As people, we are all unique. And that uniqueness translates into our individual choices when it comes to selecting a franchise to buy. Our choices may be determined by several different factors. These may include the nature of the business you’re considering buying, the financial investment you are willing and able to make, whether you’ll be home- or office-based, whether you’ll need to purchase and build on land or use pre-existing premises. The list goes on. All of these factors culminate in one question: what franchise should I buy? While we cannot answer this question for you, we can certainly help you come closer to a better understanding of how to find a franchise and what the best franchise business for you could be.
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As a starting point, you might consider the top 10 franchise opportunities we have available in our franchise directory. With each franchise option, you’ll gain deeper insights into the financial investment required, the overall nature of the each franchise business, what (if any) requirements the franchisor may have for your participation, and in addition to this, the expected returns on your investment as well as all the perks and benefits you can enjoy when joining the particular franchisor’s network. With this in mind, we’d like to guide you through what to look for in good franchise investments, where to look for franchise business opportunities and what you’ll ultimately get by being a part of a franchise network. Let’s get started.
What to look for in good franchise investments
If you are wondering what’s a good franchise to buy, your decision will be based on several criteria and these should all be looked at carefully and in conjunction with each other so as to help you in your search when looking for a franchise. While many franchisors offer an attractive franchise package that is supported by successful franchise businesses, there are several key considerations you need to factor in when choosing a good franchise to buy into. Here are some of the most important ones:
- A recession-proof, proven business model: franchisors are franchisors for a reason. They have built a successful business based on a profitable and proven business model that has stood the test of time and has shown to not only be resilient but recession-proof, too. As a potential franchisee, when you gain access to more detailed information about the franchise, you need to take a look at the franchisor’s business model and examine it closely. Is the franchisor consistently reaching high levels of profitability? Is litigation against them minimal, which ultimately minimises legal fees? What kind of annual turnover and revenue can you expect? In addition to this, ask yourself whether the franchisor has been successful in replicating this business model across their entire franchisee network.
- The price and overall investment: another big area of consideration is the total cost that your chosen franchise will come to. Remember that there is the initial franchise fee that is paid upfront for the right to use the franchisor’s intellectual property, their business model, operate under their brand and trade name, etc. In addition to the franchise fee, there is also working capital to be kept in mind. Such capital will cover expenses including rent for premises (if you’re office based), salaries of staff, equipment and supplies, business licensing costs, the costs of insurance, and others. Furthermore, you should keep in mind that it is the nature of the franchising business model and a part of the franchise agreement for the franchisor to request royalties from the franchisee. These can either be a fixed or varied percentage or a fixed cost that’s paid on a monthly or annual basis depending on the franchisee’s turnover. And finally, check whether the franchisor has any established business connections and relationships with lenders which can help you secure a major portion of your financing needs.
- Franchisee support: some may argue that the best franchise to invest in is one in which the franchisor offers the franchisee all the levels of support they need in order to succeed. After all, it’s in the franchisor’s best interest to ensure that the new franchise unit is profitable and productive and they’ll want to offer you a variety of tools and support structures to ensure you get the results you are looking for. Remember that purchasing a franchise business and starting a business from scratch are two vastly different things. And one of the defining characteristics of a franchise is the support offered to franchisees. This support can mean regular interactions with other franchisees who are performing well, taking lessons learned from them. Alternatively, it can mean direct support from the franchisor in terms of technology and software, web-based or in-person training, one-on-one discussions with the franchisor and joint planning for the future.
- Marketing and advertising: we all know the importance of branding in this day and age. Businesses rely on a well-established reputation to earn their bread and butter. When a reputation is murky, customers are unlikely to choose that brand and will rather opt for a competitor. While start-ups generally face the uphill battle of building a reputation from scratch, franchisors already have a strong reputation to rely on which has taken years of hard work to attain. Consequently, a franchisor needs to ensure that there is consistency in their brand messaging across all their franchise units. For this reason, it is common for a franchisor to create a pool or kitty that contains a marketing and advertising budget that not only uses pay-per-click advertising, but also social media reach, organic reach through search engine optimised blog articles and more traditional marketing materials such as flyers, leaflets and brochures. As a future franchisee, it is important to ask your franchisor what type of marketing and advertising support you can expect from them.
- A pre-existing customer base: many profitable franchise businesses take a lot of the legwork and hard effort out of the equation by offering you an established customer base that you can simply tap into. This means no need to search for new customers as your business becomes established slowly but surely over time. Instead, you can hit the ground running and take advantage of the franchisor’s already developed relationships with their customers. Furthermore, when it comes to what’s the best franchise to own, you should know that you’re likely to be allocated a geographically defined territory from which to operate, and in most cases, this territory will be exclusive to you and to you alone. This means not needing to compete with other franchisees or having to worry about them taking customers from you.
Where to look for franchise business opportunities
Finding the best franchise opportunities in 2022 does not have to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Why? Because at Franchise Fame, we’ve created possibly the most thorough and comprehensive franchise directory to help you find franchises to buy into. There are so many franchise investment opportunities that it can make your head spin.
