Franchise Blog

Many people buy a franchise because they want to work for themselves. The phrase, “I want to be my own boss” is often the first on the lips of budding franchisees. However, buying a franchise is arguably a step back from pure entrepreneurship.

For the pure entrepreneur, consider someone such as Richard Branson, now CEO and majority owner of one of the biggest and most admired companies in the United Kingdom. From a very young age, Branson always sought to go his own way. His first business venture was a student newspaper he started from scratch, a business he later sold to a multinational company for a tidy profit.

Richard Branson considers himself to be a business and brand creator, someone who can reshape an industry through both innovation and an incredibly strong commitment to seeing things from the customers’ perspective. By better responding to meet their needs than anyone else in the sector, his Virgin companies almost always carve out significant chunks of the market. Clearly, Branson could never work for anyone else and, in fact, has never done so.

In the United States, Donald Trump is a superb example of an entrepreneur who always demanded total control of his business and his future. While he worked with and for his father Fred, a Brooklyn-based real estate developer, during his college years, Trump created The Trump Organization during his early 20s. His aim was to create the instant perception among potential clients and customers that his corporation was far more significant and expansive than it appeared, even though at first he was its only employee. Like Branson, Trump has long been a lone ranger who has always needed to maintain primary control over any business venture with which he is associated.

If this approach is also your own favored approach for getting into business, buying a franchise may not actually be for you.

In summary, the franchising organization retains substantial control over what you can do, how you can do it, and when and where you can do it. This information is contained in the franchise agreement that every new franchisee must sign. While the restrictions on your behavior will differ from one franchisor to the next, the motivation for such constraints on your freedom is common to all. That is, they are seeking to ensure that their offerings are standardized to the highest possible extent and that they maintain maximum control over their empires.

If you have ever read Michael Gerber’s excellent book, The E-Myth, you will understand why this is so. Developed appropriately, the policies and procedures to which you will be subject serve both franchisor and franchisee in positive ways. They ensure that customers who visit any of the franchises receive similarly high levels of service. They ensure that franchisees don’t drop their standards or personalize them in ways that compromise the franchisor’s reputation and brand. Most importantly, they are designed to ensure that anyone with a reasonable degree of intelligence and a commitment to hard work can achieve them, thus limiting the reliance of the franchisor on the vagaries of individual brilliance and talent.

For the franchisee, the rules under which they operate limit the risks associated with starting a new business, since they are less likely to make dramatic mistakes. Their potential customers may be already familiar with the brand and its characteristics, thus making it easier to develop customers and patronage. Many decisions, particularly those associated with marketing, purchasing, and the creation of IT systems and databases, may be out of the hands of franchisees, therefore encouraging them to focus their efforts on building sales. In all likelihood, franchisees will also benefit from the buying power and managerial support provided by their franchisor.

If this is more your ballgame, you are what I call a “frentrepreneur” rather than a pure entrepreneur. Yes, you retain many of the characteristics of the traditional entrepreneur and likely associate yourself with their stories, but you act within a somewhat different operational context. In essence, you deliberately choose to trim your wings in the knowledge that you will likely fly longer than other birds, recognizing too that you may also not get to fly as high as they do.

While accepting the downsides, this can still be a personally rewarding and totally appropriate business decision. The world is full of franchisees who remain enthusiastic about self-selecting into a franchise system rather than starting from ground zero. In fact, I walk past one every day, a bakery and pastry franchise, who proudly stated to me that he is the nation’s highest revenue franchise. Not only is he delighted about this achievement, he is clearly making a great deal of dough with his dough!

In buying a franchise, it is therefore essential that you first examine yourself, your motivations and your relative need for control and autonomy before concluding whether you are an entrepreneur or a frentrepreneur. In whichever industry you are exploring, ask existing independents about the benefits and costs of remaining outside a franchise group. Also, ask current franchisees about the pluses and minuses that they consider to be part and parcel of being a franchisee. It is only after you’ve reflected on this information that your true identity, as entrepreneur or frentrepreneur, will become clear. Armed with this self-knowledge, a critical early decision will have been made.

Andrew purchased a Worldwide Online Printing franchise in Brisbane in 2003 and, despite having no printing experience, quadrupled its turnover in four years and soon was able to purchase his second franchise close by.

Is there anything Andrew wishes someone had told him at the outset that could have made him a better franchisee?

