Which is the Best Franchise to Own?
When you are looking at a franchise there a few things to consider in order to find out which one is the best for you.
At RISE we believe a key driver should be passion and interest. This will be your own business and you will have to put in hard graft to make it work, so it’s important that you believe in the product and have a real interest in a successful future in your chosen business. If you lack passion or interest, it makes it so much harder to cope with the ups and downs that come with starting your own business.
What is a Franchise?
A franchise is a business in which independent entrepreneurs use the rights to a larger company’s business name, logo, and products to operate an individual location. The franchisor is the owner of the larger company who sells the rights to license their business, and the franchisee is the third-party owner and operator of the business locations.
The duty of the franchisor is to select suitably qualified people and then train and support them to implement the business system. In return the franchisee must pay a monthly royalty for continued use of the brand name, systems, and advertising support.
You should consider yourself an entrepreneur, although you did not ‘invent’ the product or service, you are responsible for the success of the business.
How to Evaluate Each Opportunity
After you have picked the sector you want to be in (remember passion is number one for us!) there are a number of key issues to consider:
Investment Price
Some of the big franchises like McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts can cost up to £1m to get going and although there are lenders in this market, it is a lot to take on. Apart from purchasing the licence (also known as the franchise fee) there are the set-up costs for the business that can include taking on a premises lease and fit out; the launch budget; staff costs. See how it can mount up?
Ongoing Fees
Have a look at how the monthly royalty fee is structured. Is it a percentage of turnover? Does that have a cap? Is it a flat fee? In some franchises they offer a guaranteed income in the first year but check how this affects payments later. At RISE we operate with a flat fee as we feel this is the fairer way. As you build the business your reward should grow at a good pace. Franchisors that cream too much off the top put an unfair burden on franchisees.
Profitability
It is important to look at when the franchise pays the investment back and moves into true profitability. The break-even point is important, of course it is! But from there it is important to reach full payback in a reasonable time. You don’t want to spend 5 years getting to where you have got your investment back, the payback time will depend on a few factors but with smaller franchises within the year is doable. Check through the financial model and talk to other franchisees.
Support system
The franchisor will be training you in the business product, systems and operations. This should be a comprehensive training course and you should leave feeling confident that you can run this business. The team training you should be experts in their field, like Carl Smith who developed the RISE product, and have experience in franchising and the core product. Further to that there should be ongoing support because, lets face it, nothing goes perfectly smoothly.
Lifestyle
This might sound odd but you have to think about what kind of lifestyle you want. Owning and running a business is not a short term commitment so make sure you are up for whatever lifestyle the business allows you. It comes back to that passion that here at RISE we believe is so important. Our franchisees love the outdoors, fitness and helping people so that helps drive their success.
RISE Fitness is a new fitness franchise for the post pandemic world, aimed at people who work locally, love tech and the outdoors and want to get themselves active and healthy. What is not to love!
For franchisees it allows a lifestyle where you can run 8 outdoor bootcamps across the week and then support your members using the digital delivery package developed by team RISE and make real difference to people’s lives. It is very time efficient so this is a complete switch from the unsocial hours associated with personal training.
Talk to us now, an easy form to fill in and a no obligation webinar!
Have a look on Franchise Local at RISE.
#fitnessfranchise #outdoorbootcamp
Photo by Damian Siodłak on Unsplash
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