Published November 18th, 2015
by Editorial Staff
[caption id="attachment_79250" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Franchise License Marketing Branding Retail Concept[/caption]
As a viable form of investment, franchise opportunities bring with them a wide range of different benefits that shouldn't be ignored. In addition to the fact that it gives you the ability to fulfill what is no doubt a lifelong dream by opening your own business, you also get to leverage the benefits of a powerful support system to your advantage in a way that starting a business from the ground up does not allow. If you're thinking about investing in a franchise opportunity in your area, there are a number of important things to keep in mind.
The Benefits of Investing in a Franchise
One of the many benefits of opening a franchise has to do with a customer base. If you were starting your own business from scratch, it might take you years to build up a loyal customer base through extensive marketing, trial and error and more. With a franchise, you're leveraging the power of an existing brand name to your advantage and get to enjoy the benefits of quality brand-name recognition from the moment you open your doors.
Franchise opportunities also come in handy during the period of time before your business actually opens. In addition to helping you with things like site selection to financing to marketing materials and more, you're provided all of these resources by the larger corporation that you are becoming a part of and don't have to worry about handling these things on your own.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of franchise opportunities, however, is the fact that they give you a solid foundation that other new business owners may not have. You're associating your location with a product or service that is already proven to exist, giving potential customers an idea of not only the quality of your business but the consistency, all without having to do that type of leg work on your own.
The Top Franchise Opportunities
According to the website Entrepreneur.com, the top franchise opportunities in the United States for 2015 are as follows:
- Hampton by Hilton
- Anytime Fitness
- Subway
- Jack in the Box
- Supercuts
The estimated startup costs for Hampton by Hilton, which is a hotel chain, are between $4 million and $14 million depending on factors like site selection, building size and more. Anytime Fitness, which is an exercise-based franchise that operates in all 50 states, has estimated startup cost of between $63 thousand and $418 thousand dollars. Subway, which is a submarine sandwich shop that also operates all across the country, has startup costs that are estimated between $117 thousand and $263 thousand dollars.
Jack in the Box, which is a fast food restaurant that has done a great deal of work at increasing its national presence in the last several years, has startup costs that are estimated at between $1 million and $2 million dollars. Finally, Supercuts, which is a haircut/barber shop establishment, has startup costs that are estimated at between $114 thousand and $234 thousand dollars. Startup costs will always vary based on a number of different factors, including how extensive the initial marketing campaign is, how many employees you choose to hire, what type of competition you will be facing by similar franchises in the area, how quickly you want your new business to open its doors and more.