Franchise Investing: Should You Be Looking at New Concepts?

-Sigombak-
When starting your search for a franchise of your own, you will probably be overwhelmed with the number of choices there are. Today, 3,000+ different franchise companies are vying for your attention, and your investment. The opportunities in the world of franchise ownership include food related franchises, retail stores, business to business franchises, children’s related franchises, service sector opportunities, and many more.


In addition to the huge number of franchise opportunities available to you, you will find that some of the concepts are well established, some concepts will be fairly well established, and some will be new. Let’s look at a newer one.

I receive on average, 2-3 phone calls or emails a month from young franchise companies that would like me to help them find prospective franchise owners for their concepts. I am not sure what the expectations are from these enthusiastic franchisors when they contact me, but they are usually surprised by my lack of enthusiasm. “We just started franchising our pizza restaurant, and we have what we think to be, a winning formula for someone who wants a business of their own,” they say, with unbridled confidence. Little do they know that they have reached a truly dedicated franchise skeptic, who needs to be wowed with something, anything that will keep him engaged in this verbal or text conversation for more than 2 minutes. Saying “We only use the best ingredients for our freshly baked pizza pies” is just not going to cut it. Bring me something totally cutting edge. Like this. Pizza Fusion gets it. Read what they say about their concept:

“Born from a desire to make a difference, every detail of our operations is continuously evaluated from an environmental perspective in an effort to further minimize our ecological footprint. From delivering our food in company owned hybrid vehicles and offsetting 100% of our power consumption with the purchase of renewable wind energy certificates to building LEED certified restaurants, we are committed to being a leader in not only the pizza industry, but in a better quality of life. Through our spirited philosophy and principled leadership, Pizza Fusion will redefine the fast casual restaurant industry.”

I don’t really know how good Pizza Fusion is at replicating their model. I have not met them, seen their financials, or talked to their franchisees. They may have an amazing business model, or they may have an average business model, that just happens to use some popular buzzwords currently being thrown about in our society {hybrid, sustainable}, to help them sell franchises.

The point here is that on the surface at least, they get it. They have come up with a concept that is needed, I believe it is wanted, and on the surface looks like a young franchisor to watch. I have been watching them for a little while, and wrote about them on my main blog. Read

In future articles, I will discuss if it is in your best interest to invest in a young franchise concept.

One of the most important parts of investing in a franchise of your own is the research part. Most people that I talk to don’t really know how to research a franchise. I do. I wrote the book. “The Essential Steps To Researching a Franchise Opportunity”

Here is what the folks at Franchise Direct say about the book:

"Unlike any other franchise related book I have reviewed so far, this one will tell you all the things other people will NOT tell you about the pros and cons of investing in a franchise opportunity. Thus, this book sets out with one clear aim in mind- to explain how the franchise process works and to define it in an easy to read and direct writing style."

Aine from Franchise Direct

My suggestion of the week:

"Invest a little on a franchise book, before spending a lot on a franchise."
By Joel Libava allbusiness.com