Have you been considering buying a franchise or starting your own business? Well, you are not alone and now that you have set your sights on a franchised business rather than starting one from scratch now you must determine which franchise to buy. Guess what? All franchises are not created equally, all company franchise founders are not equally yoked and even franchises in the same category or sub-sector are vastly different. With all that said let me give you some tips into buying into a franchise. Go meet some of the franchisees once of the companies you are considering buying a franchised outlet from. Compare offers not only brochures, but actual disclosure documents too and do a little market research in your own area to make sure what you will be selling or offering is indeed a desired product or service there. Each category of franchise companies has pluses and minuses and it also makes sense to buy a franchise where you are closer rather than further from Corporate HQ, because they will have figured things out regionally with marketing and customer buying behavior. The best categories for profitability seem to be service franchises, auto franchises and unique categories. Please feel free to consider all this in 2006. |
