Wednesday, October 1, 2008

What Makes A Quality Franchise Business Opportunity

By Myles Krueger

When you have made the decision to either purchase or invest into a franchise how do you know if the franchise is a quality one or not? An important measurement of quality is the rate of growth of the franchise. How many new franchisees are added each year?

The franchisors authorize the proven methods and trademarks of their businesses to franchisees for a fee and a percentage of gross monthly sales. Agreements typically last five to twenty years, with premature terminations of most contracts bearing serious consequences.

The information is not disclosed on the individual franchise disclosure document. So, it is necessary to ask the franchiser for these numbers. If a franchise system has been operating for a number of years but has not added many franchisees, there may be problems in their system.

Other determining questions you should inquire about are the demand for the product in the market or the services offered by the company. Also, check on the competition in the industry, the reputation of the company and if it is an established and well-known business.

When the percentage of new franchisees falls between 10 percent and 35 percent of the total number of franchisees, this would be considered healthy. It's different for very large or small companies to be measured the same, however. With those sizes of companies, you need to look at the number of support personnel.

Here the ratio for a growing and adequate franchise should be one support person for every 10-20 new franchisees. This informs you new franchisees are getting the correct preparation to develop their businesses. You do not want to invest with a company who has one leg already in the ground.

Talk with many existing franchisees and pay particular attention to those that have recently joined the franchise system. Ask questions about marketing effectiveness and earnings potential. Specifically covering the areas as the training they received when they first arrived and if they have had any ongoing support.

Having a franchise broker can also help you in purchasing a franchise business by negotiating the price during the processing stage and he will charge a fee for his services, but it is worth it and just make sure that you have checked the broker's credentials and credibility before hiring. Regardless of the business opportunity, make sure that you have researched thoroughly concerning the company that you are planning to purchase the franchise from. You need to ask many questions in order to make the final decision every step of the way.

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