Category: Franchise

Article Contributed by Carly Evans

When people think about franchising, they normally think about fast food chains and other time-consuming businesses. The truth is, however, that there are tons of franchise industries that are economical on both time and investment. These low-cost franchise industries are also increasing in popularity; it’s easy to see why. With the U.S. economy in an unstable state, people want to be entrepreneurial but not too risky. These industries allow people to start their own businesses without the high-risk situation that a restaurant or similar establishment might yield.

So what are some low-investment franchise industries?

Cleaning Franchises

Cleaning franchises can span many types of services. The most popular right now are housecleaning services. Providing an affordable and trustworthy housecleaning service is important to many people in this busy world. They do not have the time to devote to their houses that they should and are looking for a professional clean. From a franchisee perspective, it’s perfect because it is a home-based business. You can dictate how many employees you have (if any) and how many jobs you take. There is flexibility in your schedule and low overhead.

Carpet cleaning, mold eradication, power washing and dry cleaning franchises are also in the cleaning category and can yield great business opportunities for a low initial investment.

Vending Franchises

Vending franchise industry is one of the best-kept secrets in franchising. Many people are unfamiliar with just how many vending franchises there are. Just to name a few that you see on a weekly basis are DVD vending kiosks, snack and soda machines, back massage chairs, ATMs and breathalyzer vending machines. All of these machines turn a profit for their owners—and that owner could be you! They are low-cost and many of them low maintenance. An option like massage chairs is great because there is no merchandise to restock. You only have to keep up with maintenance. These can be some of the least time-consuming franchises to own.

Pet Care Franchises

Pet care franchises are also low investment because it can be home-based or mobile. There’s no need to pay rent on a space when you can go to your furry clients easily! This is a great opportunity if you love animals; there are franchises that do pet grooming, pet sitting, sell pet supplies and dog walking/running. You can pick the facet of pet care you’re most intrigued by and spend your days playing with animals.

Mobile Franchises

Mobile franchises encompass all kinds of industry, everything from senior care, to vending, to cleaning, to maintenance. Though these franchise industries vary in initial investment costs and time consumption, there are several that can provide a fun work environment for little risk. Being constantly on the go can be the most interesting job you ever have—and being your own boss wouldn’t be so bad either.

The Bottom Line

Check out these new and upcoming franchise industries for more information about specific franchises. Most low-investment franchises are under $20,000 to start. Feed your entrepreneurial spirit without risking your nest egg.

About the Author
Franchise Advice Expert Carly Evans works as a Content Writer for www.FranchiseClique.com.

Article Contributed by Ray Haiber

As a professional small business broker and franchise sales consultant I am often asked what types of franchise opportunities are the most profitable to start and own. From my experience there are a few common factors or characteristics that give some franchise business models a definite edge or advantage when it comes to the ability to consistently produce high profit margins. Some of these advantageous characteristics include having low overhead expenses, limited competition, and not offering a commodity type product or low barrier services. Below are a few franchise opportunity categories that share some of these characteristics and are generally regarded as having the right stuff to be very profitable.

Financial Services Franchises:

Franchises that offer financial related services such as income tax preparation, accounting, and consumer insurance services generally enjoy very high profit margins for a number of reasons. This includes low overhead expenses because of generally lower staffing requirements and no absolute need to rent high traffic (and expensive) retail space. And because they offer professional type services the barrier to entry is a little higher than starting the average home cleaning or janitorial franchise which helps limit competition. And last but not least financial franchises like insurance and tax franchises offer services that have the ability to generate repeat and residual income which can do wonders for the bottom line.

Medical and Health Care Franchises:

Medical and senior care franchises are well positioned to reap the benefits of an ever expanding market due to major and favorable demographic trends such as the inevitable aging of the baby boomer population. Traditionally health care and medical related franchises that offer services like assisted living, senior home care, and lab testing have very high profit margins and are generally considered recession resistant. These factors bode well for maintaining high profit margins for these generally non-discretionary services that will always be in demand for the foreseeable future.

Home Based Franchises:

Some of the most highly profitable small businesses I have ever worked with as a professional business broker were home based. In my opinion the benefit of not having the expense of a monthly lease payment can not be overstated in terms of bottom line profitability. Other profitable advantages of owning a home based business include no daily commuting or travel expenses, as well as certain tax advantages that could put more money in your pocket at the end of the year. Be sure to consult with an accountant or CPA for more details about the tax advantages of starting a home based franchise or business.

