Part-Time Franchise (Pros and Cons)

If you are someone that has thought of starting your own business before, it is possible you have equally considered franchise business ownership as well. This is because just about everything and anything that is of interest to you including services is covered in the franchise business opportunity. Think about it for a moment and probably names like Bright Eyes Sunglasses Stores (Fashion and Lifestyle), Anytime Fitness (Health and Fitness), Car Care (Automotive), Kwik Kopy (Print and Design) or Smartline Mortgage Advisers (Housing) will readily come to mind.

Now these are just some of the more familiar franchise businesses in Australia. And, the good thing is that you don’t need to leave your paying job in order to own and run a franchise business as there are part-time franchise business opportunities. However, before going to the pros and cons of this business, here is a reminder of what a franchise is.

Background    

Franchise is a word that is often used every day, but what exactly does it mean. Basically, a franchise is a legal as well as commercial relationship that exists between two parties, the franchisor who owns a trademark, brand name, advertising symbol or service name and the franchisee who could be an organization or an individual that wishes to make use of such identification in business.       

Alright as with everything in life, you ought to consider the pros as well as the cons involved. Therefore, below are a number of these considerations to think through before engaging in any part-time franchise business:

THE PROS:

 1         Oftentimes, it will initially require lower investment plus lower overhead costs.

Usually, a part-time franchise business is home-based. Also, if it is a product that is being patronised by the franchisee (you), the franchisor typically keeps the stock and is responsible for shipping it to the end-user. In this kind of arrangement there is no need for staff, so all expenses related with employees, like insurance, are absent making room for a higher profit margin.

     

2          Support is provided in the form of marketing support and others.

Also, parent companies usually provide support to the extent that there is a nationwide campaign, which the part-time franchise business owner can draw from. In fact, local campaign marketing materials are often made available.     

3          It helps you to first see how things run before taking the plunge.

One of the benefits of going part-time first is that it provides you with the opportunity of seeing how things go initially before taking the dive into full-time franchising, if that’s what you really want to do eventually.  

You see some people have actually tried franchising this way before going in full throttle. Of course, it is not everyone that goes from part-time to full-time. However, this period allows them to find out if franchising is what they want to get into or not.  

4          It provides a means of earning additional income.

For many people, part-time franchising will only be a means of earning additional income instead of replacing their full-time jobs. This is good as it provides them with an additional income earner besides the ones they may already have.

5          During economic downturns, a part-time franchise business investment may just save the day.

One of the wise inputs financial advisers have given again and again over the years is that of not placing all your eggs in one basket. Now in this case, part-time franchise can be one of the other baskets in which investment is made.

Taking heed to such advice as saved many during unexpected periods of downturns and it can well do the same for as many that invest into part-time franchising.

6          Depending on what type of franchise system is being run, you can have access to a lot of time.   

Some franchise systems allow franchisees as much as seven months off. Now that’s a great time for anyone to do other things. That kind of system allows entrepreneurs more than 50% of the year to engage in other activities they would love to do in the course of the year.

THE CONS  

1          Combining work together with part-time franchise business can be really tasking. 

The fact of the matter is that if you are running a part-time franchise business with working on another job, you are definitely working additional hours than the average employee and this could be stressful to say the least.    

2          Managing your time during the ‘on seasons’ can be actually very difficult.

Whenever you are back on and it is time to combine your job with part-time franchising you will find it difficult to manage your time properly. This is because the momentum of franchise work will sometimes take more and more of your time especially as the business grows.

3          Your success in business is to a large extent dependent on the franchisor’s success.  

Everything and anything that the franchisor does or doesn’t do will affect you directly. In other words, your destiny as far as your franchise business is concerned is not exactly in your own hands. This is why many people actually take their time to research a business very well before deciding to own a franchise through it.

4          Your creativity might be stifled           

The terms guiding the business relationship between the franchisor and franchisee might not give enough room for your creativity to be allowed free reign.   

So this means that you will just have to work with the system that you have in your hands and this can be very frustrating.

5          What you are expecting may not be what you get.

High expectations of earning much through franchise business can be misplaced. This is due to the fact that it does not guarantee success. At the end of the day it may just be another means of earning extra income for which more hours of work is required.   

Closing thoughts

Before deciding to take the franchise route it is better to involve others, like franchise experts as well as family members that may be affected by your decision. This way the prospective franchisee can have a better picture of what he/she is about to do.