“I certainly wish I’d had a better understanding of the difference between cashflow and profit. I was running a very profitable business but all the same outran my working capital because I hadn’t fully appreciated the importance of cashflow. I learned that one the hard way.”

“You need to make sure you have enough working capital. Franchisors recommend a certain amount but you should really treat that as a minimum. You can never have too much.”

What are the other things he thinks help make a franchisee successful?

Understanding the role of the franchisor

“You really need a clear view of what you are getting into. Franchising isn’t about paying your money and then sitting back and watching the money come in.”

“A lot of franchisees expect too much. The franchisor gives you access to a brand, systems and methods of doing business. It’s still up to you to make a success of it.”

“There are a number of key benefits that joining a franchise group brings – access to operating systems, a recognized brand, marketing and technical assistance, buying power, and a network of fellow franchisees to support you. This all comes at a price, and it’s important to recognise the value that you get for your royalty fee.”

Managing risk

Another key factor Robertson identifies is the ability to manage risk.

“It’s definitely part of the package and sometimes the stresses and strains are rather different from those of an employed person. You get individuals entering franchising with a golden handshake payment after many years as an employee. They want to be their own boss. That’s all well and good, but it comes with risk.”

“One day they wake up and realise ‘Gee, I’ve put my house on the line! I can’t sleep. I’ve got this debt to worry about’ and it comes as a shock. They then start to make decisions based on fear rather than on what’s best for the business. The truth is debt is a fact of life when you own your own business.”

Interpersonal skills

People skills are another key area Robertson emphasises, though he points out there’s no single right way of relating to others.

“It’s crucial to be able to relate positively to people . Obviously the most important people that you’ll deal with are your customers, so be prepared to impress them, to see the inevitable (although hopefully rare) customer complaints as an opportunity, and to ensure all your customer interactions are handled with respect and have a positive focus. Equally as important are your skills in communicating with your staff. The skills required with this can vary widely, for example in some fast food franchises you need to be able to deal really well with the young people who staff your business. The key is knowing where you have those interpersonal skills and choosing the franchise where they can be best used.”

Appetite for self-improvement

“You should be focused not just on building a great business but on improving yourself. In fact if you focus on becoming a better manager the business will probably take care of itself.”

“A piece of advice I often give people is that if they spot a problem in their business the very first question to ask is whether they might be the problem. Look at your own actions first. Be self-critical. If you want to see change in your business then usually that will mean making changes to your own attitude, knowledge or skills, so be prepared to invest time and money on improving yourself.”

Balancing working in the business and on the business

“You need to be prepared for a constant and continual battle between time spent hands-on in the business and taking time to be more strategic. Both are important.”

“It’s important to try to work at every level in your business so you understand the roles your staff play and can manage them effectively. But you can’t get so buried in operations that you can’t step back and look at the bigger picture.”

Hard work

“You really will have to display a considerable work ethic in the early days. You’ll need to keep your head down and bum up and do some long hours. It’s hard to avoid coming home with your head still in the business. Some people are naturally better at compartmentalizing than others and can switch off. Luckily I believe it’s something you can learn to do.”

“Your long hours can take a toll on your family and it helps if they’re prepared for it from the outset. Ultimately I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel the effort has been worth it in the end.”

Positive mindset

Finally Andrew says that a positive mindset is important, but that’s normally something that franchisees have anyway.

“Thank goodness there aren’t a lot of pessimists who choose to become a franchisee!”

Surprising as it may seem, if you have been considering a business of your own, buying a franchise now can make a lot of sense. OK, perhaps if you were planning to buy into an expensive full-service restaurant worth millions and your budget is tight, it would definitely pay you to work through the numbers again, but let’s assume you are looking at something a little more down-market, a business that in a few years can support your family and give you the independence you want.

The biggest hurdle may well be funds as banks have definitely tightened up their lending policies, but even here there is a silver lining. Firstly nobody is going to trust their hard earned money to a fund manager for a while. Also fixed deposits are not going to be interesting for quite a while either, but there are plenty of people around who will be willing to invest in something as tangible as a business run by somebody with a gritty determination to succeed. Also there are quite a few people walking around wondering what to do with their severance package. So just because the financial industry turns out to have been built upon a house of cards, doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get the money you need.

