Starting your own business can be a difficult and long drawn out process, full of pitfalls and traps for the novice entrepreneur and unfortunately a significant number of businesses never reach the break-even stage.

To buy a franchise business allows you to shorten the learning curve considerably. Not only will you instantly be trading under an established name – which has most likely taken years, if not decades, of nurturing and promoting to establish – but you will also have access to the business know-how and experience which has made the franchise a success. The person who founded the business into which you may buy a franchise would have possessed a whole lot of sheer bloody-mindedness and extraordinary drive to not only have created the business concept in the first place, but to steer it to where is now – a (hopefully) successful franchise. If you do buy a franchise opportunity, you will be buying into, and be able to benefit from, the same culture of success.

So what are the reasons to NOT buy a franchise? The two main reasons are cost and restrictions.

Starting a franchise will often cost more upfront than starting an original business concept. This is because you will have to pay a franchise fee which covers the franchise development costs, franchise marketing expenses and the franchise training program. There will the be additional costs of a franchise royalty and usually you will need to contribute to the franchise advertising fund. Additionally the franchisor may insist on a minimum amount of working capital to be available.

Whilst these expenses may seem high, they will normally be realistic and help ensure that your new business is successful. On the other hand starting your own business may be possible on a shoe-string budget, but it will be a lot tougher to get to the break-even point.

Some of the restrictions that the franchise agreement imposes on their franchisees are there for a good reason: The franchise business model has been finely honed, possibly over decades, and one of the constant battles a franchisor has is resisting the implementation of every new bright idea that franchisors want to try. Uniformity is important in the franchise world. Every customer who is familiar with the franchise chain expects to see the same products, the same branding and the same “look and feel”. It is one of the aspects of franchising that appeals to customers.

Another restriction that may apply is one of territory. Although this is becoming less prevalent these days, many franchises still make it a requirement to define a territory in which the franchise may operate. Such a practise may have the effect of reducing competition in a particular territory and so give a new franchise a better chance of success. On the other hand owning a franchise territory may place heavy burdens on the franchisee who may be expected to develop the territory and reach certain milestones within a given period.

So there are many factors to consider when making the decision whether to buy a franchise or start a brand new business concept, but for many, the discipline and guidance from the franchisor will make buying a franchise a wiser choice.

There are many avenues one can take to get involved with travel franchises, including travel agency franchise opportunities, cruise franchise opportunities, and hotel and rental car franchise opportunities. Even touring companies and map publishers offer franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs eager to become part of the exciting travel industry.

How to Choose What’s Right for You

The segment you choose may depend on the type of work that most interests you. Perhaps you have always been intrigued by the lodging industry, secretly dreaming of owning a hotel.

If so, you may be interested in knowing that 70 % of hotels in the United States are part of franchises. Or, you may be interested in providing specialized services, such as planning the entire vacation. Many travel agents are so detailed that they offer health-related advice for those taking trips to exotic locations.

Maybe you are looking for a lucrative opportunity for home-based income. If so, you’ll be glad to know that many travel franchise opportunities allow you to successfully work from home with an Internet franchise.

Moreover, not only are many travel franchises great prospects for home-based income and discounted vacations, they are a portal into the growing travel industry. In fact, the cruise industry alone is growing at an average of 8.4 % annually and has been America’s fastest growing vacation for more than two decades.

With the travel industry strengthening so rapidly, you may be wondering if a franchise business is more beneficial than starting your own business.

Also, if you are interested in mixing work with pleasure, consider an international franchise. This franchise opportunity works well for entrepreneurs who have family members and friends in other countries or even for those who simply love to travel.

Many franchise businesses allow the franchisee to manage most of the work from afar on a regular basis and travel to the location periodically. A hotel franchise in Spain, for example, would allow be perfect for a franchisee who has relatives there. The franchisee would have the opportunity to visit family members, work on-location, and even have a place to lodge, if needed.

Building a successful business takes a great deal of research, time and in many cases, a fair amount of capital. One of the most important business decisions is where to locate a store. Since many travel franchisees can operate from their home offices and online, you may not have to plan for a location. However, if you must choose a location, consider the surrounding businesses.

Customers find comfort in working with a brand name they trust, especially if they are traveling to foreign countries. Travel franchisees reap the benefits of working with a trusted brand.

Many franchisors offer secure client lists, advertising and website development programs, training programs and group inventory in addition to discounted travel. Additionally, you will also benefit from working for a company that more than likely will provide the tools you need to operate a travel franchise.

