Franchising today represents a competitive tool for starting and promoting an entrepreneurial activity, capable of offering innumerable advantages and an efficient standardized system.
However, despite being a tested model, it embraces several aspects that you need to know and adapt to your business goals: here are the things you need to know about franchising and the most important questions to ask yourself before starting your own business.
From the earning potential to the costs and support offered, there are many aspects to consider and things to know before opening a franchise.It is a path based on pre-set business systems and predefined rules: asking yourself the right questions can be of great help in evaluating in advance whether the path you intend to take is the right one.
Here are the most important things to know before joining:
1. How much you earn. One of the main questions about franchising certainly concerns the economic aspect: one of the main reasons that push more and more people to open this type of business is certainly the ambition to improve their professional and financial situation. When starting a new business, it is often difficult to quantify possible future income and predict a return on investment: discussing with the franchisor and the other franchisees in the network can help to understand how much you will earn with the new business and how much time is needed to make a profit.
2. What research to do on the franchisor. The evaluation of the activity in which to invest is certainly a decisive aspect to consider in the start-up phase: there are many questions to ask before deciding to become an affiliate and just as much research to be done to evaluate the commercial potential and any legal and operational details of the new activities, without neglecting possible risks. How long has it been around and how many outlets are there in the area? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Finding the answer to these questions can be an effective way to understand if it is a business suitable for the personal and professional goals you have set.
3. What the total investment is. How much does it cost to open a franchise? This is certainly one of the most frequent questions, to understand the initial investment but above all the total costs, fixed and variable, necessary for the equipment, the lease, any training and advertising. In addition to having to choose the most profitable activity, it is therefore important to understand how much capital is needed to start the new business and if the available budget is sufficient to cover all costs. Relying on consolidated partners in the market can be an effective strategy to protect yourself and invest time and resources in a profitable way: choosing professionals in the sector will allow you to have a well-detailed plan for planning the layout, furniture and everything necessary for the implementation and opening of your center in a short time.
4. What the financing options are. Having a detailed picture of charges and expenses to be incurred is important for determining an operational plan: one of the first things to ask before opening a franchise business also includes the possible financing options, which it is essential to know in order to be able to face your costs. Your own funds, loans, grants or subsidies: evaluate the different possibilities for obtaining initial and working capital, so as to identify the ideal formula for the invested budget.
5. What kind of training is needed. What skills are needed and to what extent is training provided? These are two questions about franchising that you need to ask yourself before affiliating and starting a new business. They are essential to understand if it is necessary to independently acquire the necessary know-how or if meetings and professional training courses are provided directly by the affiliation network.
6. What support is provided for marketing. Another decisive aspect is that related to marketing: what type of assistance is offered to promote your business? What are the digital tools recommended for franchisees and how are they used?
Having support for omnichannel marketing and advertising is certainly a great added value for starting and developing your own business. It is, therefore, essential to ask yourself these questions before starting your own business.
7. What the possibilities for expansion are. Evaluating the opportunity for growth and business expansion is certainly one of the most important things to consider when preparing to start a new business. Investing in a new business certainly requires the opening of a first office, but by choosing to become franchisee with an established brand, you can benefit from a retail presence to position yourself in a unique way in the market. Knowing these details will help you choose the partner you can trust with greater awareness. We also recommend investigating whether there are multi-Affiliates within the franchise networks, a widespread phenomenon in well-established networks, and certainly a positive sign to take into consideration.
Thanks to decades of experience, an established brand and a network made up of competent professionals, MBE promotes entrepreneurship, providing all the ingredients to start your own business: :a new business in the business and private sector: proven business model, training, marketing, local support and central, a team of experts to support franchisees. Franchising Mail Boxes Etc. can offer a consolidated format and an international Nnetwork to help companies and consumers face everyday challenges in the logistics, e-Commerce and communication sectors. With the expansion of the e-commerce and logistics sector, the SMEs that populate the market today need the daily support of specialized professionals. Someone always ready to provide the appropriate physical and digital solutions.
Contact us to find out more about the MBE Franchising to give your business a competitive edge.