Posts Tagged ‘buying a franchise’

Due diligence is the keyword to ensure that everything you have planned in buying a franchise will not go in vain. Proper franchise opportunity analysis can only do you good.

Franchise due diligence

Due diligence is resource-intensive. Doing it requires you to put on your business analyst hat, as well as your skepticism hat.

Unfortunately, choosing NOT to do the business due diligence will bring you problems and perils later on.

A price to pay for not doing business due diligence: I lost my franchise units

You don’t need to prove anything, as I have already proved that not doing my due diligence properly before buying businesses cost me not only…

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Copyshop franchise – in fragments

I like browsing for small business-related news, partly because I have interest in the topic, and partly because I run and manage two small business-related blogs – Noobpreneur.com and FranchiseNote.com.

While browsing for franchising news, two articles have caught my attention – The Boston Globe’s and The Tennessean’s.

Actually, those two articles have caught my attention because there are some issues bugged me reading those two, leading to one question: Do people really think franchising is as easy as 1-2-3?

I was in franchising as a franchisee since 4 years ago, back in 2005. From my experience, buying a franchise with a mindset that is…

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7-Eleven as Kwik-E-Mart

Franchising is more appealing to entrepreneurs than ever – Many thanks to the recession. People are ‘forced’ to take entrepreneurship route due to downsizing and troubled personal finance. As people need a hand in guiding them in the new frontier, franchising comes to the rescue, offering proven system, strong brand name and support/help along the way.

I’ve just read an article from the NYDailyNews.com that, in essence, echoes to what I believe all this time – Franchising as the legitimate business model in the midst of economic uncertainty.

The article, titled In weak economy, having your own biz, but not being on your own, has appeal,…

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Entering Startup

Buying a franchise is not buying an established business. The fact is this: buying a franchise is ‘renting’ a proven system and established brand image – You can never, ever own the system and brand name (unless you own the franchise company.)

Apart from the system and branding, the new franchise unit itself is, in fact, a business startup.

Surprisingly, many franchisee candidates believe that buying a franchise is buying an established business that guarantees them a certain amount of income and a certain Return-on-Investment (ROI.)

First of all, nobody can guarantee you any results. Financial claims are based on averages, projections and/or estimates from past performance.…

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Business owners

Franchise ownership is one route to entrepreneurship and financial independence, provided you buy a franchise with the right knowledge and mindset.

Unfortunately, for the sake of seeking new franchisees, some franchise opportunity offers are simply misleading, even degrading.

Here is what I found searching on Indeed for the term “franchise opportunities jobs“:

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Franchise ownership

I stumbled on an article on Yahoo! Small Business, that (again) put franchise ownership as one of 7 most overrated businesses.

Kelly K. Spors and Kevin Salwen, the article writers, have conversed with small business experts to identify the overrated businesses. Other than franchise ownership, the other six are: Restaurants, direct sales, online retail, high-end retail, independent consulting and traffic-driven websites.

The culprit that put franchise ownership on the list is, again, the franchise agreement. “…too many people don’t understand the risks associated with franchising and sign restrictive franchise agreements without thoroughly researching their franchisor and their contractual obligations.”

With all due respect – While small business…

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Franchise investigation

One of the most logical steps in preparing yourself for franchising is reading as much franchise information as you can. The question is, were to start? Here are some sites that can help you learn more about a certain franchises or franchising as a whole.

International Franchise Association (IFA)

First and foremost, you should visit International Franchise Association (IFA)’s website – Franchise.org. The site contains wealth of resources aimed for franchisors, franchisees, suppliers and investors who look to network, share information and form a partnership.

For franchisors, IFA can help in providing resources that can help them better their franchise business. The resources may include list of…

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Success in franchising

There are always pros and cons in franchising. The pros always believe that strong brand name and proven systems are the main benefits of franchising. The cons always believe that franchising is expensive and unfair (benefit franchisors more than their franchisees.)

I am always pro-franchising. However, I can not deny that there are some legitimate reasons why you should not buy a franchise, if you do not have the proper mindset and knowledge for franchising.

10 reasons not to buy a franchise

According to Nolo.com, there are 10 good reasons not to buy a franchise:

1. Questionable profitability
   Most franchise owners don’t show potential franchisee the whole picture – They…

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Franchise opportunities

If you are interested in franchise opportunities, here is a question for you to ponder: “Regardless of how much money you have to invest in franchise unit(s), which franchise type you choose: Low-investment or high-investment one?”

To dig deeper into that question, please consider the following scenario:

Suppose you have $100,000 to invest in franchises. Will you invest in 10 franchise units at $10,000 each or 1 franchise unit at $100,000?

I have actually asked this about two years ago on Yahoo! Answers with no interesting answer – Unfortunately, I can not find the link to my question to share you. One thing for sure, almost all…

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McDonald’s in New Jersey, US

The basic rule of thumbs in buying a franchise unit is to look for a franchise that suits your interest, personality and management style.

However, a seemingly suitable franchise will not guarantee you any success if it is not great. Being good is not enough – You would not want to invest tens of thousands of dollar on something less than great. What’s more, investing in a great franchise reduces your risks in starting up phase, as well as prolongs the business life cycle considerably.

What make a great franchise?

Here are some guidelines that indicate whether a franchise is great or simply good:

• Offer everlasting…

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