For instance, in the hotel industry, franchises offer a centralized reservation system for guests. Through this system, if a guest arrives at a franchised hotel without a reservation only to find no vacancy, the hotel clerk can log in to the centralized reservation system and find availability at a nearby location. This is just one example of how a franchise business offers advantages to its franchisees. After all, a franchisor is looking to expand through this opportunity.

Current studies show that 80 % of all franchisees successfully launch their business franchises. When compared to a success rate of only 40 to 60 % for new businesses, a franchise is an obvious choice.

Of course, even building a franchise takes financial investments and valuable time. Before being whisked away by a travel franchise, you should do preliminary research. Take the time to find the franchise business opportunity that fits your needs and helps your professional and financial goals.

Home health care is a growing industry as many people cannot afford extended hospital stays and the costs of medical care is rising. This is a great industry to be involved with and offers some fantastic opportunities for you. Here are 5 of the best home health franchise opportunities to choose from.

Senior Helpers

If you enjoy helping people then Senior Helpers wants to talk to you. The number of seniors needing home health care is growing every day and as medical costs continues to rise; your services will be in higher demand. Senior Helpers has a great marketing program that helps you to take advantage of referrals from social workers and state agencies. They definitely need your help. Check out this very rewarding opportunity.

Always Best Care Senior Services

Projections are that demand for senior home health care is going to rise dramatically as more baby-boomers begin to retire. Always Best Care has dedicated itself to making sure seniors get the very best care possible. If you have a heart for helping seniors, then this is the business for you. You will receive intensive training and support, not only on home health care but also on running an efficient and productive business. Give them a call, you will be glad you did!

Home Health Mates

Here is your chance to be a part of an industry that is exploding and desperately needs your help. Home health franchise opportunities are growing faster every day and Home Health Mates is one of the best opportunities around. With franchises available throughout the United States, they can help you get involved in this very rewarding business and give you everything you need to operate and insure your success.

Interim Healthcare

Interim Healthcare gives you the opportunity to be involved in home health on one of three different levels. If you would like to be involved on a non-medical level, then check out the program for their personal care franchises. For a more involved program, they offer franchises in programs for licensed or Medicare certified agencies as well as physical therapists and nurses. You are sure to find the opportunity you are looking for here.

Long gone are the days when restaurant franchising was purely synonymous with fast food burger joints and pizza parlours. The industry has now branched out and restaurant franchises include not only themed food from countries all across the globe, but also internet cafes, coffee stalls, tea shops, sandwich bars and cookie outlets.

Many involve several food and drink types, combining coffee, smoothies, juice and other drinks with muffins, bagels, baguettes and wraps. One of the newest restaurant franchising opportunities in the UK focuses on the health trend, with all menu items having some health benefit. Healthy eating venues emphasise their use of fresh, quality nutritionally balanced, high-flavour ingredients and pride themselves on their “green” credentials, their aim being to run a responsible and sustainable business.

Until recently, healthy eating in the UK had a (possibly deserved) reputation for bland and boring food, bound to leave you still feeling hungry. However, limp lettuce leaves and dry crackers have been consigned to the past, according to one new healthy eating restaurant franchise which is planning to expand across London and the south east and hopes to revolutionise the healthy eating market.

To create an exciting new healthy food experience for the UK market, the new business has a large salad and wrap bar with a choice of fifteen house combinations, or customers can create their own. It also has a range of healthy sandwiches and wraps, with full nutritional and calorific content displayed. Their breakfast menu includes a range of toasted granary bread, lean bacon rolls on low GI granary bread, yoghurts and granola as well as fresh juices and fair-trade, organic coffee. In the winter months they plan to serve hot salads and soups, handmade chillies and stews, Scottish porridge and jacket potatoes.

Prices at restaurants and cafes specialising in healthy food tend to be higher than those at fast food outlets and are therefore usually found in affluent areas, or where consumers are more likely to be health or image conscious, such as health clubs, gyms, leisure centres and private clinics or hospitals.

Are you considering the world of food franchises as the empire you’ll preside over? There are many types of franchise opportunities in the food industry, running the gamut from fast food franchises or donut shops to gourmet steak-houses and fine dining establishments, yet there are pros and cons to choosing the food industry for your new franchise.

There are many advantages to buying a food franchise. The main advantage is that successful branding and business planning are already in place, just waiting for you to work their magic. You’ll have a very professional support staff personally invested in your success, since the triumph of a new franchise naturally means more capital and prestige for the corporate franchisor. Market research is easy since you can walk across town and inquire as to the success of other units.

