Did you know that you probably drive by more franchises than you realize every single day? Most stores and restaurants that you pass on the street are franchises!
Subway, Target, Walmart, Burger King, Whole Foods, etc. – they are all franchises. And these are to name just a few of the many out there.
Have you been thinking about joining the other 753,000-plus franchises in the United States? There are so many reasons to get started!
If you want to learn more before you get a franchise business, keep reading to learn why investing in a franchise is one of the best things you can do!
1. Proven Working Model
When investing in a business, you need to have some sort of entrepreneurial mindset. This is even more true if you are starting a business.
One way to start a business is through getting a franchise business. But why would you do this rather than starting from scratch?
The main reason is that when you are a franchise owner, you are not fully starting from scratch. People have gone before you to create the structure that works.
When you are buying a franchise, you want to buy one that you know is successful. This means that the model used for operations, customer service, marketing, and more works. This way, you simply have to follow in the footsteps rather than create your own new path.
This saves time for you to build a successful franchise rather than figuring out how to even get started with your own business.
2. Support Services
When you buy a franchise, you are also buying continuous support from the other franchises. Buying into a franchise basically means that you are never alone with the work and tasks that you need to do.
If you ever have questions or are unsure about something, you simply have to ask other franchise owners or the customer support team that is there for all franchises.
Additionally, a lot of times, there are regular meetings that happen with all franchises to keep everyone up to date and to offer support. Even if it is not time for the meeting, help is only a phone call away.
Whereas starting your own business can be a lonely process, buying a franchise is not because of the support system that you receive with it.
3. Extensive Training
Starting a business is not an easy feat. You have to learn the ins and outs of your industry, what customers are looking for, make your product stand apart, figure out how to market your product or service, send emails, and so much more.
While you still have to do that if you choose to buy a franchise, you also are not the first one to do it. That means that the ins and outs of the franchise are already figured out. The products stand apart because the franchise business is already successful. Email and digital marketing plans are already set in place.
You simply have to learn how it is all done, and that is where franchise training comes into play.
But why is there training? Not only are you making an investment by putting money into a franchise, but the franchise owner is also taking a risk on you, too. They want to make sure that you are fully trained and qualified to run the franchise you are buying.
That’s because although you are the franchise owner of that specific branch, the franchisor is the overall owner. Any franchise that fails is going to look bad on the franchisor.
Putting new franchisees through extensive training is one way to ensure that new owners are ready to take on the workload.
As a new franchise owner, this should also put you at ease because it means you have a greater chance of being successful.
4. Great Return on Investment
As you learn more about finances, retirement, and investing, you may learn that investing in something that could grow is one of the smartest things to do.
This is especially true if you are getting closer to retirement, and this is why buying a franchise close to retirement can be helpful. You are investing in something that will give you a great return on your investment. Who doesn’t want more cash flow as they enter their retirement years?
Even if you are looking at low investment franchises, there is still a high likelihood of an attractive return on investments.
So if you are thinking about getting in on a franchise because of the high ROI, it is always smart to talk to a current franchisee to see how they are doing and what they think of it. This will give you a bigger picture of what to expect and how long the process to be successful will take.
5. Brand Identity
Brand identity is one of the most important aspects of owning a business. Consumers are much more likely to buy from a brand they know and recognize than one that they don’t.
When you are buying a franchise, part of what you are paying for is the brand itself. There is already a recognizable logo, colors of the company, fonts, phrases, and more that consumers recognize.
These brand identifiers are often trademarked by the franchisor, who then allows you to utilize trademark symbols, such as the little capital letters TM (™) and the circled R (®). This Heer Law guide titled “trademark symbols explained” can be quite helpful if trademark symbols are a new concept.
Because of this, individuals are going to be more likely to buy from your business than if you were to start one of your own from scratch. This is simply because of the name of the franchise, rather than what you’ve done for it – so imagine when you build your franchise to the best of your ability how many more customers you will get!
6. Be Your Own Boss
If this phrase doesn’t sell you on getting your own franchise, then you’ll have to keep reading. However, who doesn’t want to be their own boss?