Assuming you need any… There are some inexpensive ways to get into business and while not all of them are franchises, franchising does have some major advantages for the wannabe business owner. Firstly there is the “Branding”. Never underestimate the pulling power of a professional logo and tag-line. Brands that are recognised across the country are trusted far more than the one-off “Bill’s Windscreen Repair” shop that you whizz past everyday on your way to work. Secondly, the fact that there is more than oneof a certain business suggests that there is something successful about it and if there are many of them, then you know that the business does indeed work and the business name already has established a fair amount of credibility. Franchising splits up business functions nicely; the franchisor is responsible for conceiving the business model, product development, branding, marketing and purchasing. The franchisee is responsible for operating successfully in his local community. It really is a win-win situation.

So… back to financing. The present economic climate doesn’t mean you wont be able to find investors but it does mean you ought to be able to negotiate much better leasing arrangements, lower rents, lower payrolls, lower capital equipment costs and now fuel prices are crashing through the floor. Looking for talented people? There are more around now than there have been for many years and you can bet they are hungry for success. Also, try negotiating a better deal with your franchisor. Can they reduce the fees? Can they help with financing?

There have been many businesses which started up during tough economic times. Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Hyatt are some big ones, Coffee news and Candy Bouquet are some smaller ones, but you get the point. It has been done many times before and it can be done again during this crisis. What about reduced business activity? Don’t worry… services will continue at about the same pace, fast food businesses may see an increase and the remainder may well have a quieter time than they would like, but this is a good time to settle into your new business, iron out the wrinkles and position yourself for when the good times return!

In late 2007, I purchased an existing franchise bookstore whose revenues had dropped by about 30 percent during the previous four years. The owner and his wife were genuine sellers, having already relocated to another part of the state where they were to care for a seriously-ill relative.

I was confident that I could restore its glory. After all, I had doubled the membership, revenues, and staff numbers of a real estate industry association just before buying the bookstore. I knew how to revitalize a business. Surely I could do the same for the bookstore, right?

Well, yes, or at least a qualified yes. Revenues are now approaching their former highs as a result of some very long hours and the implementation of some innovative marketing strategies. Yet, for all this, I haven’t realized significant profits to show for this effort and these outcomes.

Why not? Because, in the case of books, and probably for a heap of other products, the economics of the business model work against the creation of lucrative outcomes. I was reminded of this by an insightful quote in the wonderful book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer,

“I love seeing the bookshops and meeting the booksellers-booksellers really are a special breed. No one in their right mind would take up working in a bookstore for the wages, and no one in their right mind would want to own one-the margin of profit is too small. So, it has to be a love of readers and reading that makes them do it-along with first goes at the new books.”

So, it’s a tough business. But we each have to work at a place we find interesting, feel enthusiasm for, and is within our span of knowledge and expertise, don’t we? For me, this had to be the world of books, particularly since I can’t fix or repair anything, am a dolt and a luddite when it comes to anything technical, and have had a love affair with books since my childhood. Added to that, I self-selected into a lower-risk, lower-returns industry by buying a bookstore rather than something newer and more glamorous.

Nonetheless, it seems to me that the vast majority of franchise business models are designed with the primary expectation that it is the franchisor who will benefit most. They pass most of the potential risks on to the franchisees, require the franchisees to undertake almost all of the “grunt” work of the business, and are not especially accountable to their franchisees except in an indirect, relatively weak manner.

Yes, they are required to monitor the health of their franchise networks, provide opportunities for franchisees to get together, and create marketing and logistics support for their franchisees, but these are arguably less onerous, less risky, and less committed tasks than those demanded of franchisees.

If it’s prosperity you seek, there are a few options you should consider. Otherwise, you will find yourself in the very large pile of mom-and-pop franchise owners who have bought themselves jobs but do not achieve the returns deserved from their labors.

First, you can get in early and buy a franchise in an industry or niche in its early to late growth phase rather than one in its late maturity like the book business. McDonald’s in the 1970s, Subway in the 1990, and fruit juices, salads, and sushi bars during this decade are all examples of this phenomena. Cast your creative minds toward the growth curves of the new wave of franchises. Perhaps there are businesses available that help people better manage the finances they have (or don’t have) that will be in real demand as the economy contracts. The fitness and health sectors are likely to continue to grow at impressive rates, while services for our aging baby boomer generation will undoubtedly mushroom during the years ahead. The earlier you are in, the more that you can take advantage of the above-average margins earned by those facing fewer direct competitors in the short to medium term, and the more that you can establish yourself and take advantage of further opportunities to purchase additional franchise stores or territories before the rest of the world learns about the money to be made there. Of course, there is a higher level of risk here, but higher rewards usually follow if the risks pay off.