Another advantage is that your food products will have demonstrated staying power in the market, guaranteeing you years of healthy business. It’s also easiest to get financing options for an industry characterized by high returns. Lastly, there is a certain pride in owning a food franchise, which has become a symbol of Americana and a staple of our cultural landscape.

However, there are some dangers in food franchises as well. First, you need to consider the labor challenges you may face. The high turnover rate of low-wage employees is often overlooked but it can have a dramatic impact on how well your business is run and how satisfied your customers are. Recruiting and retaining capable workers is more of a challenge with fast food franchises than restaurant franchises, but with the latter you’ll be paying higher wages. Also, the profit margins are fairly low for a fast food franchise because the prices need to be kept low to compete. With restaurant opportunities, you’ll be making more, but not by much because you’ll also need to be investing more to get gourmet products and quality workers.

So how do you know if food franchises are for you? After considering all the pros and cons, you may still feel uncertain. Shadowing a food franchise owner for a few weeks may be the best way to know for sure if you can hack the day-to-day operations. While this commitment may seem tedious, it’s an essential part of the process before investing your hard-earned money into a franchising business.

One industry that can be entered into very cheaply is the commercial cleaning business. Commercial cleaning requires little equipment and few employees. It is even possible to operate a commercial cleaning franchise as an owner operator. Because of the extremely low overhead many of these franchises can be opened or $10-$15,000. Commercial cleaning franchises are unique in the fact that many of these franchises will acquire your initial accounts for you and your franchise fees be based on the size of these accounts. These types of franchises are perfect for the individual who hates to sell.

Another cheap franchise idea would be the use of the kiosk. If you are a frequent visitor to the mall you will undoubtedly have seen many of these kiosks lining the middle of the walkways. Several franchisors are available that specialize in kiosk sales. Kiosks are easy to maintain and relatively small. In addition, the kiosk will normally require one employee or an owner operator. There are a number of franchisors who sell a variety of items from kiosks ranging from hats, candy, chocolates, and other merchandise to name a few.

Finally, another industry that is suited for cheap franchising is the carpet cleaning business. Many carpet cleaning franchises specialize in financing the purchase price of a franchise and offering low payments. In addition, many of these franchises can be operated by an owner or with one technician. Carpet cleaning is an industry that is always in demand. A certain percentage of households will have their carpets cleaned every six months to one year. Like the commercial cleaning business, this type of repeat customer can provide a wonderful consistent stream of income throughout the year.

No matter what type of cheap franchise you decide on it should be something that interests you. If you buy a franchise and then find out later that it is not suited to your liking then you may be stuck with something that can be far worse than a boring dead-end job since you have a great deal of financial investment at stake. One way to determine if a franchise is right for you is to find a similar franchise outside of the area you are considering and offering to work for the owner for free for a short time to determine if it is something worth pursuing. No matter if it is a job or a franchise if you’re doing something you love it is sure to be a success.

Franchise attorneys deal with the area of law revolving around the right or license that is granted to an individual or group to market a company’s goods or services in a particular territory under the company’s trademark, trade name, or service mark. These attorneys need to understand the different State statutes in different states.

Hiring a franchise consultant is not the same as hiring a franchise attorney, in fact their entirely different and both are often needed to successfully start a franchise. The following are a few examples of some of the differences: Franchise attorneys need to be aware that some states have rather strict franchise regulations others do not. Also franchise attorneys need to know that other states, including Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky and North Carolina regulate franchising through “business opportunity” acts. These are just a few examples of how franchise attorneys deal with franchise laws from state to state.

Franchise attorneys can prepare legally correct paperwork, protecting your business from a legal standpoint pointing out potential risks that may lead to future lawsuits.

Whether or not you are currently faced with or involved with a legal issue, a franchise attorney provides highly valuable services including, but not limited to providing legal guidance and advice on whether to franchise or pursue other means of distribution and growth.

Your franchise attorney provides guidance and insight on growing your franchise or distribution systems domestically and internationally, and wherever opportunity may be present. Your franchise attorney also provides legal counsel on multi-unit ownership and co-branding of the franchise.

Additionally franchise attorneys also provide a variety of transactional, litigation and dispute resolution services of the franchise.

Finding a qualified franchise attorney is not difficult. Most professionals engaged in the franchise industry will advise getting a referral when looking for a franchise attorney.

Setting up a franchise business is a very complicated issue and should not be done without the help of a franchise attorney. No matter how knowledgeable and skilled you are and how helpful your franchiser is but with such issues you should not take a chance and hire your own franchise attorney.