7 Steps To Find Your Perfect Franchise
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After the Great Resignation, many people who left jobs are now wondering, “Now what.” For some, franchising offers an ideal alternative between finding another job or starting a business from scratch. But with thousands of franchise brands to choose from, how do you find your perfect franchise?
Your Personality
The first question to ask yourself is if you have the personality to thrive as a franchisee. The people who succeed at franchising have an entrepreneurial spirit and drive, but they aren’t mavericks like Richard Branson or Steve Jobs.
While a franchisee owns her own business, she hasn’t created the brand. A franchisee must be able to follow systems and rules that are put in place by the franchisor. A successful franchisee rejoices in following these procedures over and over to make money.
If you’re itching to create something new and do it your way, you’re better off staring your own business, not buying any franchise.
Investment Budget
How much you want to invest in a franchise will help narrow down your search.
Fransmart offers something for every budget, with our hot electronics franchise, PayMore Electronics with a franchise fee of $30,000, to the international sensation, The Halal Guys at $60,000.
Prospective franchisees also need to have a certain net worth for any franchise brand. Also remember that in addition to franchise fees you must budget for startup costs and buildout.
Personal Passions
With the amount of time one spends working, loving what you do is important. If you’re going to invest your time and money into a franchise, it should be in something you’re going to be passionate about. For example, if you like fostering creativity and community, the experiential, DIY cake decorating franchise Duff’s CakeMix could be your recipe for success. If you get excited about saving the planet and animals, plant-based fast-food nomoo is an ideal fit. Fans of technology will love how it is leveraged in restaurants by Brooklyn Dumpling Shop and Taffer’s Tavern by Jon Taffer.
Lifestyle
People often believe that having a business will provide flexibility, but often they find themselves working many more hours than in a traditional job. Because franchising already has proven systems and operations in place, franchise owners often have more balance than startup entrepreneurs.
However, within franchising there are some brands more conducsive to work/life balance than others. Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken is a breakfast/lunch concept with hours from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., making it a great franchise for a parent. Additionally, the company’s culture encourages balance. Some franchise brands allow owners to hire a management team to operate the store, leaving the owner more of an investor than an owner who deals with the daily running of the store. Before choosing a franchise, make sure its model fits your life.
Solid Financials
The reason you want to get into franchising is to get wealthy, so you need to pick a brand that has great numbers and a solid foundation to grow. In franchising unit economics are everything. Even an emerging brand should be able to show solid unit economics. At Fransmart this is a key factor used to evaluate the brands we choose to partner with. For example, our seafood concept, Savannah Seafood Shack, has some of the strongest numbers of any brand we’ve seen in a decade.
Strong Management
A brand that has an experienced franchisor team that knows how to scale is important for prospective franchisees to consider.
People who have a wealth of industry experience and have other franchised brands know from experience how to grow a franchise chain.
Jon Taffer brings over four decades of hospitality experience to Taffer’s Tavern.
Fabio Viviani has 35 years experience in restaurants building over 50 concepts and has successfully franchised other brands before he launched his dessert franchise JARS Sweets and Things.
Vendor Relationships
During a time when restaurants are struggling with supply chain issues causing food shortage problems and delays in buildout time, a brand with strong vendor relationships that can support franchisees nationwide is even more important. You’ll want to ensure that the franchise you buy has a strong copacker, like nomoo has in Nestlé Professional, as well as relationships with builders, real estate companies and equipment suppliers like Duff’s CakeMix.
Fransmart has done some of the work for prospective franchisees, offering a portfolio of vetted emerging brands that all have the necessary components of successful franchise brands. Contact us today to help you narrow down the perfect franchise for you.