Lesson 10

The focus of this week’s material was franchising. Franchising is big business in the United States and across the world. I have visited many franchises but I did not know how much goes into getting a franchise set up. I thought franchising was like a product store for businesses. You choose which one you want, you buy it and you are all set. That is not even close to the way it works. The biggest positive of purchasing a franchise is that you are purchasing a tried and true business most of the time with brand recognition and a solid following. With Franchises the Franchiser has gone through and perfected all of the processes and you do not have to go through the trial and error yourself. Along with the positive comes the negative. There are so many restrictions that come along with owning a franchise. You are limited on the decisions you can make, you are geographically bound unless you purchase more regions, and there are large costs associated. You typically have to pay the franchise fee which is just the rights to use the brand, then you have to purchase all of the fixtures and equipment and on top of that you have to pay yearly fees (typically a percentage of your annual revenue).  I learned that franchises can be a good choice for starting a business but there is a lot involved in getting them going. The biggest is research. You need to understand the market and geographic demand for the franchise you are looking to purchase. You want to make sure that the franchise is a good one and will do what they say they are going to do and are willing to give you the support you need. Just like any other business there is a lot of ground work involved. It is not just an off the shelf product like I thought it takes research and a good plan to make it successful.

For my $100 project there hasn’t really been any changes. I did get another sell that put me safely above the $100 needed. While I didn’t make $200-300 like I had hoped it was still a great experience and it taught me a lot.  It also made me realize just how hard and frustrating it is to own a business but it also taught me how exhilarating it can be. I have caught the bug for sure and cannot wait to work on my next business.