Have you ever thought of owning your own business, but never imagined what it might be? Have you ever considered a franchise? I am not talking about McDonald’s or a Starbucks, but something out of your own home.
To start, a franchise is a business system whereby the company headquarters (Franchisor) grants independent operators (Franchisees) the right to sell and distribute its products and services along with its trademarks.
As more people opt to work from home, home-based franchises have grown in number in recent years, offering a wide variety of interesting businesses that can be operated from home. A home-based franchise offers several advantages such as:
- Lower cost to entry compared to traditional franchises,
- Home-based franchises often have lower franchise fees,
- Home-based franchises allow you to save on the overhead costs of running a storefront,
- Home-based franchises give you lifestyle benefits by allowing you to work from home while taking care of your family,
- No commuting to work, thereby saving on gas,
- Flexible working hours.
You can find a franchise in almost every field including child care and automotive, health care to pet care, real estate to computer services. The web has thousands upon thousands of franchises for you to look at and weigh your options. Your local book store also has many magazines that go into great detail about the most successful and most affordable home businesses to get into.
Before you begin, you want to do your research carefully. Due to the initial cost of a home based franchise, from $250 to $75,000, you want to make sure you pick the right one. Pick a product or service that you are familiar with, something that parallels a hobby you enjoy. If you like to sew, look into a sewing franchise, if you like being outdoors, look at a lawn care or a landscaping franchise. Next, decide how much you want to spend. The more familiar a franchise name is, usually means a bigger franchise fee, but usually bigger profits as well. Your overhead will be low because you can work from home and do not need a brick and mortar facility with offices, chairs and telephone lines. You will still need a lawyer and an accountant.
As with all well planned businesses, you must create a well thought out business plan that details what the franchise parent company can do for you in terms of training and advertising, yearly costs and advertising expenses, an exit strategy for when your contract comes do, know who your customer base is and know who your competitors are. Outlining these in your business plan will help you stay on track when the economy becomes tougher to compete in.
The downfall of franchising is that if the parent company suffers, all those owning a franchise also suffers. There is no guarantee of success because you are part of a franchise and there is no control of how many franchises there can be within a given area. With that said, millions of franchises operate profitably with no issues.
Whether you are a retiree, a stay-at-home mom taking care of the kids, or simply someone who is tired of working for corporate, there are a number of franchises that you can do from home and be successful while doing something you enjoy.