On Franchise Brief there is a good post that caught my attention.

All you out there with entrepreneur minds who are looking to start a business… do you really think that's the best idea? Wouldn't you rather put your money into something that you know is going to be successful? In my search to know whether I would want to start a business or buy a franchise, I realized it is much safer to buy a franchise.

I wish I "knew" what was going to be successful. I do believe in franchises, but I still think that you may not choose the right one, and franchises have their own set of issues.

Let's read on:

When one buys a franchise he or she is set up for success. Franchises already have their name out their. One does not have to spend a ton of money on advertising, it is taken care of. Another reason why franchises are more successful is because a franchise has more credibility.

I hope that this is true. Many franchises don't have a name at all.

It's critical that you look at a business you like and think you would enjoy working in. And it's very critical to work with a winner in that business. That might be a startup franchisor — someone who is very successful in this business and just starting out in franchising. You might be their first franchise!

Is this bad? I don't think so. It depends. It could be a big mistake — or a big opportunity.

Around here there was a succesful hamburger stand and the family ran it for years without an eye to expanding. Then an investor group started working with them. Now they are sprouting up all over and in different states. Their early franchisees must be smiling ear to ear.

Now, it is a lot easier just buying and running one of their franchises, as opposed to what the family went through to set up the shop. Truer words were never spoken!

If the support is good, you benefit fantastically. There are a lot of stories where the support given to franchisees isn't so good. But then again, a lot of times, the franchisees don't follow the system. They go off on their own. I always say, if you are going to do that, then don't buy the franchise. Buy a franchise if you are looking to follow someone else's system. And then, follow it!

Another reason why buying a franchise is better is that you have support from other franchisees. If a franchisee puts on some sort of event in another town, another franchisee in another town will most likely reap some of those benefits as well.

 

And, people don't realize how lonely your own business can be. Especially today with the Internet. Many of us sit at a desk by ourselves. We are connected to the rest of the world but only through email and chat. I am chatting with a friend and colleague as I type this blog. But it is still lonely. A franchise can be a great help — you can be part of a community. Wonderful stuff.

Plus, it can be a lot less work. But I think the key is that the work you do, you can feel better doing, because you are more convinced it will work. That is what I think needs to be said. If you are in your own business, you can't know what will work and what will not. You try a lot of things that don't work out.

It's like the famous quote "half of my advertising is wasted. I wish I knew which half." In your own business that's more like 80%. When you have a franchise organization, you can raise the percentages a bit. So more of your promotions will be copying what works for others.

In that sense, it can indeed be better to buy a franchise rather than go off on your own.

I like businesses today that have low capital requirements and that are not labor intensive. Labor is problematic these days. I have employed 75 people and I've employed zero, and oftentimes I've done better financially with zero employees and zero headaches.

We are in the age of outsourcing. I have a number of colleagues who work with me but in the old days they would have been employees. Now they are in their own business and I call on them when I need them. It's what makes today the coolest time to be in your own home based business — whether a home based franchise or not.

Consider getting information instantly on a financial franchise that you can run from home, pre settlement funding.