Internet Franchises:

Starting an Internet franchise business offers many advantages in terms of setting the stage for being very profitable. This includes the fact the most Internet franchise opportunities being offered today can easily be operated from a small home based office with just an internet connection, computer, desk, and a chair. Consequently your overhead expenses will be much lower than that of a typical brick and mortar retail franchise business because there are no lease expenses or expensive equipment and inventory expenses. And generally most Internet franchises being offered today are designed to be owner operated so there are no expensive staffing requirements either.

About Author:

Ray Haiber has 12 years experience as a professional business broker and franchise consultant. You can view Franchises For Sale across the USA here. Go here to research affordable and low cost franchise opportunities for sale. © 2010

Opening a franchise business is widely regarded as a very effective way for the average entrepreneur to minimize their risk when starting a new business. In general terms I would agree that this claim is accurate. However, don’t kid yourself that just because you opted to start a franchise business that you are more or less guaranteed to achieve success. In my experience nothing could be further from the truth. Many new franchise businesses fail, and fail all the time. Below in my opinion and experience is a few of the main reasons why some franchise businesses don’t make it.
Poor Location:
For retail franchise businesses it’s all about location, location, location. In my opinion a marginal location with poor visibility and low organic traffic can often be an impossible obstacle to overcome when launching a new retail franchise business. Before signing any retail lease for a franchise location make sure you thoroughly investigate the organic traffic potential of the site including soliciting the opinions of other business owners in the immediate area.
Incompetent Ownership & Unrealistic Expectations:
Many new franchise businesses never stand a chance of surviving because the owner is just not capable of following the basic franchise system, or is unwilling to put in the hard work and make the necessary sacrifices required to succeed. Unfortunately as a small Business Broker I see this scenario arise all the time in the form of a phone call from a new franchise owner that wants to sell 6 months after opening. Many of these owners reveal that operating a franchise is not what they expected or it’s just too much hard work. In lot of these cases I believe the Franchiser probably never should have awarded a franchise license to some of these candidates in the first place. But at the end of the day it’s the responsibility of the franchisee to make sure they fully understand the commitment and hard work that’s required to succeed in today’s marketplace.
Brutal Competition:
Many new franchise businesses face overwhelming competitive forces from similar franchise concepts and independent businesses already entrenched in their target market. In some cases this includes competition from other fellow franchisees who have been allowed by the franchiser to open other locations in a relatively small market area. In short, it’s my opinion that many major metro markets are completely oversaturated with certain types of franchising concepts making it sometimes extremely difficult for new franchise owners to make a living and ultimately succeed.
Franchise Fad:
Inevitably there are going to certain hot franchising concepts that emerge in the market place that are ultimately going to fizzle out as a fad. Remember the meal preparation franchise craze? Maybe because I’m a guy, but I never thought this was a very compelling or strong franchising concept to begin with. But regardless of what I thought, it appears that the vast majority of meal preparation franchises that opened between 2002 and 2008 (under several different franchiser flags) have closed their doors already with many franchisees loosing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. The moral of the story is just because a new franchise concept is popular or hot doesn’t mean it’s a proven business model.
Under Capitalization:
One of the most common reasons I have found that a lot of franchise businesses ultimately fail is they are simply don’t have enough working capital to survive the initial start-up phase. It’s a fairly well known franchising fact that the majority of new franchise businesses are not able to show a profit until there second year in business. This is why it’s crucial to have adequate working capital in reserve to meet your operating expenses until you can reach profitability.
Summary: Please keep in mind that all prospective business buyers should thoroughly investigate any franchise or business, obtain all appropriate disclosure documents available, and seek expert consultation prior to making any investment decisions.
About the Author:
Ray Haiber has 10 years experience as a professional Arizona Business Broker and franchise sales consultant. You can view and research many different types of franchises for sale for sale across the USA here.

