A greater chance of survival is overwhelmingly the most popular reason for buying a franchise, according to the latest quarterly survey from FranchiseSales.com.
The perception that franchises are less likely to fail was cited as a major motivation by nearly two thirds (64%) of respondents to the international survey.
Asked for a maximum of three reasons for buying a franchise, 36% said they wanted to “concentrate on what I do best and leave marketing etc, to the franchisor”. Thirty-five percent said they “prefer to follow a proven system” while 29% indicated that avoiding stress and long hours associated with the non-franchise start-up phase was important.
Despite year-on-year rises in demand for online services, only 14% of those polled were considering buying an internet franchise. The most popular sectors, the poll of hundreds of franchisees revealed, are fast food (37%), followed by food generally (34%), distribution (34%), home-based (28%) and retail (28%).
Asked what they looked for in a franchise (maximum of three reasons again) the biggest imperative was the recognition factor. “The brand name must be well-known” was cited by 61%, while 50% said the sector must be fairy recession-proof. 47% agreed that “it must have the potential to make me very wealthy”, and 33% wanted control over their working hours.
On the whole, franchisees were more impressed than unimpressed with the franchise opportunities they had researched. Fourteen percent were very impressed and 27% were fairly impressed, while only 11% were fairly or very unimpressed. However, 31% were neither impressed nor unimpressed.
Any notion that franchising appeals to people at a particular time of life is refuted by the latest results. The spread of aspiring franchisees was equal across age groups, with roughly one fifth of respondents belonging to the 26-33 (19%), 34-41 (22%), 42-49 (21%) and 50-55 (19%) age groups. However, over 55s accounted for 14% of the sample, while 18-25s, totalled just 4% of the total polled.
As with the third-quarter survey, 85% of respondents were male, suggesting women are as underrepresented in franchising as they are in business buying (82% of buyers were male, according to BusinessesForSale.com).
Franchisors
The most common reason for choosing franchising as a model for growth, according to the franchisor section of the survey, was the perception that it was most conducive to rapid growth.
Asked to pick a maximum of three reasons, around two thirds (67%) cited “Low capital expenditure, so easier to grow rapidly” as a driving motivation, with greater efficiency and customer satisfaction the second most persuasive reason, cited by forty percent.
A belief that franchisees are more motivated than managers was the joint-third most compelling reason to franchise a business, along with the perception that it is “less catastrophic for a unit than a company-owned store to fail”, both chosen by 23% of franchisors. The least significant motivation for franchising was the belief that the franchise model suited their sector, cited by 13%.
A positive attitude was seen as the most important attribute in an aspiring franchisee, chosen by 48% of respondents. Asked to pick qualities they sought in candidates, 38% of franchisors cited experience in running businesses – perhaps surprisingly given the support given by franchisors.
The third most important attribute in prospective franchisees was sales skills (35%), followed by sector experience (31%), customer service skills (24%), a talent for suggesting improvements (17%) and administrative skills (10%).
Finally, four in five (80%) franchisors believe rising unemployment and redundancies are boosting the pool of potential franchisees.
Jump to franchise buyer results
Profiling Questions
Please select your age group
|
What is your gender?
|
What country do you live in?
|
Are you a franchisor or franchise buyer?
|
Franchise Buyer Results
What are the most important factors in choosing to buy a franchise rather than start a business from scratch?
|
Which sector(s) are you interested in?
|
Which of these statements applies to you when choosing a franchise?
|
How impressed have you been so far with the franchise opportunities you’ve researched?
|
Franchisor Results
Which sector(s) do you operate in?
|
What are your most important reasons for choosing franchising as a model for growth?
|
When assessing a prospective franchisee, what are the most important attributes?
|
To what extent are soaring unemployment and redundancies boosting the pool of potential franchisees?
|
For detailed survey information plus further infographics please contact [email protected].
