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7 Franchise Advantages You Weren’t Aware Of

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Opening a Small Business Doesn’t Have to Be Intimidating; These Franchise Advantages are Backing You Up!

When you decide to  transform your dream of owning your own business into a reality you need to look at your options. The first is independent business—going solo. This is starting from scratch and building your business from an idea to a scaleable money-making endeavor. You find what you want to sell; goods or services, find a location; brick and mortar or online. A thousand other tasks come into play before establishing your financially adept business.

There is also franchising. Franchising is a method of expanding a business, distributing goods and services through a licensing partnership. The most prolific and widely-known brands are all franchises. Businesses like Panera Bread, Anytime Fitness, and Starbucks are examples of huge franchising models we all know. The person who began the business is the franchisor, who partners with those interested in investing, the franchisee. Essentially, franchising is the same route of business as going solo, only in this model someone has already went through the independent building and made it work.

Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique

Splash and Dash  began with an idea just like every business. The signature service provided members with unlimited monthly bath and brushing for a set price. No other pet grooming business did this. This membership service is at the core of the franchise. From this point, the brand—upscale ambiance, convenient retail products, pleasing aesthetic, emphasis on knowledge—was built around the service.  A few shops were really successful and the company grew from there.

The franchise advantage is that a franchise model’s strategies have a proven formula that has been shown to work in the marketplace. What are the franchise advantages and disadvantages out there?

Quicker Return on Investment (ROI)

Those interested in business have no doubt seen the gloomy SBA statistics showing how quickly businesses go belly up. It’s not a pretty picture. Investors pour their life savings into a business that fails in the first three years and are forced to declare bankruptcy. Entrepreneurs that work hard can expect to have their business become profitable around the third year, if the business hasn’t already failed.

One of the swiftest franchise advantages is the franchisor will work with you to ensure this does not happen to your location. A reputable franchise will measure company success on their franchisees’ success. Splash and Dash makes it a personal goal for their shop owners to break even within six months of opening doors. This is an amazing turn around rate for investors.

Lower Risk

Franchising is the best method for a business to grow to its full potential. The risk is a two-way street.

The risk is low for franchisees because the systems of business have already been perfected. Revenue streams, brand, and marketing are all pre-established and set in motion for the favor of the whole company—every franchisee benefits from this.

The risk is lower for a franchisor because the franchisee assumes the responsibility of financing and operations. A franchisor provides the tools to open and maintain the business, but there is no liability if this business fails. It will hurt the company holistically, but a franchisor will not lose capital. This is why it’s important to partner with the right fit who will give you the support you need.

Strong Profitability

Different franchise models have various methods of securing profits. Most franchises have entrenched revenue streams. A business capitalizes on a niche. This niche needs to be stable or even better growing.

Splash and Dash secures profits with a model of recurring revenue. This is based on the membership that customers purchase for a mutually beneficial agreement. A customer pays monthly for their membership and can use Splash and Dash services at their leisure. If a customer is coming in twice a week to have their dog groomed, they will naturally purchase their products at this one-stop-shop. Splash and Dash services also have add-ons for the benefit of clients’ pets. Each customer can choose to take advantage of an add-on or not, and members are discounted on all services.

This is just one example of the franchise advantages a particular company provides. Each model is different and has different methods of profiting.

Brand Recognition

Branding is loosely part of the umbrella of marketing, but instead of pushing outward on customers, a brand should be drawing them in. A company’s brand tells the story of the company. The values, products, and services the company provides.

This is a huge advantage franchise owners have over other small businesses. In the food service franchise sector, many customers are finicky. They know what foods they like and what foods they don’t like. They have their trusted brand and are loyal. Many franchise owners receive customer loyalty just because they are a representative of a certain brand.

If you choose to invest in a franchise, go with a brand that aligns with your own value and story you want to tell your customers.

Expansion & Penetration of Other Markets

That old expression, “When something ain’t broke don’t fix it” translates into the franchise world as, “My shop is seeing huge profits and everything is going really great so I guess it’s time to open a second shop and make more money.” Of course, this is the ideal situation, but rapid growth is a franchise advantage across the board.

Most franchise owners take their knowledge and capital and expand into the new market territories. They can open secondary, tertiary locations, and more. Some franchises like Panera, only allow franchisees to purchase packages only. Panera has a development plan where each franchise owner on average owns 15 of the bakery-cafes within six years of working with the company. No one can own a single Panera Bread.

A Helping Hand

Even seasoned business owners with tons of expertise can use the support of a franchisor when launching a business. Splash and Dash provides training and assistance for every step in the process from day one.

John Neugebauer, a franchise owner in San Diego told us this, “I worked in corporate America for about 20 years, had enough, and wanted to do something that made me happy. I went with a franchise over starting my own pet store because I have no idea what I’m doing. Having the support of the franchise behind me felt basically like they handed me their model and said ‘If you follow this, you should be successful.'”

Franchising should be a partnership and a good franchisor should invest in you as much as you have invested in them.

Fundamental Procedures Splash and Dash Assists With:

  • Hiring
  • Training
  • Site Selection
  • Lease Negotiation
  • Accounting
  • Marketing
  • Initial Stock Order
  • Point of Sales

Ease of Supervision and Staffing Leverage

Franchising allows for a consolidated organization. At the corporate level, a team of employees are expanding the franchise, assisting current franchise owners, and tending to the various demands of overarching business like marketing campaigns. The work corporate headquarters does offsets the work for each unit. A franchise owner doesn’t have to focus on these wider tasks and can leverage their efforts to their location. This also reduces a shop owner’s payroll because they won’t have to hire as many employees.

Disadvantages to Owning a Franchise

Owning a franchise is not the right choice for everyone. The biggest advantage a person can do for themselves is to invest in a franchise that works for them. There is a huge amount of differentiation when it comes to franchise opportunities and like everything, there are bad deals out there.

Some Disadvantages of Franchising:

  • Not Completely Autonomous
  • Contractual Agreement
  • Restrictions on products, services, pricing, and territory
  • Lack of Corporate Support
  • Conflicting Visions

No matter your business pursuit, we wish you luck!

 

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