How many of us grow up with the dream of one day working for a boss in a monotonous 09:00 – 17:00 job? If you’re anything like me, one of your greatest dreams is most likely to be your own boss, work your own hours and enjoy every second of it!

One of the safest paths to follow when wanting to invest in your own company is to purchase a franchise. When a franchise opportunity comes knocking on your door, it is a wise course of action to know what the pros and cons of owning a franchise are, and if it is the best thing for you to invest in.

Let’s first take a look at some of the “thumbs up” elements of a franchise opportunity:

A great deal of franchises are already well established market leaders in their particular fields. When you purchase a well known franchise outlet you don’t have to start from level zero and develop the brand first. Consumers will already know that your outlet provides the best pizzas, fruit juice, paint, clothes, or whatever else you’ve decided to invest in. You do not need to try and persuade the consumer that “Benny’s nameless pies” are the best that you can buy; they will know from experience that your product/service can be trusted.

The franchise head office witout a doubt has marketing strategies in place for whatever it is your franchise offers. Franchises are usually available nationwide and that’s why a lot of extensive marketing and advertising is done to ensure that the company is regarded as a household name. You are usually still allowed to do some of your own local advertising, it usually just needs to be cleared with head office first. Once more, just imagine if you had to try running a successful marketing strategy on your own – television adverts, radio adverts, magazine adverts and other advertising can set you back a pretty penny!

You are not alone. Most franchises offer continuous support for their franchise owners. Whether it be technical info, brand strategies or any other assistance, help is generally just a telephone call or email away. Keep in mind that the people that you get your franchise from have been in the industry for a long time and they have a lot of knowledge available to share with their franchise owners. In the end, by helping their franchisees, they are in fact helping the brand and themselves too!

So far so good, don’t you think? So what on earth are the “thumbs down” factors of a franchise opportunity then?

For most franchises a per month franchise fee is payable. This can vary from a set amount per month to a portion of your monthly turnover. For franchises with very small turnovers this can sometimes be a bit of a “money muncher”, especially if the franchise fee is payable from month 1 when you are still trying to find your feet.
Franchises come with a lot of very strict rules and regulations that every franchise owner must abide by. If you are more of a free-spirit who does not like to do what is expected from you, you might not be the perfect franchise owner.

Think about the above very carefully and make a intelligent choice about your future!