Has it always been your dream to start a business from scratch and build it from the ground up without any help? Then buying a franchise might not be something that interests you.
Instead, you might want to start up your very own business and work your way through the growing pains associated with doing it. As a small business owner, it'll be very rewarding in the end if you're successful.
But if your main goal is to start a business and use it to make money right away, then buying a franchise might make all the sense in the world. There are more than 750,000 franchise businesses in the U.S. You could get in on the action in the franchise industry while pursuing business ownership and make a pretty penny by doing it.
Before you decide which direction you want to go in, you should learn about the many business benefits of buying a franchise. It'll help you decide if purchasing one will be a smart business move for you.
Find out all about the business benefits of buying a franchise below.
Requires Less Effort on Your Part
If you decide to start up a business yourself, it's going to call for you to do a lot of work on your part. You're going to be responsible for every single decision that will need to be made to get your business off the ground.
You'll need to begin by creating a business plan from start to finish. You'll also need to do things like:
• Come up with a name for your business
• Put together a logo for your business
• Decide on a color scheme for your business
• And so, so, so much more
Bottom line: Starting up a business yourself will be, in a word, exhausting. You'll have to put in so much effort that you won't even be able to enjoy it.
The same can't be said for buying a franchise. As long as you buy one of the best franchise businesses, you'll be able to get it up and going without it breaking your back or taking a toll on your mind. It'll give you an opportunity to actually enjoy it.
Makes It Easier for You to Secure Funding
Just so that we're clear: Securing funding for the purpose of buying a franchise is not going to be a slam dunk by any means. You're still going to have to prove to a lender that you're worth taking a risk on when you want to buy a franchise business.
But generally speaking, it's going to be a lot easier to get funding for buying a franchise than it would be to get funding to start up a new business. At the very least, a lender will know that people are familiar with your brand, which will give it a better chance to succeed in most cases.
As we just mentioned, you'll still need to work hard to secure funding, regardless of whether you're buying a franchise or investing in a new business. But you're going to feel a little more confident walking into a lender's office to buy a franchise.
Puts Your Business on the Map From the Start
Outside of the fact that you're going to have to work your butt off to get the wheels in motion when you start a new business, you're also going to have to work overtime to establish your business within your community. You'll need to spend almost every waking minute trying to build up brand recognition for your new business.
This won't be something that you'll have to be concerned about when you're buying a franchise. People are already going to be at least a little familiar with your franchise business from the second that you decide to open it up.
As a result of this, you aren't going to have to devote much time to explain what your business is all about. It'll free up some time for you to focus on running your franchise and making it the best that it can be.
Provides You With More Than Enough Marketing
One of the things that you're going to have to do when you're trying to establish a new business is market the heck out of it. You'll need to spend quite a bit of money on your marketing efforts to make people aware of the fact that your new business is open.
You'll also have to continue to pump money into your marketing efforts in the months and years to come. Even if your new business is a gigantic success, you'll have to keep on coming up with fresh marketing ideas and spending money on them.
After buying a franchise, you're also going to have to spend some money on marketing. But your franchisor is going to let you know exactly how much you'll need to spend on marketing each year. It'll allow you to plan for it accordingly.
Your franchisor will also work on spending your marketing dollars wisely. They'll come up with clever marketing campaigns that will bring attention to your franchise business and help you push it forward.
You'll be relieved to know that you won't be in charge of coming up with marketing campaigns and seeing them through to the end. It's another thing that will free you up to focus on your business as opposed to marketing and promoting it all the time.
Gives You a Built-In Support System
Running a standalone business on your own can get to be pretty lonely after a while. You might not have anyone to turn to for advice if you don't know any other small business owners with a business like yours.
But when you go through the process of buying a franchise, it's going to come with a built-in support system for you. There is a good chance that you'll have at least a few other franchise owners who work in your general vicinity.
If you ever find yourself in a bind, you can reach out to these franchise owners for support. They'll usually be more than happy to extend a telling hand when you need it most.
You'll come to value the partnerships that you're able to create with your fellow franchise owners. Some of them might even start to feel like family before long since you'll always be interacting with them and swapping tips on running your respective franchise businesses.
Allows You to Take Advantage of Your Collective Buying Power
As the owner of a standalone business, you aren't going to have a lot of leverage when you go to negotiate with the various vendors that you're going to work with. If you don't like the prices that they have to offer you for their products and/or services, they'll tell you to take a hike. It's not going to hurt them too much if you don't give them your business.
But it'll be a whole different story when you're a franchise owner. You and your fellow franchise owners are going to have what's called collective buying power. You can use this to your advantage by driving a hard bargain with your vendors and telling them that you and all your fellow franchise owners will find other vendors if they don't give you better deals on their prices and/or services.
In this case, vendors are going to be a lot more likely to listen to you and heed your warning. They'll know that they're going to lose a ton of business by not bringing their prices down. It'll put you in a position of power and ensure that your vendors aren't able to rip you off.
Incorporates Predictability Into Your Daily Operation
Your life is probably going to become very unpredictable when you run your own small business. You aren't really going to have anyone to answer to, so you can change pretty much any aspect of your small business without anyone telling you that you can't.
Some small business owners cherish this unpredictability. It makes it fun for them to get out of bed in the morning every day, not knowing what the day might hold.
But not everyone is built for this kind of life. If you crave a little more predictability, you're going to like buying a franchise and following along with the guidelines that are put into place by the corporate office. They'll control everything from what time you open and close to which processes you follow when serving your customers.
You'll be able to achieve a much better life-work balance when you have this kind of predictability attached to your franchise. You won't have to worry about suddenly needing to do something like work late unexpectedly. Your whole operation is going to be as predictable as it gets.
Lets You Start Turning a Profit Sooner
Arguably the worst part about starting your own small business is that you aren't going to see much of a profit from it anytime soon. While some small business owners enjoy profitability sooner than others, it takes the average small business owner anywhere from two to three years to turn a profit.
You might not begin turning a profit right after buying a franchise, either. It's going to take some time for you to establish your franchise business and get it firing on all cylinders. But you should begin to see a profit way sooner than you would otherwise.
If your main goal is to start churning out a profit while running a business, then buying a franchise is going to be the best way to go for a lot of people. As long as you do a decent job of providing people in your community with what they have come to expect from your franchise, it's going to be a profitable venture for you.
Reduces Your Overall Risk
Running a business—any kind of business—is always going to come with at least some risk. You're going to run the risk of your business flaming out on you and costing you a small fortune if you don't run it right.
But there will typically be more risk that comes along with running a standalone business versus a franchise business. There isn't going to be any previous precedent set for your standalone business that suggests it will succeed. There will, however, be a precedent that has been set for a franchise business.
This precedent is going to give you more confidence when you buy a franchise as opposed to starting a small business from scratch. You'll have a blueprint sitting in front of you that will give you every indication that your franchise business can be successful if you want it to be.
You should take full advantage of this by conducting a search for a franchise for sale right now. You should be able to find a franchise that you can turn into a success in your area in no time at all.
Consider Buying a Franchise If You're Thinking About Opening Up a Business
Now that you know about all the business benefits of buying a franchise, doesn't it sound like a more appealing option than starting a business from scratch? You'll get to enjoy all of these advantages as soon as you choose which franchise you would like to buy.
You should look for a franchise that you think will do well within your community. It'll allow you to break into the franchise industry and make a serious splash in it.
Interested in obtaining more tips and tricks on opening up a business? Find them by reading through all of the other blog articles that we've posted.