Tips for potential franchisees

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Franchise Gator Admin

According to one business expert, entrepreneurs must think long and hard before taking advantage of franchise opportunities.

Writing for Nasdaq.com, small business expert Janet Attard says that there are many different areas that franchisees must consider before deciding what brand they want to be aligned with. She says that because franchises have a fixed method to "roll out" a business, it is important to find out if a potential company fits with an entrepreneur's values.

Attard points to a few different questions that franchisees must consider before making the decisions. The first is to figure out how much capital it takes to start a given franchise and how much is available, based on personal finances or loans.

It's also important to consider the target audience.

"Who will your customers be, and where will they come from? (Be specific, don't generalize. You should have a good idea of what type of person will be your typical customer and what it will take to get them to buy from you,)" writes Attard.

One of the ways that franchisees can get loans is with U.S. Small Business Administration backing. Though the SBA doesn't directly give out loans, it guarantees up to 75 percent of their value for commercial banks lending the funds.