When considering the purchase of a franchise, the research can be completely overwhelming. With everything from yogurt shops to gyms to barber shops and moving company franchise opportunities, it can be daunting to land on the right one for you. But did you know there are several things you should consider before you ever google “franchise opportunities?” Here, we reveal three things you probably have not considered about buying a franchise business.
1: Identify Your Professional Strengths and Weaknesses
A very important step in the franchise-selection process (and one that most entrepreneurs skip or overlook) is to identify your own strengths as well as your weaknesses. Those who are most successful as franchise owners choose franchise opportunities that play to their strengths and delegate the work that does not. Perhaps one of your biggest strengths is project management, but you are a little weak on customer relations. This is excellent (and critical) information! Knowing this, you can choose a franchise opportunity that plays to your strengths and find a solid employee to handle the day-to-day customer service issues. The better you are at identifying your strengths and the work you like to do, the better you will be at selecting the right franchise for you.
2: Identify Your Goals for Buying a Franchise
Not everyone buys a franchise for the same reasons. So what is yours? Are you looking for a way to build passive income while you work at your full-time job? Or perhaps you want to quit your job and run a franchise business full-time and eventually multiple locations. Some even consider a franchise so they can spend more time with family. It’s very important to your future happiness and success to know your goals up front…before you ever look at specific franchises. If your goal is to run your business part-time while you keep your job, you’ll want a franchise opportunity that doesn’t require your hands-on involvement every day. You’d want to be more of an absentee-owner. Knowing this, you can ask the right questions when you start narrowing down the options available to you.
3: Identify a Strong Market with Long-Term Viability
Once you’ve identified your strengths, weaknesses and goals, there is one more thing to do before you look into actual franchise opportunities: market research. Rather than looking at a specific franchise opportunity first, look at markets and industries in general. Identify strong markets that offer the greatest long-term opportunities; industries that are not going anywhere and are in high demand. Once you’ve found a market or markets you can search only for franchises in those markets. In doing so you will avoid the common trap of falling in love with a specific franchise concept before you know if it will be lucrative, sustainable and a good fit for you. Don’t skip this step – do the due diligence up front and uncover industries and markets that will always be in demand. This will help you significantly narrow down the franchise playing field so that your research is more manageable and productive.
