For many people who are trying to get their feet wet into doing businesses, franchises are godsend.
Franchising is a method of doing and profiting from a business that eliminates many roadblocks. Franchising doesn’t remove the need for capital but other elements surrounding the business are provided by the franchiser. Some of these elements include the brand, equipment and technology involved in the business. Organization and assistance as well as the daily operations of the said business are already given. These conveniences are good for novice entrepreneurs to embrace franchise opportunities and venture to franchise before opting to build their own. Often, many franchisers are already big businesses in their own right and franchisers acts as a small business operation for the franchisee.
Since a lot of people are trying franchising, a franchise database is a good way to know the top 10 must-try franchises industries in 2013 or any year. These databases have a collection of franchises from different industries that people can choose from. In addition, important information like starting capital and basic business background is crucial since franchisees would like to have a ‘good feel’ about the franchise that they would pick.
For those you want to have a list of possibilities, there are organizations that can help. The first is the International Franchise Association — providing an online directory for free. There are other franchise directories and online pages like Frandata and Franchising.com. Business magazine sites like forbes.com and entrepreneur.com also feature top franchising trends and articles.
Diversity in Franchising
Franchising also needs diversity, just like other forms of businesses. The diversity doesn’t occur in the operational aspect of franchises very often since franchise business are already ‘built-in’. As mentioned, a franchisee can literally start the franchise from day one since all the necessary things to run the franchise is already in place. But there is still room for diversity even for already established franchises.
One aspect of diversity is the franchisee or the owner. Franchisors can increase the number of owners in a particular demographic. For example, if the franchisor notices that there are fewer women franchisee owners, they can craft a program for women owners. This will encourage owners of a particular demographic to join the franchise. Aside from giving certain benefits, franchisors can conduct a report and discover the main problems with regards to these franchisees. It can be that the franchise fee is unaffordable to a particular demographic or the franchise itself isn’t marketable.
Apart from having a diverse profile of owners, franchisors can attract a lot of profit if there are many franchisees from many walks of life who want part of the business. In addition, these new owners can be also franchisors in the future. This paves way to the company/brand’s expansion in a market.
Offering a franchise opportunity to those who were planning a business, especially to under-represented entrepreneurs like women, veterans, ethnic minorities, disabled and others, represent a reach out initiative to mold more entrepreneurs and the same time, provide profit for those who were willing to learn and work hard with the brand/company.
The best way to achieve diversity in franchising or any form of small business is to encourage people from different backgrounds to be entrepreneurs. Expanding the franchise’s demographic can also lead to diversification of its potential customers since end users will see that a fellow minority or under-represented is the owner. They will be more engaged to try the product or service as it was endorsed by a familiar person.
MinorityFran/DiversityFran
MinorityFran is a program founded by the International Franchise Association (IFA) in February 2006. In 2013, it was renamed as DiversityFran. This particular program deals with minorities taking franchises and becoming franchisee themselves. A lot of franchises are recruiting minorities as franchisees and franchisors to expand their market and develop new products and/or services that will suit this new market.
Minority Fran serves as a hub for minority franchisees and franchisors. In addition, companies looking for minority franchisees can easily find interested parties here. In this hub/program, many opportunities await franchisees and franchisors. In addition, franchisees can gain a lot of knowledge and information in running a business, in general and specific areas. DiversityFran attracts a lot of companies which do franchises and coordinates it with future franchisees.
As it name implies, DiversityFran encompasses a lot of minorities. The program is affiliated with several ethnic minority groups like Hispanics, Blacks and other ethnic Chambers of Commerce and national agencies/groups. Federal agencies/groups like Minority Business Development Agency and Association of Small Businesses Development Centers.
DiverstyFran helps minorities who wish to try franchising despite some obstacles that they face. Few obstacles include inability to meet the franchisee fee, not having enough information about business and franchising and how to run the franchise.
DiversityFran offers a treasure trove of knowledge or people who are eager to try franchising. There are sessions about franchising as a business model (the fundamentals of franchising), the legal aspects, technical and financial assistance and sharing of experiences from fellow minorities who had been successful with franchising. All these information are relayed in a one-day seminar held in different places in the country. Only registered members of the IFA can attend the one-day seminar. Those interested to participate and be affiliated with the IFA can register at the IFA website.
This program offers equal opportunities for many people who are not just in for the profits but eager for some entrepreneurial skills. Franchising, for many people, is a big opportunity to be rich intellectually and financially. Another benefit of franchising is that it creates a sense of community – franchisees help each other in running their businesses and franchisors are also eager to help their franchisees to succeed.
Franchising is alive and thriving. With diversity in on terms of ownership and markets, the only way is to up and to grow. These businesses might be starting small but given time, information and the right tools, they might give stability and vitality that the world of business needs.
