Archive for the “Franchise” Category

August 21, 2010 Categorized under Franchise - No Comment

7 Recession Resistant Franchise Options

Most economists do not expect the U.S. economy will go through a depression related to the credit-crisis-mortgage-meltdown-bailout bonanza. However, a recession appears to be a certainty.

At a time like this, not many people may feel like it’s a good time to start their own business. However, many of them may not have a choice. Indeed, a recession spells bad news for employees in the corporate America. Recent surveys show that a large number of corporations plan to lay off workers in the next 12 months.

This economic situation creates an opportunity for workers who are laid off or who do not wish to end up in that situation to start their own business. Buying a franchise may be the safest way to do that. Despite the economic ups and downs thee are several franchise sectors that are, if not recession proof, then recession resistant.

Here’s a look at franchise sectors with particular resilience:

Tax and Accounting Services: Death and taxes are a certainty and bad economic times increase desire to wisely account for every last dollar.

Education: Even in the current slowdown, parents desire a better future for their kids and are still will to invest in it.

Entertainment: As an example, during the Great Depression, the movie industry boomed as people craved escapism and had time to burn. That would very likely be the same today for film and as well as other inexpensive entertainment options.

Home, car, commercial, and industrial repair: In a bad economy, the rule is – don’t replace, repair. It doesn’t just go for you and your 12-year-old sedan or your leaky toilet. In a recession, consumers and businesses will more often opt to repair than replace.

Senior services: There’s a wide range of industries and fields that will most likely continue to benefit from baby boomers getting older, including senior housing, home retrofitting, geriatric care management.

Temporary Employment Services: In a shaky economy, companies often opt to hire someone on a part time basis instead of increasing their permanent payroll and benefits budgets.

Hair Care: With many hair care franchises available, competition is fierce. However, regardless of the economy people still need their hair cut.

In addition to that, there are always low cost franchise options available in other industries. In a down economy people will always be looking to cut their expenses, from phone services to gym memberships.

For more on finding the right franchise go to: http://franchise-opportunities-search.com

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About the Author:
Andre Chernih is a franchise expert, editor and manager of the web site http://www.Franchise-Opportunities-Search.com a collaborative compilation of info, articles, opinions and recommendations created to help aspiring business owners learn about franchising and find the right franchise opportunity. Small Business SEO

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August 20, 2010 Categorized under Franchise - No Comment

Top 5 Characteristics Of A Successful Franchise Owner

Owning a franchise lets you own a business without the pitfalls normally associated with a new company as you have access to all the resources from an already successful business to help you. The business model has already been tested, any necessary training and advice is supplied to get you started and your supplier can be trusted. The likelihood of failing is minimal, as long as you fit the type of qualifications the franchisor is looking for you are ready to go.

So what are the essential characteristics that will make you a successful franchisee?

One of the most important aspects of running your own business is good people skills. Your customers and staff are who make your business a success and how you treat people will reflect on your relationships with them and your business reputation. Treat your staff and customers with trust and respect and they are likely to return the favor and remain loyal to you. Your staff will be more motivated if you show them you value their opinion and take time to listen to their point of view.

Running a franchise is not easy, it takes a hard worker and a great deal of drive to make it successful and reap the rewards. Those franchisees who achieve the most are not afraid of hard work and happy to put in the hours required to get the job done.

When you buy a franchise opportunity you have to be willing to follow the franchise system, it is there for a very good reason as it has been tried and tested before by many others and is known to work. Thinking you know better and fighting against the system will likely lead to failure. Trusting in the system by following it carefully can make your business accomplish much more, follow the marketing techniques and strategies that are proven to work and you can’t go wrong. Look over the system carefully to see if you think you can agree to the conditions before making any final decision.

It is essential to be highly motivated if you are considering owning a franchise business. If you want to succeed it is important to ask all the right questions of the franchisor, effectively you need to pick their brains to get a good understanding of the business and how it can be run effectively. You need to have a good attitude towards work and show that you can work alongside your employees, whether it is in the office on the store floor or out in the field. If your employees see that you are not afraid to get your hands dirty it will motivate them to work harder and you will earn their respect.

The ability to delay gratification is also a key to a successful franchise business. Generally you should not expect to make much profit the first year, so if you are serious about owning a franchise business you will have to tighten your belt, don’t book any expensive trips and delay buying that new car for a year or two. You will also need to ensure you have sufficient working capital to tide you over in the first year and cover costs until you start to see a profit.

When a franchise is run correctly and has a motivated and energetic owner who listens to advice, then there is nothing to stop it from being successful. It takes a creative thinker and a determined character to achieve in this business, but you must also realize that there are people to help who have been through it all before and learn to call them for assistance. Owning a franchise is a full-time role and you have to be committed to joining in every task that needs doing. If you are interested in franchises for sale then look online to see what is available.

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About the Author:
Michiel Van Kets provides article services for Ray Haiber, a professional Arizona business broker and franchise consultant with over 10 years of experience providing franchise opportunities throughout the USA. For further information on internet, restaurants and home based franchises for sale visit the website.
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August 18, 2010 Categorized under Franchise - 2 Comments

Looking at a Franchise Website

When you are looking at a franchise website you will see a lot of different information. Of course this depends on what franchise website you went looking for. There are websites that give definitions of what a franchise is. There are websites that list various franchises for sale. There are franchise websites that give you all of the aspects of the Franchise Disclosure Document or it might give a summary of what to expect to find in a Financial Disclosure Document.

There is a lot of information about franchises including advice on reasons for investing in a franchise. What a website can’t do is assist you in deciding which the best franchise is. It can’t help you make that personal decision as to whether you have enough funds to wait for the franchise to be profitable. It certainly can’t give you accounting or legal advice on any documents you may have to read before you invest.

Yes, a website can give theories as to certain aspects of investing in a franchise. They may even have templates of certain legal documents relating to a franchise. It can display people’s opinions and even articles about the various aspects of franchising. But only you can make the decision as to whether you will successful at the business you chose.

After you have visited various websites, you also should get any other information you can so you can properly evaluate the prospective franchise. And even if you do get this information you will still need to evaluate it to make sure you get several points of view, not just that of the franchise you are interested in. Documents can sometimes be ambiguous and may only present one side of a story. Since you don’t personally know who posted the information on the website, you really can’t verify their intentions or their position. They may be employees of the company you are looking at.

People who sell franchises have to be good salespeople or they would never sell another franchise. Just like any other type of business, buyers or investors generally are not waiting in line to buy into the business. They have to be enticed there. There has to be something they want back.

Websites can give you information on expectations for a company. The writer of the article may have looked at past years growth and made some assumptions like at what percentage it will continue to grow. They can also predict what they think will happen in the future. But no one can give you a warranty or a guarantee of what will happen. Only you can take all of the information and analyze it. You may go to a franchise expert to get assistance in this regard and you may take that person’s advice. But again, they can only reasonably predict what may happen.

If you are going in the direction of investing in a franchise get every piece of information you can from what ever source you can, including the internet.

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