting so you choose a tax preparation franchise, you know about cars so you pick a muffler outfit, or you love dogs so you choose a pet grooming franchise. There’s nothing…
Franchise Turnover Rates
We’ve explained turnover rates before. However, a new article on the franchise industry asks whether the industry as a whole has a turnover rate problem… and suggests that there are some franchisors that are skewing the numbers. A franchise’s turnover rate is the percentage of franchise locations that close in…
What Can You Learn about a Franchise from Its Reviews?
We’ve recommended before that you search for reviews, and especially negative reviews, when you’re evaluating a franchise. Sites where people review franchise business opportunities are often just gripe-fests, but seeing the kinds of complaints people make can be enlightening. If there are plenty of complaints about how the franchisor didn’t…