Who is a single-unit franchise owner?
With the rising popularity of franchising over the years due to their resilient business models, single-unit franchises appeal to prospective entrepreneurs. They may not have prior experience in running a business, have lower access to capital and may be a first-time business owner. Single-unit franchise owners come from all walks of life and the skills and experience they bring to the table can help them take their franchise unit off the ground. However, direct assistance from and access to the franchisor means they play a much more hands-on role than a multi-unit franchisee.
What are the advantages of owning a single-unit franchise?
There are multiple advantages of single-unit franchising. Some of these include:
- Lower cost of entry and ownership
- Lower risks for those who are risk-averse
- Lower failure rate
- Established brand, operations, systems and processes
- Benefit from an already existing customer base
- Efforts are concentrated on one location at a time, giving priority to business improvement
- A more hands-on role means greater interactions with the franchisor for greater levels of support
What are the disadvantages of owning a single-unit franchise?
Despite the benefits, there are also some single-unit franchise disadvantages, which may include the following:
- A greater level of responsibility is placed on the franchisee to succeed in their location
- They can be more expensive to set up because costs can’t be spread out over multiple locations
- Single-unit franchise owners are generally restricted in terms of the franchise agreement and there is little scope for maneuver
- Acquiring access to capital to cover the initial costs can be cumbersome and difficult, as can the ongoing payments such as royalties
- Franchisees of single units can also experience less financial privacy as all their financial data is usually shared with the franchisor, who monitors their performance
What is the difference between single-unit and multi-unit franchises?
The difference between single-unit and multi-unit franchises is that single-unit franchisees are limited to one location or business unit, whereas multi-unit franchises are spread out across several locations simultaneously. This enables multi-unit franchisees to not only diversify their costs and investment as well as earn more at a faster rate but get training and support for the multiple units at the same time. If you would like to find out more about the difference between single- and multi-unit franchising, check out this helpful article.
