Buying A Franchise Made Simple
A franchise is usually sold as a business in a box. You pay a start-up fee and royalties for access to an apparently proven brand and product, and after a fortnight of coaching, you're off and running toward success and profits. For some corporate refugees, purchasing a franchise can seem as secure as taking another company job, but with the capability to make more money and not be hounded by a chief. Sounds straightforward, no?
Well, not actually. A 2002 survey of franchisees, conducted by Frank Wadsworth, a teacher at Indiana University Southeast, commends that a franchisee's relations with both his business and his franchiser are anything apart from easy or sure.
Fifty-four % rated their franchise systems excellent or greater than average ( 20% rated it below average or poor ) and 67% say their franchise has a brilliant brand. However although about two-thirds have been worthwhile at some particular point, only 44% say they have seen a good return on their investment.
How can folk who are not satisfied with the money outcome of their business still be more or less satisfied with the business itself? Dr. Wadsworth and others say that given the amount of time, money and emotional energy folk invest in not just their business outlets, but the entire franchise system as well , they are raring to think highly of the company they're representing. Wadsworth notes.
An enormous Investment
( money Mailer, of Garden Grove, Calif, sends envelopes of chits from local firms to owners. )
'When you are starting, you are clueless, and all you know is keep your nose to the grindstone and do as the system tells you because it worked for other people,' he is saying. Christmas reports that he is's happy with money Mailer, and he's received extra coaching and consulting when he is's required them. Even so, he sees how franchisers can use that dependence to their advantage.
You're feeling like they're supporting you, even if there is not anything they can basically do to help you,' he is saying.
Dr. 'But none give their people total freedom.'
While less than half of the franchisees surveyed say they're permitted to'exercise their entrepreneurial abilities' or innovate with new services and products on their own, 60% say they have as much independence as they need.
So if you're a true entrepreneur, you most likely do not need to own a franchise,'
Ken Hollowell, President of Profran Consultants says.
Outgrowing relationships
David Boyuka, a Woodcraft Supply Corp. franchisee in North Carolina, concurs. 'At forty years old, with a family, I found it too scary to start a business totally from nothing. With a franchise, I had most of what I required already in place when I turned the lights on the first day,' he asserts. 'There's a price to pay for that, but you acknowledge that that's the deal you struck.'
Profran Consultants can answer your franchise development questions. If you need
funding for your franchise business we can be useful.
Loading...