You get to set your own hours, decide how to run your franchise, treat yourself right, and take time off when you want to take time off.
If you can make money while working for yourself and being your own boss, that is the American dream right there!
Franchising a business can be an extremely successful business opportunity while also offering the flexibility that you may want or even need.
7. High Rate of Success
20% of businesses fail within the first year of being open. That is one-fifth of all businesses that open their doors who will be closing them within 12 months.
And it’s worse than that because there is an investment of time, money, energy, and passion into starting a business.
Luckily, there is an increased rate of success for franchise businesses. Part of this is due to the brand identity that is already out there and part is due to the franchise training and working model that is already set up for you as a franchisee.
If you want to be a business owner but want to increase your chances of being successful, starting a franchise is the way to go.
8. Easy to Obtain Funding
If you are trying to start your own business, it can be difficult to obtain your own funding. Not all banks are willing to give out small business loans to just about anyone.
However, now most major banks have franchise divisions set up to make it easier to obtain funding to purchase a franchise. Luckily, a franchisor can also help you to provide a detailed business plan for the franchise that you can submit to the bank. This will assist them in determining if giving you funding is what they want to do or not.
In addition to banks giving more funding to future franchise owners, sometimes franchisors will also give franchisees their own branch at a lower cost. Instead, they will charge a monthly fee to get the total amount. This makes it easier for someone to purchase a franchise.
When a franchisee is trying to obtain money for the franchise, it is an obligation for the franchisor to stay up-to-date with the Item 19 federal franchise rule. This means that if someone asks about how the franchise is doing, you can only disclose if your FDD includes Item 19 financial performance representations.
9. National Contracts at Your Fingertips
Part of being a business owner means that you have to be able to market your product or service. This can take a lot of time and energy especially when you are just starting out, not to mention that you have many other tasks on your to-do list as well.
However, when you buy into a franchise business, you will most likely already have national contracts in place, especially if you are joining a franchise company that is on a larger scale.
So how does this work and what does it mean?
For instance, if you are buying a cleaning franchise, the franchise may already have a contract with a specific brand of hotel. That means that if you buy the cleaning franchise in an area with that hotel, you already have a contract with that hotel that is in your area. This means more business for you!
10. Recession-Proof Markets
Although not all businesses are fully recession-proof, choosing a franchise business that does well in all markets is key to success.
How do you figure this out? There are certain industries and markets that will always do well, no matter what the economy is doing.
For instance, baby clothes, diapers, and anything having to do with babies or children will do well. That’s because they are always in demand. The same goes for the pet market and even the alcohol industry.
It’s always a great idea to consider the industry that you are going into to determine how it will do in different economies and markets.
11. You Don’t Need Experience
One of the best things about becoming a franchise owner is that you do not need a ton of previous experience. Part of this is because you are going to be your own boss but it is also because there is already so much in place to help you be successful.
If you do not have knowledge surrounding the specific franchise that you want, you don’t have to worry. You know part of the investment that you are putting in upfront will give you the training that you need to be successful. Being a franchise owner means that you will learn as you go and will have support alongside you the entire time.
12. Access to Support Groups
While you do have access to support from other franchise owners and the franchisor, you will also have access to other support groups such as the BFA, TFA, or AFA.
This means that if your franchisor is part of one of these groups, they are bound by a specific code of ethics. This is created to support all franchise owners that work under the franchisor.
Although this doesn’t guarantee your success as a franchise owner, it does mean that the franchisor is constantly checked in because of their membership in the group.
This means the working conditions and standards will be higher for you than potential other franchise owners under franchisors that are not part of these groups.
Now You Should Start a Franchise
Hopefully, you are now fully motivated to start your own franchise business. From the extra support to the high return on investment, and from the easily obtained funding to the higher rate of success as a franchise business, there are so many reasons!
Are you ready to get started? You can find franchise opportunities by industry on America’s Best Franchises. We are here to help you make your dreams of becoming a business owner come true!
From low-cost franchise opportunities to women’s franchises, we have many different categories and types of franchises you can choose from. Explore them all.