Second, you can snap up existing franchises with low-ball offers that may be accepted, with a little luck, by those desperate to sell. In this way, you won’t find yourself taking years to pay back the goodwill that may or may not have been in the business you have just purchased. I definitely paid too much goodwill for my store, adding years of additional work to pay it down. In contrast, I know of one colleague who has recently added a second franchise to his existing store. His timing was great for both stores, and he paid little more than the value of the inventory he was acquiring. For him, there is a much greater potential upside than there is for me. Live and learn, right?

Third, you can scout around to see if there are any franchisors offering more of a win-win deal than those who cream off a flat rate of your revenues. In my view, a truly abundance-focused franchisor would take less of your hard-earned cash as you scale up, and then a higher percentage as you move beyond your break-even to increase your overall margins. I’m not sure if such franchisors exist, but if I was just starting out I would certainly check this out. If you have already decided on your industry, I would also closely examine, from every angle, the slice of your money taken by all of the existing franchisers in the industry before settling on any one. Don’t forget, 8 or 10 percent of your gross revenues may not seem like a lot, but when it is considered next to your bottom-line, you quickly realize that every dollar given to them is one that you won’t keep. It is a dollar you can’t use for local promotions, a dollar you can’t use to pay yourself a higher salary, and a dollar unavailable to pay down your business loan. You will never see that dollar again. Consider this fact very, very carefully and understand its serious implications for your business and your lifestyle before buying your franchise.

Finally, you can always take on some extra work outside your franchise or establish another business to help bring in some extra cash. This is not without its potential problems, however. Any time spent elsewhere may take your eyes off your most important asset, your core business, and thus compromise your most critical business outcomes. In addition, your franchiser may not look at your outside work in a benevolent way. Check the franchise agreement carefully and, if in doubt, discuss it with someone you trust in the franchiser’s organization before moving outside the business.

If you are going to go the extra mile to make your new franchise a success, think very carefully about your expectations for the bottom-line. If they are unrealistic and inconsistent with the likely profit flows from your business, you may quickly jeopardize your own morale and that of your people, sending the business into a downward spiral. With some solid homework, however, you will enter and run the business with a healthier business philosophy and with more realistic expectations for its results.

For many considering investing in a franchise business, this decision is one of the most financially significant investments of their life. While most prospective franchisees understand the importance of prior research and substantial investigation into the company they are considering buying a franchise business from, they’re not always quite sure what to look for. It’s quite common that those with the best intentions end up making ill-informed decisions. Here is a comprehensive guide that any prospecting franchisee should make sure to know and understand.

First, the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) is a document distributed (by law) to serious potential franchise business buyers. This document contains detailed financial information (including history and current standing) of the company, conditions and fees that the potential buyer can expect, information on legal proceedings and trademark information and what contractual restriction each side is bound to.

The philosopher Voltaire was the first to say “Common sense isn’t all that common,” and this can certainly pertain to this next topic. One would assume that the next intuitive step would be to seek out and speak to people in the business who have gone through the same exact process, who can provide a wealth of information. Most people skip this crucial step, perhaps not wanting to “bother” anyone. This step is critical and cannot be overlooked! The best way to learn about the workings of a franchise business is to speak to other franchise owners. In the UFOC, the franchisor provides the prospective buyer with a list of existing owners. Make sure that you speak to a few owners in order to gain a clear picture and not be led solely by one person’s experience. This information is naturally subjective but if you come with specific questions, you are sure to leave with a lot of answered questions that will help you in your decision.

Another great way to learn about a franchise business is by gaining access to government or other third party information (sure as the Better Business Bureau). These sources will help you discover if there have been any complains launched against the company and if the franchisor has successfully complied with state registration requirements (14 states regulate the sale of franchises). This information will save you time and money and you will feel more secure in your investment and more prepared for what lies ahead.

The dog may as well have eaten it, for it wasn’t worth much. My preparation for buying a franchise wasn’t even close the quality of what yours must be if you are going to make a sound buying decisions.

