Franchise Flag Maker » Prospective Franchise

How To Find The Top Franchise Opportunities

salsabilahanun — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:09:02 +0000

America is a great place. A business in the United States or Canada can be started in no time at all. In the past few decades, starting a business has been made much easier with the number of franchise opportunities available to the public. Finding the top franchise opportunity to start a business in is not an easy task. There are countless numbers of franchisors out there eagerly waiting for you to sign their franchise agreement, but which one should you choose?

You have many options to choose from including the following: Food Franchises, Business Franchises, Automobile Franchises, Daycare Franchises, Fast Food Franchises, Retail Franchises, Hotel Franchises, Travel Franchises, Home-Based Business Franchises, and even know Internet-based Franchises.

The opportunities are endless for eager business owners. The walks of life that prospective franchise owners take are from all different paths. Frustrated corporate workers, previous business owners, college graduates, even teachers choose the Franchise route. Why do they choosing franchising?

Well, the statistics speak for themselves.

-Less than 4% of franchises fail in their first year of operation

-90% of franchises are said to still be in business ten years after opening

Independent start-ups, also known as small business opportunities are a bit different, well actually a lot different.

-38% cease operation in twelve months of opening

-90% are out of business by the tenth year

With the comparison of those two statistics alone, it is plain to see why people choose to go the franchising route versus just a small business opportunity.

The Franchisors provide the franchisee with great support, products, training, and assistance in marketing.

Marketing is a crucial factor for franchises to gain market share within the first couple of years. If nobody knows about your business, it is hard to gain customers. The Royalties are supposed to help in regional and state-wide advertising efforts for the franchisee. The percentage that is used for advertising varies from franchise to franchise, but generally it is around 2-3%.

It is my belief that independent start-ups or small business opportunities fail so quickly due to the lack of marketing and exposure. The owners get discouraged very quickly and close up shop before investing too much time and money. This is unfortunate, because many of these businesses are great ideas and could offer a great value to the customer- many times even better then a franchise opportunity could offer.

Why should you team up with a franchisor? They have the know-how, money, and most importantly the established name that you need for your business. Just think, if you were driving into a shopping complex to grab a bite to eat at a sandwich shop, would you pick Quiznos or Big Johns Subs? Well, an astonishing 79% choose the name they recognize, Quiznos. Why is this? They have seen it on TV, newspapers, billboards, and local fliers. On top of that, Quiznos benefits from viral marketing. Viral marketing means basically word-of-mouth. There is a buzz that goes out about the company that makes them more popular than any other advertising technique.

Basically, without being behind a popular franchise you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage.

I recommend thoroughly researching any franchise opportunity you are thinking about investing into. Make sure they have good market presence, management support, proper franchise fees, and most importantly a good number of currently franchised units.

If all those factors are in place and the finances in your life are in place, then it is time to take the leap to franchising. It is a great path my friend, work hard and you will once and for all be self-employed for the rest of your life.

Top 10 Franchises For Sale In 2009

hanun — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:40:07 +0000

Checking Out Franchises For Sale

Every year, Entrepreneur magazine names its top franchises for sale, gathered up into a list called the “Franchise 500.” By referring to this list, prospective franchise owners can determine the top franchise for sale in any number of categories—the best fast-food franchise, the best auto service franchise, the best do-it-yourself picture framing franchise, and so on. This publication also names the 10 best franchises for sale regardless of the industry they are in, and it is this list that offers the most coveted ranking of all. The “next hottest franchise concept” certainly has a chance to advance in the standings. But year after year, the same companies continue to dominate this list, mainly because they have superb brand recognition, a solid financial base, highly satisfied franchisees committed to excellence, and products or services that have stood the test of time. As Entrepreneur sees it, here are the top 10 franchise companies for 2009.

1.   Subway

The top company on this list has gained a reputation for offering fresh, healthy food at very reasonable prices. They also come up with some very innovative national marketing campaigns to keep the name “fresh” in the public’s eye. Subway began franchising in 1974 and has more than 21,000 franchises in the United States. The company charges a franchise fee of $15,000, with ongoing royalties of eight percent based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $78,000 and $238,000. Subway has franchises for sale in nearly every U.S. state.

2.   McDonald’s

Ray Kroc took a California hamburger joint owned by two brothers and turned it into the world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain. Over the years, McDonald’s has been an innovator from the aspects of both service and menu items, inventing such concepts as the kids’ meal and drink tops with pre-punched access holes. The company charges a franchise fee of $45,000, with ongoing royalties of 12.5 percent based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $950,000 and $1.8 million. McDonald’s has a franchise for sale to residents of every U.S. state, plus worldwide opportunities exist as well.

3.   Liberty Tax Service

With the tax deadline of April 15 looming over the heads of U.S. citizens every year, more and more taxpayers realize that it pays to hire an outside expert to help them complete their filings. The company started as Jackson Hewitt Tax Service in 1972 (and began franchising a year later) and changed its name after buying out another tax business in Canada. The company charges a franchise fee of $40,000, with variable ongoing royalties based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $56,000 and $70,000. Liberty Tax Service has franchises for sale to anyone living in the U.S. or Canada.

