We talk to individuals all the time who are trying to decide if franchising is the best decision for them. The common trait with everyone who comes to us is that they all have an entrepreneurial spirit, but it takes a lot more than that to be successful in any business. When deciding which business venture to pursue, there are a lot of considerations to take into account. If you’re seriously considering owning your business, read this article to see if franchising is a viable option for you.
If you’re reading this article, you probably already know that franchising comes with a lot of benefits. You’re buying into an already-established brand, you have the training, marketing support and knowledge of the Franchise and you don’t have to go through work of educating the consumer on who you are and what you do. That in itself is enough reason for people to want to buy into a franchise over opening a new company. But, as with anything, there’s more to it than that. Even though franchising is a much more secure business venture, it also bears the same amount of effort, work and difficulties, as does any business.
Franchising doesn’t mean that it’ll be easy money. Yes, often times, consumers already know who you are and what you do based on the fact that your franchise is an established brand— but it might not be well known in the area that you are opening it. If you’re opening a franchise location in an area that doesn’t already have another location nearby (100+ miles), you are faced with educating the consumer, establishing and maintaining customers and competing with similar, local businesses. Luckily for you, you’ll have the support of Corporate to help with training and marketing collateral, but the rest will fall on you. Before opening any business, you need to have a sound business and marketing strategy as how to spread brand awareness and both drive and maintain business. We recommend coming into your business with a three, six, and nine-month strategy.
Although you will be your own boss, franchising has brand limitations. Remember, when you’re buying into an established brand, you have to be conscious and mindful of what the brand is and that means some of your ideas/wants/goals may differ from what is good for the overall brand image. For example, Dunkin Donuts is known for their pastries, coffee and on-the-go breakfast meals— they would not allow one of their franchisees to start selling hamburgers and French fries. This holds true for any franchise. Your decisions, products, services all have to best for the overall brand image. Should you choose to disregard this, Corporate is the right to take away your franchising permission, as doing so would be damaging to the brand. The reason why rules like this are in place is to ensure that no matter where a consumer might go, that their experience with the branded franchise is the same everywhere. By having that consistency, customers will trust the brand and be able to rely on its products or services. Once that trust is broken, even a few times, brand loyalty will not only be hurt, it might be lost forever. This learning is also something to keep in mind when hiring your staff members. As a franchisee, one of your responsibilities is to ensure exceptional consistency.
If you have questions or would like to speak to a GYMGUYZ member to see if franchising a GYMGUYZ location is a good fit for you, give us a call, 1-855-GYM-GUYZ. We’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you might have. Franchising is a huge business decision and we believe in being there every step of the way both during the decision and franchising process.