Let’s consider some of my mistakes.

Most significantly, I was far too driven by emotion, passion and impatience. I had recently concluded a term full of part-time university teaching and when the phone stopped ringing my nervousness about the future took over. As I sat at my home computer in August 2007, I thought, “why not buy a bookstore?” and proceeded to go to the website of the chain from which I bought most of my books to view the opportunities. Since there were three existing franchises for sale, they were the three I examined. Since I couldn’t afford the start-up costs of a new store, I didn’t consider any other options for establishing a store. At the very least, I should have looked at what other franchisors were offering. I didn’t.

Of the three stores, only one was within my price range. While performing poorly, it looked like it would not be falling over any time soon, whoever was the owner. It was probably operating around its break-even revenues, thus offering a lower level of risk than one of the other stores, then struggling against huge local competition. It didn’t open Sundays, thus appealing to my sense of family, and contained a low level of inventory, therefore reducing my required levels of borrowing.

Having said that, it seemed to be providing the existing owner with a basic salary but little more. I knew that I could turn make it run as well as it had in years past, however I missed some critical information that I should have noticed. First, the owner’s partner had been employed full-time in the store yet was only being paid the equivalent of a couple of days a week. With my wife teaching part-time and looking after the kids otherwise, this was a salary expense I had not foreseen and would need to incur.

Second, the previous owner’s borrowings were much lower than mine, so his loan servicing expenses didn’t impact on the bottom line as much as mine did. While my accountant was competent, I should have sought advice from a financial adviser with more experience in small business generally and franchises in particular.

Third, given all of the above, I should have offered far less to buy the business than I did. While the existing owner dropped his price by about 30 percent, making me feel that I was a negotiating king, the reality was that the business was worth significantly less than I paid. The owner was pretty desperate to sell, there were no other serious buyers in the market, and I was too enthusiastic about showing my hand as a potential buyer to later have the negotiating power that I might have.

Finally, it turned out that the timing of my purchase was abysmal, at least in some respects. During September 2007, I left Australia for two months of teaching at a university in rural China. As I departed, I had decided against the idea of buying my favored franchise. The money was just not in it and something told me that it may never be. Nonetheless, on arriving in Shanghai en route to a central province, I received updated financials from the existing owner that gave me a little more hope. After another few days of reflection, no doubt encouraged by the fact that I was in the middle of nowhere and wondering about the state of my career, I took the plunge and bought the business.

All well and good, you might say, except that negotiating a price, completing the franchise documents, and filling in the never-ending pile of supplier credit forms was perhaps best undertaken from home rather than the middle of nowhere. Worse still was organizing a bank loan to buy the business. I had no previous record of business borrowings so had to start from scratch. Worse, my bank manager was out of the office far more often than she was in it. Tracking her down made for a ridiculous number of calls. What hurt the most, however, was that on my return, a Director of the franchisor asked me if I had used their preferred bank, since that bank had set up fast-track procedures for new franchisees and, better still, enabled the new franchisee to borrow against the value of the business rather than against their residence! If I’d known that at the time, much stress and heartache down the track could have been avoided.

While I still feel that the franchisor could have done a much better job of assisting me, the responsibility, when all is said and done, was mine, as it is yours if you are passionate about buying the right franchise at the right price in the right location. Carry out as much as the due diligence as you can yourself and, where you don’t have the skills, bring in others to better work through the critical processes that will undoubtedly have significant bottom-line impacts for your business over the long haul.

Location. Location. Location. It’s true. Location is the most critical factor in the success or failure of any new franchise business, and almost every other business, for that matter.

Some franchisors have locations already available for the consideration of potential franchisees. Some facilitate the purchase of existing outlets in established locations from franchisees looking to sell. Others may leave the choice of location entirely up to you, although they will normally keep a watching eye on your choice.

When I returned from teaching an MBA class in New Venture Creation at Utah State University in 2001, I explored franchise ownership for the first time. I had enjoyed teaching about franchising and had enjoyed excellent customer experiences at franchises such as Subway, Cold Stone Creamery, and Boston Market. At the time, none of these brands were established in Australia in any meaningful way.

