The Power Of FRANCHISES
If you think you would make a good franchisee, the next step is finding franchisors that offer franchise businesses that match your skills and interests and fit your budget and financial needs. This requires a fair amount of research. After all, buying a franchise is a very big purchase and your livelihood will depend on it. Extra care during the research phase of selecting a franchise will definitely pay off down the road.
Fortunately, franchisors want to find you as much as you want to find them, so if you think they’re hard to find, they’re just hiding in plain sight. Franchisors can be found in a number of ways.
First, franchisors are organized professionals, so seek out the International Franchise Association (www.franchise.org) for its member listings. The IFA is the world’s largest clearinghouse on information about franchises, so if you can’t find a franchisor through this organization, beware. You’ll also find easy-to-use online tools to evaluate its members, too. The IFA does much more than this, but you can start your search with its data.
Franchisors are also listed for sale with business brokers. These intermediaries can match you with businesses for sale. However, they earn a commission on sales, so they may put their own interests before yours just to make the sale. The brokers FranChoice, FranNet, and Entrepreneur Source are examples of sound brokers. Each promotes itself as a consultant. The good brokers do their best to recommend good solutions for you and their franchisor client. Use of a broker can be helpful because the ultimate cost of the franchise should be no more expensive than initially dealing with the franchisor directly. The franchisor pays the commission to the broker, just like the home seller.
Franchisors often have websites, so a thorough Internet search will turn up franchises you may have overlooked. You can also find supplemental information about your targeted franchisor on its corporate website.
Franchises for sale are often advertised in the classified section of your local newspaper, and also in publications such as USA Today, Franchise Times, Franchising II and The Wall Street Journal. In any mature franchising system, there will be new franchises to be offered as well as existing ones that need to change owners. But he sure that you know exactly why the current franchisee is selling and if location or product is a problem, beware.
Franchisors often find franchisees through expos or franchising shows. While these can oftentimes be overwhelming, you can make contact with many franchisors at one of these events and become aware of options you may have overlooked.
These are some of the ways you can find potential franchisors. But remember these are your first steps, and it’s in your best interest to examine every aspect of the franchisor and your agreement.