by Wendy Hatton

Created on: June 14, 2007

To Franchise Or Not To Franchise?

Ever considered franchising as a way to your fortune, with a 90% success rate it can be a much safer bet than a conventional start-up.

But Buyer Beware! You may not be able to fully transpose a great idea from one area to another. Consider your culture, the ethnic and social mix in your area, the prevailing economic patterns. Former clients of mine insisted on placing a high ticket item, specialist African furniture store in a suburban shopping plaza. Sure the local population was in the correct income bracket but they preferred to shop for big ticket items in a more upbeat, sophisticated location. Immediate result a great store with fountains and animal skin couches, next to a fruit store and a shoe repairers. End result no clients and bankruptcy.

Similarly another client's successful landscaping franchise grew from a small one man and a van operation to a multi employee, multi million dollar operation when we advised him to move locations to an area that had extremely high viewer ratings for home makeover' shows and numerous home improvement exhibitions planned for the next two years.

Finally consider does this franchise suit me, my personality and skill set, even the most lucrative and attractive business can turn into hell on earth if you don't like what you're doing

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