For those budding entrepreneurs located in the USA that may be struggling to come up with an idea or find a business to start I’d like to point out another business blog that may just be your muse. Dane Carlson operates the Business Opportunities Weblog which besides being a great general business blog also contains a massive back catalogue archive of business opportunities, most of which are for franchises in America. Dane purports to only listing the best legitimate opportunities on his site. On inspection there seems to be a good selection of businesses for you to investigate.
Bear in mind that franchising usually requires significant capital investment upfront. When I say significant I mean thousands of dollars. In exchange for this you get access to proven systems, use of an established brand and the support from other franchisees and the business founders. Franchises often appeal to those that may have a lump sum of cash from retrenchment from a job or recent retirees looking to keep busy. By purchasing a franchise you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and come up with your own idea for a business which can be great for those that are good at implementing an already tested and established system.
At Dane’s blog you can find an interesting post, Franchising: Buying Your Way Into Business, which samples from an article by Ron Ameln. This article is a great primer for anyone considering jumping on the franchise wagon.
Although many people may consider franchising as a way to start a business, people slowly discover that franchising may not be for them. The capital required to start one is often times between 30,000 to 1.4 million (Mc’donalds). Let’s not be fooled by the quick riches of franchises…they take a lot of work and although you have a ready made system in place it does not guarantee success. The franchisor makes money whether you do or not! Many Franchisors charge a royalty on GROSS sales not NET sales, therefore after paying your royalty and rent and all your other expenses you may not even have a dollar of profit, but the franchisor always makes their money regarless of whether you are succesful or not.
Now, franchising isn’t bad. A large percentage of our current economy is franchises. But it surely isn;t for everybody, especilly that single mother of two looking for a way to earn extra income without getting a second job.
Yaro, have you ever fully studied the Network Marketing industry? It’s amazing. I like to call it the “People’s Franchise” or my personal “Pocket Business” (as you can bring it anywhere at anytime…)
Anyway, I’m out…
Hi Jason, no I haven’t studied the Network Marketing industry – are you referring to MLM?
Please exaplain Jason!
Yes, it is also known as MLM.