Saturday, November 15, 2008

Buying a Franchise

By business card secrets

One good option is to buy a franchise. Franchises are basically ready-made business formats. You pay a fee - which is often quite substantial - and in exchange are helped to set up in business using the franchisor's name and business method. Generally speaking, a franchise gives the right to exclusive use of the organisation's established name within a specified area.

The use of the organisation's name is an essential ingredient of any franchise, but in addition most franchises offer all or some of the following:

Help in choosing premises Advice and assistance in setting up Training, if required Publicity material and general marketing support Operating methods for the business.

The price you pay is usually made up of an initial fee paid to the franchisor, plus a royalty - a specified percentage of your turnover or profits. There is usually also some loss of independence. The prices you can charge may be set by the franchisor, for example, and you may have to buy all your supplies from the franchisor or his nominated supplier.

Not all franchises are suitable for people wanting to set up home-based businesses - even if you wanted to, you would be highly unlikely to get planning permission to turn your home into a McDonalds' franchise. Many franchised businesses, however, (e.g. carpet cleaning, driving instruction and fast food catering) can perfectly well be operated in this way.

Buying a franchise, especially of a well-known and established company, can be expensive. Unless you have a large amount of capital you are likely to have to borrow to meet the cost. On the other hand, potential lenders may be more sympathetic if funds are going on a proven business concept. In any event, before entering into any franchise arrangement it is important to obtain professional advice from a solicitor or an accountant.

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