Thus, soon after our return, I attended a Subway meeting for potential franchisees held at south-western Sydney. After Subway’s Regional Manager informed us that franchisees must first select their own location, I discussed with him two possibilities I then had in mind. To the first, he said that the site, a shopping centre under construction, was already taken by a new franchisee. My second suggestion was a regional shopping centre then several years away from development. Unfortunately, it too was taken, this time by an existing franchisee in a nearby area. Since I had no other good alternatives, I let the idea drop for a time.

I got back on the franchise horse via the purchase of an existing bookstore franchise in late 2007. Fronting a pedestrian plaza in the middle of a regional business district, I confirmed the value of its location by sitting out front of the store and counting customers as they entered and left one afternoon. I counted both buyers and browsers for about 20 minutes. The numbers looked good.

Looking back, they were good, but perhaps not as good as I had first hoped. Why? Because I had observed the store during that time of day when it was, by far, at its busiest. It was lunchtime, and I have learnt since then weekday lunchtimes, from noon until around 2:00pm, can account for 70 percent or more of the day’s takings.

Therefore, while the store continues to perform well, it would work a whole lot better if the lunchtime crowd was representative of customer flows and revenues across the entire day. It’s not, and that’s life.

At another time in the recent past, I created two temporary retail stores at other locations, taking advantage of the busy pre-Christmas period to sell as much as I could in as short a time as possible. The first was again at a place disproportionately favored by the lunchtime crowd, however the rent and overheads were sufficiently low to make the economics of the store work in my favor. It did pretty well.

The second store was much larger, something all retailers would normally see as a huge positive, however the building itself was isolated from the main center of a regional shopping mall. While it received plenty of passing automobile traffic as they entered and left the car park, the effort required for shoppers to actually come across to the building worked against its success. While I didn’t lose money on the deal, I had paid a much higher rental for the site in the hope that the additional space would mean higher sales. I was wrong. It was not nearly the goldmine I had hoped it would be. Ironically, the building had formerly been a Boston Market, a franchise that didn’t last long in Australia since it didn’t catch on. Perhaps I should have learnt from their failure at the site some years before.

The other day, a friendly supplier gave me a great piece of advice. He said that the target for any new retail store should be an average of 15 people walking past the location every minute. While I suspect that many stores may still succeed with fewer pedestrians than this, it is a great “rule of thumb” against which we can evaluate any locations we are seriously considering.

This is the kind of research that only you can undertake. Franchisers will cover themselves in legalese to ensure that they are not held accountable for any preliminary estimates of customer numbers and turnover. The owners of shopping malls will do the same. This is a job for you.

Learn from my mistake. If it is an existing site, survey the traffic flows at various times of the day and at different days of the week. If you are thinking about an entirely new site, find comparison shopping centers and malls that have similar demographics to yours and a similar mix of tenants and make counts of the shoppers walking in and by stores like yours. You will need to allow for the fact that the center may have grown its traffic over time, whereas a new mall will take time to pull a crowd, particularly in today’s challenging retail environment.

If you get it right, however, a great location will ensure that your franchise business is a true boomer rather than a business which is here today and gone tomorrow.

When you have a successful business, you may feel that you could benefit by opening another store at a different location. If you do not feel that you can stretch yourself that thin, the answer is simple consider opening a franchise. Sell your idea to someone else. You still have a certain amount of control, because you control the suppliers, you control the pricing and you even control the floor plan. The only thing you are doing is to putting in a manager, who is paying you a lot of money to get a larger cut of the profits. They definitely can make a lot of money, but so do you.

Make a list of everything that you are going to keep under your control, and if there are things that you want the buyer to be responsible, such as upkeep of the building, list them too. Be sure to include what you require to approve the franchise and what may prompt you to cancel the franchise. Contact your suppliers and be sure that they will be able to handle the increased business. If they cannot, you will need to consider other companies who can handle the demand, all of your items have to be the same. And if you have a food product, they all need to be of the same taste and quality. It is like baking gingerbread man cookies, you are using the same cookie cutter on the entire batch, and in business you are using the same plans and products for all of the stores.

Place ads in papers, magazines and on your business website, to let people know you are ready to share your business, that you are opening a franchise.

Every single year, millions of people will begin their own small businesses. The majority of them will be building it around an idea they have thought up, or one that they have kept in the back of their minds for years. Of these millions, a great many will succeed, and see their businesses or companies grow into an empire. However, many more will fail miserably, either because they just didn’t have a good idea to start with, or because they did not have the know-how or the funding to properly advertise and sell their services or products.

