Authored by Jayant Row in Business
Published on 04-16-2009
If you are looking to go into business for yourself and are not too clear or confident what you can take up, a franchise is a thing to consider. In a franchise, you are operating a business on behalf of somebody who has already a running organization, with a name, visibility, and a support system already in place.
What you would need to provide from your side is probably the right type of space, staff and office, and the investment needed to start operations. You would of course need to pay a royalty to the franchisee for using his name and would be subject to all the regulations and rules that his organization has. The extra costs may be quite a bit, but remember; you are new to the business and have the complete knowhow and support of the franchisee to run your business. If you were to start on your own you would have to first of all identify the business you want to start, set up everything on your own, and wait quite a while before your business gets known in the area where you are operating. There would be no support team which would have the experience to handle any problems that may occur.
Suppose you were considering starting a fast food corner on your own, you would besides looking for the place also have to buy the right equipment which as a newcomer you may not be too familiar with and may end up buying the wrong things. If you have a franchise all this exercise of choosing the equipment, placing it correctly will all be done for you. Even the uniforms and training of your staff will be assisted and in practically no time you would have a running business which is already known as a brand, and therefore leaves you free to concentrate on just running it without bothering about any marketing or sales efforts.
Now the point is, can you make money from a franchise operation? Not as much as you would if you run it successfully on your own, but if you have had the good fortune to link up with a well known brand, and are in the right location, it should not be too difficult to make your money count and get you the right returns. Right from day one you are a recognizable business. This could also help you to get the right and adequate financing during the running of your franchise. This high visibility in itself will help you to arrange for money at lower interest rates.
The present uncertainty in the job market has led to a number of people looking for alternatives and making money from a franchise is one of the things to definitely consider. It may cost you a little more in the beginning, but the fact that it is ready to go from day one and bring you profits, can be a big boost to your confidence especially after the downsides that you saw while you were working.