It is inevitable that starting and successfully operating any small business today is always going to generate an ever evolving list of complaints and disappointments for most owners. Entrepreneurs that choose franchising as the means to open a small business will have many of the same complaints as independent owners do along with a few unique ones because they are ultimately bound to a long term relationship with their franchiser. Here are a few of the most common complaints I hear from franchise owners regarding their relationship and experiences with their franchiser.
My Franchiser Is My Competitor:
This is one the most common, and in my opinion most valid complaints I hear from some franchise owners. It is the nature of small business that you are going to have competitors, but when your franchiser is creating the competition and diluting your market share by opening multiple locations uncomfortably close to yours that’s a tough pill to swallow. Before signing any franchise agreement make sure you thoroughly investigate and understand the rights and restrictions for your specific franchise territory. This would include speaking to other current franchisees in your target territory and asking them to share their experiences with competition from other franchisees.
Those Monthly Royalty Fees:
I have found that many new franchisees are so excited about getting there location open that they often defer any concerns about paying monthly royalty fees. However, once the initial excitement wears off, and they are involved full time in the hard work it takes to become successful those royalty fees become a much more tangible reality and commitment. The biggest complaint I hear from some franchisees regarding paying royalty fees is that they feel the franchiser does very little or nothing in return for them. Whether that’s true are not (I have no doubt that it is in some cases) unfortunately at the end of the day it is ultimately the responsibility of the franchisee to adhere to the terms of the franchise agreement they signed. Before signing any franchise agreement make sure during the disclosure process you speak to as many current franchisees possible and ask them if they feel they are getting real value from the royalty fees they pay.
Too Many Restrictions:
I often hear complaints from some franchise owners regarding the number of operating restrictions placed on them by their franchiser. Many complain that the franchiser exerts onerous control on how the business can be operated and are often frustrated that they are unable to react independently to local market realities and demands. I am sure a lot of these complaints are valid, but I guess I’m a little less sympathetic to these types of complaints for the simple fact that the franchisee chose to buy into a franchise system with known controls and restrictions. Many of which have been proven to given the franchisee a greater chance of success- which is the essence of the franchising. That being said, I would advise before buying any franchise business you honestly ask yourself if you have the right personality to follow a pre-determined franchise business system and all its inherent operating rules and restrictions.
Oversold Potential:
As a Business Broker I have heard a number of new and established franchise owners complain that they felt they were oversold on the potential earning power of their franchise business. This is a tough complaint to validate because it is generally a known fact that most franchisers do not disclose their earnings and are generally very careful about discussing earnings potential for a typical franchise location. That being said in my experience sometimes the franchiser (or their sales people) along with existing franchisees can sometimes paint an overly optimistic picture about how soon and well a typical franchise location will perform. Your best bet to mitigate this potential disappointment is to speak candidly with current and former franchise owners and ask them if your expectations are overly ambitious.
Summary: Please keep in mind that all prospective business buyers should thoroughly investigate any franchise or business, obtain all appropriate disclosure documents available, and seek expert consultation prior to making any investment decisions.
About the Author:
Ray Haiber has 10 years experience as a professional Arizona Business Broker and franchise sales consultant. You can view and research many different types of franchises for sale across the USA here.

If there’s one thing that everybody likes doing, it’s going out to a restaurant. Whether you have experience in the service industry or you’ve always been interested in owning a restaurant, a restaurant franchise might be right for you. Owning a restaurant franchise is one of the most sure-fire ways to have a successful business. People dine out based on brand recognition, and when you become a restaurant franchise owner you’ll be able to offer a familiar name and menu to customers.
When you’re looking for a restaurant franchise it’s easy to see the history of success that other people have had in different areas. By opening a restaurant business in a nearby area, you can capitalize on the success that the restaurant has seen elsewhere. This is especially true if you are opening your restaurant business in an area where there is a lot of passing traffic. Out-of-town diners are more likely to eat some place with a recognizable name than to try a local restaurant.
There are nearly a million restaurants nationwide and national sales for 2008 should reach $558 billion. Even in times of economic hardship, people still continue to eat at restaurants. 70% of adults surveyed say their favorite restaurant has dishes and flavors that are not reproducible in their home kitchens. Although there’s a large initial investment when opening a restaurant franchise, it’s not comparable to going into the restaurant business alone. When you’re independent of the franchise system you won’t have the added benefits of brand recognition and support from the home office.
As you probably know, there are many different types of restaurant franchises to choose from. You can choose based on cuisine, type of service offered or even focus on food specialties, like at Zoup. Zoup is a fast service soup restaurant franchise. It offers a healthy alternative to burgers, fries and normal fast service dining options. If you want a restaurant business like no other, this may be just the right one for you.
You may want to go with a more familiar restaurant franchise, like McDonald’s, Burger King or Carl’s Jr. These restaurant franchises offer a familiarity that come with an expensive price. If you’re married to the idea of owning a burger joint, Checkers may be right for you. Checkers is a drive-through restaurant franchise that focuses on burgers, fries and shakes. In a small but efficient space, your staff will work a double drive-through to provide quick service at a great price.
Restaurant franchises like La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill offer ethnic food in a casual dining environment. In the industry since 1979, La Salsa is committed to providing fresh Mexican food with the added feature of a fresh salsa bar in each restaurant. Casual dining restaurants like La Salsa are growing in popularity and this type of restaurant franchise is sure to be a winner in your area.
About the Author:
FranchiseGenius.com is the largest, most comprehensive online directory of franchise concepts, with 1,700+ concepts summarized, and includes a franchise resource center full of objective and useful information.