Let’s say that you always wanted to start a business, but you either didn’t know what you wanted it to be build around, or you just didn’t have the funding or technical know-how required. Why should you give up on your dream just because you do not have all of the tools you need to succeed? You shouldn’t! That’s why opening a franchise could be a fabulous opportunity for you. Franchising offers you a way to own a piece of a business that already has known success, and would be able to be successful in your location. Company owners will research your area, and will not give you the franchising rights unless they believe it will work in your town. They also make sure that there is a proper space between their franchises, so that one does not take too much business away from another.

All you have to do is fill out the application, and if it is accepted, you can begin your franchise. All of the tools, training and advertising are provided for you, guaranteeing that you will be successful.

Telling someone how to find the best franchise for her is kind of like telling someone how to find the best clothing: so you figure out what size you are and what you like, and then find the clothes that match you best. It really is kind of straightforward, and it’s so person-specific, that it’s difficult to make an overarching generalization without sounding rather foolish. So, at risk of sounding rather foolish, there is at least one generalization that can be applied to most moms that will help in deciding what the best education franchise to go with is: the age of your children.

As everyone knows, children grow, and at each developmental stage, something different is required of mom, which in turn means that there are also different freedoms for mom and therefore different opportunities for work. For the most part, those different age groups and needs can be broken up into three distinct categories, which we’ll call pre-preschool, K-12, and post-high-school. And at each of these specific stages, mom is free for a different brand of education franchise.

Pre-preschool This is that period in a mom’s life when the only time the baby leaves the house is either when mom and dad take him somewhere or he’s staying at grandma’s so that mom and dad don’t have to take him somewhere; it’s basically the four or five years before he’s enrolled in school. It’s during this span of time that the average mom is bound to her child night and day, seven days a week, which, for the working mom, makes any work outside of the home a near nightmare. Conversely though, the constant naps and Sesame Street breaks give mom numerous opportunities to cram in a bit of work from home each day, making home-based business opportunities a brilliant option.

Two good choices to consider for the mom with a flair for education are Club-Z In-Home Tutoring and Team Marketing Systems. First, Club-Z In-Home Tutoring franchise opportunities give franchisees the know-how and resources to provide first-class in-home tutoring to students of all ages without actually having to go out and do the tutoring themselves. Entirely from home, franchisees connect students in need of tutoring with professional tutors trained in a variety of fields; they are the bridge, not the ground troops, which fits in perfectly for stay-at-home moms keeping busy while junior is napping. Similarly, Team Marketing Systems franchisees also work from home, but in this case, they serve a slightly older crowd, helping high school sports teams and clubs maximize fundraiser revenues to build their schools and organizations. Either of these franchises are perfect for the mom with sleeping little ones.

K-12 The next segment of a child’s life (at least for our quick-overview purposes) lasts a good, long while and is best marked by the seven hours that mom suddenly has apart from her kids, from 8am to 3pm (or somewhere around there). This stage opens up a whole new list of business opportunities for the working mom, as she finds herself without anyone to take care of for half her day. One great education franchise that would adequately fill this time and not cost any of the precious evening time with her own kids is Computer Explorers. Built for the express purpose of exposing children to computers at an early age to give them every possible advantage for the future, Computer Explorers visits schools and other similar organizations with traveling computer equipment, which means that work hours are precisely the same hours that children (specifically any working mom’s children) are busy at school. It’s a perfect fit.

Post-High-School This particular title is a little bit deceiving, because though the name sounds as though it’s only the period after a child is out of high school, for all intents and purposes it begins somewhere in the midst of the high school years. It really is the time during which a teenager has little to no interest in his parents and is more concerned in his own affairs. This is a hard time for the average mom, but if she’s aware of it, it also affords her some further freedom.

Since she may no longer be needed each afternoon for play time and each evening for dinner (depending on the individual child and family, of course) mom has some more free time for educational work that requires some evening and weekend hours. One great opportunity is 911 Driving School. What greater alternative is there to teaching other people’s teens to drive a car. If not the hours, the great perk to this franchise is its unorthodox nature: there really aren’t too many people who can honestly say that they teach people to drive for a living, a good franchisee could single-handedly clean up the streets.

