If you will ask me a question if I’m a fan of franchising, well I can say yes. Because franchising can be the easiest way for a starting businessman to have his or her own business. But as much as possible having your own brand and business is more preferable, that is, if you have the patience, passion and some sort of luck to continue the business that you have started. Well, that is only my opinion and I know that everyone is entitled to his own opinion and it’s up to us what choices we want to take. I have posted this topic because just yesterday, my long time friend and office mate called me up the second time and we were discussing about his problem on what business he has to take.
Since he was not an entrepreneur type of person, I suggested that having a food cart franchise is a better choice rather than having your own food cart and your own brand name. But the big issue there is not just getting an unpopular franchise because that is definitely wasting your money. Going on our conversation I thought he agrees with my suggestion to him but he insisted that it’s better to have your own business and brand name because the only one who will profit from that system is the franchiser, not the franchisee. He mentioned that if I bought the equipment from the franchiser, like for example, a siomai food cart and if I decided to quit the business, then it will be a waste of money. He also mentioned about the product that a franchisee will sell will be limited and the one who will profit the most is the franchiser. And about paying for the franchise fee, the franchiser is always in the win win situation because whether the franchisee profits or loose on his venture, the franchiser already got the money that the franchisee paid.
With so many businesses offering franchise right now, how can anyone distinguish the good ones from the bad? What are some warnings signs that an aspiring franchiser should look for? according to the article I read, you should need to know the track record of the company. Seek out some it’s franchisee and ask them about the company so you will be warned before hand if you should continue negotiating with them. There are businesses that are hesitant to let you on their offices and don’t want to give access to other franchisees or worst, don’t have any franchisees at all. So just take the necessary precaution.