Joining a franchise provides a proven path to achieving business success. The key is understanding the advantages, picking the right business, and knowing you have the right mentality to run a franchise.
If you’re at the point where you are seriously considering becoming a franchise owner, you should know the reasons why joining a franchise is better than doing it alone.
The Advantages of Joining a Franchise
If you aspire to run your own business but aren’t sure how to start, it’s a smart move to look into becoming a franchise owner. The following looks at some of the main reasons why joining a franchise is better than doing it alone.
Strong Support From a Proven Brand
When you become a franchise owner, you own and operate your own business. However, unlike striking out on your own, the existing franchise network provides a blueprint for success, a source of advice, and ongoing support.
Experience Not Required
For people who want to transition into owning their business, a franchise offers a smooth path. Most franchisors provide support to franchise owners, giving them the training they need to succeed with the brand’s existing business model. This means franchise owners do not have to come in with a huge amount of business ownership experience.
A Better Chance of Success
Because of the support and training that a franchise offers, as well as a proven business model, those who own a franchise have a higher rate of success than those who launch their own brand.
Better Buying Power
The size of a franchise network offers a big advantage to business owners who can join the network in buying supplies for the business in bulk. That typically means lower rates and reduced operating costs for every franchise owner. If you’re on your own, you’ll pay a premium for making relatively small supply orders.
Lower Risk, Better Loans
Just like financial institutions use a credit score to judge the loan interest rates for individuals, they consider the level of risk for a new venture to judge the amount they are willing to loan a new business (as well as the interest rate). A franchise presents much lower risk than a solo business venture. That can increase your chances of access to the startup capital you need.
Marketing Opportunities
Marketing is often tough for new businesses looking to establish themselves. With franchises, a good reputation and image are already in place. Franchisors also have best practices in place for marketing, public relations, and managing a website.
Becoming Your Own Boss
This is a motivation for successful franchise owners. While they have the advantage of tapping into the existing knowledge of the franchisor, they also stand on their own when it comes to running their own franchise. That alone provides them all the reasons they need to work hard, especially in the beginning stages of a business when it takes maximum effort to establish themselves.
Questions to Ask About Franchise Opportunities
Before moving forward with seeking a franchise, it helps to sit down and do a self-evaluation. Not everyone is cut out to own a franchise. But experts in franchising offer a series of questions to help people determine whether franchising is right for them.
A “yes’ answer to any of these is a good indicator you are good franchise owner material. Those questions include the following:
- Does your motivation for owning your own franchise go beyond making money?
- Do you work better outside a corporate environment and without a boss?
- Can you stay motivated even if the reward for your efforts seems distant?
- Are you independent and take the initiative as opposed to waiting for others to take the lead?
- Are you OK with a certain level of risk?
- Do you have a positive outlook?
- Are you a “people person” who enjoys being around others?
- Do you prefer creating your own systems rather than working in established ones?
- Do you enjoy teaching and coaching others in learning new tasks?
Joining a franchise comes with the risks and demanding work of any business. But with ongoing support and a proven business model, becoming a franchise owner is worth sincere consideration for those who aspire to become successful entrepreneurs.