If not teaching kids to drive, then perhaps teaching kids to act is more your thing. With those free evening hours, Drama Kids International is an excellent business opportunity. Founded on the notion that kids can be taught public speaking skills and personal confidence through drama, this franchise gives a creative outlet to both children and the women who direct the program.

Oversimplified This quick rundown is precisely that: oversimplified. Without speaking to women on an individual basis, there really is no way to determine exactly the right franchise for anyone. And to give the honor due to mothers reading this, not everyone is going to have exactly the same family going through each of these trends just the way I’ve described them, but hopefully these business alternatives have spurred your imagination to consider what might appropriately fit your family, your kids, and your timetable. After all, fitting your particular situation is what you need to do, because for any good mom, your kids come first.

What will the new year bring for franchise growth?

Talk about getting started on the wrong foot! Could everyone in the United States be in a more cautious and precarious situation then right now in the days soon after New Years 2009? Most people are still asking, “What just hit us?” as they try to collect themselves both financially and emotionally from a devastating 2008 where over 3 trillion dollars of wealth was lost throughout the year. My guess would be that my Holiday was similar to a lot of other professionals in the United States, less presents under the tree and much less extravagant all around.

So what does 2009 bode for franchising? How will franchising respond to the inclement financial times and what is sure to be an interesting road to recovery for the U.S. economy this coming year?

In my opinion, 2009 will be a good year for franchising and for many entrepreneurs getting started in their own franchised businesses. Here are the reasons.

1. There are no corporate jobs out there right now. Almost all of the large corporations in America save a few niche industries have made enormous cutbacks in their labor forces. When college educated professionals were coming out of school into the job market 3 years ago, those $100k jobs were plentiful and offered a very nice alternative for new workers. In the 2009 market finding a good job anywhere will be like winning a car from the monopoly game at McDonald’s, not that likely. Franchises offer a valid alternative for those either newly out of school or looking for new opportunities. The absence of work opportunities will make franchise offers that much more attractive.

2. Real Estate Opportunities. Commercial Real Estate prices are at all time lows per square foot in most U.S. markets. When times are good and the Starbucks of the world are dishing out rents at $100 per square foot in Dekalb, Illinois, its impossible for the “little guys” to keep up. Today, if you have been living in a cave and haven’t heard, Starbucks is closing 700 locations as well as many other major corporate chains. This leaves ample opportunities for smaller, emerging chains in many different business categories.

3. The Flock Mentality. Most people are pretty depressed right now. People tend to base their decisions on what others around them are doing or saying. Because of this mentality many of the “pretenders” in any given industry will not be participating in 2009 to the extent they would be when the economy is booming. Looking at the investment community, the really successful investors make opposite moves of the general public. During this massive sell-off in stocks during the second half of 2009, Warren Buffett invested over $20 Billion. The franchise companies that make aggressive expansion moves in 2009 will take market share from their competitors and be in extremely good positions when the economy comes out of this slump.

With the increasing numbers of unemployed workers in the United States franchisers have a growing audience and number of potential franchisees. As more and more creative finance tools are uncovered and the federal reserve does everything in its power to loosen the financial markets, the access to capital will begin to come easier. This combination stands to fuel franchise growth at unprecedented levels in 2009 and beyond.

When opening a franchise, there are certain questions that you need to ask yourself. It is very important that you ask yourself these questions because this is what puts everything into perspective for you. It is these questions that will help you determine whether or not you are a real success at what you are hoping to do with your life.

Those questions are:

• Do I need work that provides me with intellectual stimulation? Some franchise businesses require very little education, which means there may be very little stimulation. Some people are just wired to have to have a lot of stimulation.

• What other priorities are in my life? When opening a franchise, all of your working time is devoted to that franchise. You may find that you’ll become quite frustrated if there are other activities that you want to do on the side.

• How are you when dealing with the public? Owning a franchise involves dealing with the public. You have to know how to deal with them in order to be successful.

• What is your likelihood of entering the world of work again? If something happens that your franchise doesn’t succeed the way you want it to, you must evaluate how easily you can enter the work world again.

• What are the costs? Legal fees, rent, utilities, and security systems are things that you have to take into consideration when considering the cost of a franchise.

You should have answers to all of these questions in order to help you make a decision regarding whether or not to enter into the franchise business. If you are already there, then you still need to evaluate these things to make your business a success.