Looking for a franchise business opportunity? Let’s say you’ve got a certain sector in mind but there are multiple franchises from which to choose. How do you figure out which one has staying power?
While there’s only one franchise for filtering cooking oil in the United States, Filta, there are countless cleaning franchises, yoghurt franchises, coffee franchises — in fact, nearly every industry has many franchises to choose from. That’s part of why selecting a franchise can be so difficult. Once you narrow down the opportunities to the kind of business you want to run, you still have to determine which one is the best option for you.
The ideal way to sort through them is to look at what differentiates each franchise from others, how that impacts their success, and whether it contributes to the franchise’s ability to stay in business. The stronger the response to the question of uniqueness, the better a given franchise will be able to take on the competition and stick around.
Let’s take a look at two home inspection franchises, HomeTeam and Inspect-It 1st as an example of how to use this technique when looking at franchise options.
HomeTeam’s claim to originality is their product. Franchisees deliver each home inspection with a narrative and and engaging walk-through that’s unlike any other home inspection company or franchise. Customers who are looking at properties to purchase or sell appreciate this intimate approach that helps them make better financial decisions, especially since few are experts in what it takes to analyze a home’s worth.
On the other end of the spectrum, Inspect-it focuses on their launch program to provide a unique approach to training with an intensive set of modules to train franchisees. Inspect-it believes that to do a great job as a franchisee in home inspections you need to have the knowledge to inspect homes thoroughly, so their business model puts the emphasis on this aspect of doing business.
These two competing franchises have different approaches to business success. If you think a product that’s unique is the key to success, then HomeTeam is the better choice. However if you think training and support makes a business a winner, Inspect-it is the franchise you’ll want to look into more.
Home inspection can be seen as a commodity — homeowners need to have it done, but may not start off with any strong feelings about who does the inspection. Other franchise opportunities may differentiate themselves in different ways, such as their approach to marketing, their fan base, or their price.
Whenever you’re looking into opening a business you’ll find there are more options than you thought before, even in niche areas that tend to have fewer options than other business sectors. Take some time to think about what you need to succeed and how the franchisor helps you beat out the competition.
During your due diligence period, ask franchisors what makes them unique and how they see that uniqueness playing into their ability to stay through industry changes. If the answer is shaky, doesn’t fully answer the needs of the market, or doesn’t meet your expectations, move on.
If you would like some assistance evaluating franchise opportunities or want to make sure you’re following key steps to making an effective franchise choice, please feel free to call Bill Bradley at America’s Best Franchises at 602.677.3683, We believe in making a difference in people’s lives and would be happy to provide you with a complimentary one-on-one consultation to help you put together a more efficient success plan.