4.   Sonic Drive-In Restaurants

This company started as a root beer stand in 1954 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, jumping into the franchise business five years later. Today there are close to 3,000 Sonic Drive-In franchises across the country. The company charges a franchise fee of $45,000, with ongoing royalties ranging from two percent to five percent, based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $1.2 million and $3.2 million. Sonic currently seeks out residents of Canada, New Zealand and Australia, offering exclusive territories in its franchise for sale.

5.   InterContinental Hotels Group

The flagship property in this massive chain is the self-named InterContinental, which include some of the most prestigious hotels in such world capitals as London, Paris, Vienna, Cairo, Nairobi, and many others. This hotel conglomerate also includes such familiar brand names as Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza, Staybridge, and Candlewood. There are more than 2,600 franchises in the U.S. alone, as well as another 800-plus in foreign countries. Franchise fees and total investments will vary widely, since every property is unique. The company charges an ongoing royalty of five percent based on gross annual sales. InterContinental has franchises for sale in Oregon as well as assorted worldwide locations.

6.   Ace Hardware Corp.

The neighborhood hardware store is alive and well in the guise of Ace, a national chain that prides itself on hometown values and helpful personnel who can tell you the best way to paint a door or repair a fence. The company began in 1924 and became a franchise operation in 1976. There are currently more than 4,200 U.S. franchises. The company charges an application fee of $5,000, and one’s total investment will run from between $400,000 and $1.1 million. Ace Hardware has franchise for sale opportunities in all U.S. states.

7.   Pizza Hut

In 1957, when this pizza chain started business as a single restaurant in Wichita, Kansas, no one would have suspected that it would grow into the largest pizza restaurant chain in the world. Today there are nearly 10,000 franchises in existence, including “express” and kiosk locations that expose Pizza Hut products to more people than ever. The company charges a franchise fee of $25,000, with ongoing royalties of six percent based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $317,000 and $2.9 million. Pizza Hut has franchises for sale in Oregon as well as assorted worldwide locations.

8.   The UPS Store / Mail Boxes Etc.

Mail Boxes Etc. started in 1980 as a competitor to the U.S. Mail and has since expanded to offer all kinds of services that include the sale of packing materials, copying and printing, mailbox rentals, and shipments of darned near anything to anybody who has a permanent address. Re-branded as The UPS Store – although it ships by other carriers as well – the company charges a franchise fee of $30,000, with ongoing royalties of five percent based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $155,000 and $295,000. The UPS Store has franchise for sale opportunities in all U.S. states, plus various locations worldwide.

9.   Circle K

This convenience store chain was founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas. They waited until 1995 to begin franchising, but since then Circle K has seen its U.S. franchises grow to more than 450. Surprisingly there are nearly 3,700 franchises overseas. The company charges a franchise fee of $15,000, with ongoing royalties of four percent based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $161,000 and $1.4 million. In a nationwide expansion mode, Circle K has franchises for sale across the United States as well as in assorted worldwide locations.

10.   Papa John’s International

This pizza chain got its start in 1985 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Papa John’s has more than 2,100 U.S. franchises and close to 500 on international soil. The company charges a franchise fee of $25,000, with ongoing royalties of five percent based on gross annual sales. One’s total investment will run from between $135,000 and $490,000. Papa John’s has franchise for sale opportunities in all U.S. states.

What Makes a Good Franchise Directory?

hanun — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:18:30 +0000

Over the past ten years we have seen an explosion in internet advertising as everyone has jumped into using this fantastic new medium for promoting their product or services. A particular area which has had niche but heavy growth has been that of franchise advertising and there are now hundreds of sites across the globe dedicated to bringing franchise opportunities and franchise information to the masses.

Looking at these franchise directory portals we can see a huge variation in the information they have to offer and we can group these into the following.

Franchise directories – These function and serve solely to display franchise opportunities in a directory format and generally display logos and promotional materials in a categorised format.

Franchise information portals – These tend to go one step further than plain directories and also offer advice and articles to a prospective franchise seekers as well as a categorised list of franchises.

Franchise Resource Portals – These have all of the above features and more, offering franchise advice, franchise articles, dates of franchise exhibitions, reviews, categorised franchise opportunities, franchise news and web 2.0 user interaction.

We can look at the above in a staged way where 1 is a skeleton platform, building up to 3 which is a full bells and whistles platform. When looking at these franchise directory platforms one must remember that the main aim of the site owners is to have paying franchisors list their franchise on them, this is where the money comes from and why the site is in existence. So, you must remember that not necessarily all are ethical franchise directories and are happy to take on world + dog to advertise their franchise.

The trick to finding which an ethical directory is, is to look for what is called “Web 2.0″ features. These features would include comment areas under articles, forum areas and general networking areas that you can sign up too. Most franchise directories do not want these features as they know that they will get disgruntled ex-franchisees in there making remarks about the least ethical franchises on their directory but you will find the more ethical directories are happy for people to voice their opinions and happy to boot any less ethical franchises from the directory. Blog areas need to be considered also but in many cases they are there for show and SEO (search engine optimisation) purposes purely to add keyword rich content to the site so if they do have a blog area check for comments on them, if there are none then either the site does not have much traffic or the blog area is still there purely for promotional materials.

In the UK there is only one “ethical” directory and that can be found at The Franchise Shop (see sig below) it offers full web 2.0 services, experts sections and thousands of articles. Making it the UK’s #1 franchise directory. Take a look for yourself to judge what you think, is it just a directory or is is a web 2.0 franchise directory platform?