But we’ve carefully selected and categorised each of the franchise opportunities to help ensure that you can make a good investment. We’ve done this by ordering the various available franchise opportunities in terms of investment value, category and industry vertical as well as location. Coupled with this, we’ve profiled each and every franchisor in our directory to make your job that much easier. This will ensure that when you are investing in a franchise business, you pick the right one to suit your unique needs. Here’s what else you get with us:
The Franchise Fame franchise directory offers you an easy-to-view yet in-depth analysis of each franchise option available when considering franchises you can buy. The first way in which you can select your ideal franchise is by looking at the industry verticals. These may range from arts & crafts, business franchises, and services franchises to vending franchises.
Other options include bars, car wash & car services, children & childcare, clothing, commercial cleaning, diet, electronics, accountancy & financial services, healthy food, home-based, home services, hotel, mailing & shipping, mobile phone, online, pest control, pet care & food, pizza, plumbing, property & real estate, recruitment, restaurant, security and travel franchises.
As you can see, the market options are extremely broad and you can choose anything that you feel will meet your needs. But that’s not all that’s on offer. You can also sort franchise opportunities by investment amount. For example, some great franchises to buy are those that cost less than £10k. However, you can also choose from those that are less than £20k, £30k and less than £40k. But, if you’re interested in a higher investment-higher profit franchise, we also offer franchises that cost over £40k. The choice is entirely yours.
And if you want to take it one step further, you can also find a franchise to buy in your own location or region. The various territories that our franchise directory offers are franchises in Scotland, East of England, London, South West England, North East England, South East England, North West England, Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, Northern Ireland, East Midlands and Ireland.
With all this information at your fingertips and available with a single click of a button, you’re now well on your way to finding the best business opportunity for you.
So, if you’re still wondering if franchises are a good investment, our industry experience and expertise show that they truly are. As mentioned above, franchises offer so much more than meets the eye. They are often much more profitable than start-ups, with higher longevity on the market. They outperform start-ups due to their profitable, pain-free and recession-proof business model. But in addition to all this, there are many other advantages which we’ll cover below.
And if all of the above still seems somewhat overwhelming, you can always check out our top 10 franchises to see which of those could meet your individual needs. For example, in our top 10, you’ll see franchises that are below the £5k mark and those that are over £40k. The services range from home maintenance to pest prevention and even hair and beauty. As you can see, the options are almost limitless and these are just the top 10. There are hundreds more where these came from. And the best part? You can read up on the profile of every single franchisor to see what they offer you. Our analysis is divided into several parts including:
- An overview of the franchisor and their offering;
- Who their ideal candidate is and what prerequisites (if any) they may have;
- What the total costs or approximate franchise investment would be;
- Whether the franchisor can help you secure financing;
- What other perks and benefits they offer; and
- How you can find out more information in a few simple clicks.
With such a comprehensive profile of each franchisor, you’re sure to walk away with a lot more knowledge and information that will help you make the best decision for you. And if any questions arise or you need some further guidance, you can always get in touch with us. We’re just a click or a phone call away and always ready to help!
Franchising advantages
Just like any business such as a start-up, there are benefits and drawbacks of buying a franchise. However, the benefits of buying a franchise certainly outweigh the disadvantages. So, what are some of the pros of buying a franchise package? What can you get in return? We’ll take a closer look at this below.
- A well-known trade name and brand: what do you think of when you see the golden arches? You immediately think of McDonald’s, right? Well, since its establishment, the brand has made significant strides in ensuring that it is well known across the world. However, there are numerous other franchise brands that have well-established reputations. You just have to look around. And the beauty of this is that as a franchisee, you get to benefit from the franchisor’s reputation. This means that you’ll have a steady stream of clients coming to you for your unique products or services and also that you’ll be instantly recognisable wherever you go.
- Marketing and advertising support: even if you don’t have the required marketing skills, your franchisor will usually have a dedicated marketing department that will take care of the business’ exposure in a consistent way. They’ll ensure that the brand speaks in one voice and you will also be able to benefit from ready-made marketing materials that you can disseminate to potential customers.
- Ongoing training: further benefits of buying into a franchise include the continuous training that you’ll receive to ensure that your business provides services of the highest quality and to keep you up to date with new developments in the company and the industry as a whole.
- An exclusive territory: buying a franchise business also usually means that you’ll work in a geographically defined territory, which enables you to prevent competition with your fellow franchisees. This territory will be exclusive to you and you will be able to target all the consumers in it or at the very least, your chosen target market.
- A proven business model: as mentioned earlier, a franchise business comes with a proven and profitable business model. This means that it will be that much easier for you to attract and secure financing. Remember that lenders know that start-ups usually fail in their first couple of years in operation whereas franchisees are considered a more solid option for getting returns on their investment.
While these are just some of the advantages of buying a franchise, there are numerous others. Yet these are possibly the most important ones to keep in mind as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey.
Conclusion
Choosing the best franchise opportunity for you and meeting your unique needs is paramount to building a successful business. There are multiple options available on the market and our franchise directory is one of the most comprehensive resources you’ll find. If you have any urgent questions or simply need a guiding hand, we at Franchise Fame are here for you every step of the way. So, don’t hesitate and get in touch with us today!
