Hi lovely mummas!
We are looking at starting a business but we are stuck with the decision of buying into a franchise or starting our own from scratch?.. Just hoping to hear any advice, opinions and experiences, any sort of help would be very much appreciated!
Thanks IM's xo
4 Replies
Myself and hubby own our own business it's a franchise, a few years ago we had an opportunity to go independent but we found it alittle too hard. The beauty of a franchise is you have the franchisor behind you to help with lease negotiations, business plans, ect ect
My family have owned a lot of their own businesses over the years and I've worked in a lot of franchises and learnt a lot about the way they are run.
I would never buy into a franchise, you can't run it the way you want. There is always someone telling you how to run it even things like your signage, pricing etc. if I were to buy my own business I would want to run it my way....
We have our own business, it's the best thing we've ever done. My parents used to have a franchise but it was actually kind of ridiculous the fees they had to pay and you had to follow their 'rules/guidelines', it was very limiting. Owning your business is great because it can become as big or small as you wish.
There's pros & cons to owning a franchise. Pros: usually a well known product or service, a brand; a proven system, procedures & policies to follow; support & training; possibly advertising & marketing are included
Cons: fees & royalties can be expensive; pricey to join, less control over direction you want to take your business; contractual obligations
You need to look at your personal skill sets, as in are you capable of creating your own procedures, managing staff, advertising & knowledge of your target market & market trends, keeping accurate accounts, aswell as the hands on work of the business.
Most importantly, get good advice from an accountant who specialises in franchise & startup business & can help you with your business plan/proposal. Good luck