Choosing a Successful Franchise: Five Things to Look For

If you’re an entrepreneur with aspirations of business ownership, there are many advantages to partnering with a franchise. Rather than going it alone with a startup business, franchising affords you the benefit of business assistance from a brand with a proven model. There is much to be said for owning a franchise business with a known, respected brand name. Franchising means better buying power, a built-in customer base and the opportunity for higher profit with less risk. You can be your own boss without having to fly solo. The first step is deciding who to partner with and choosing a successful franchise.

What exactly does that look like? The possibilities seem endless. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 3,800 franchisors, according to FRANdata. The numbers keep climbing as people search for the next best thing, hoping to achieve success.

What Does ‘Successful’ Mean?

Success is measured in many ways, although in business, all arrows point to profitability and the bottom line. You are in business to make money, so when shopping franchises, you’ll need to become familiar with their financials. Most franchises are very transparent about costs and profit, putting the information on their websites. However, as you get closer to signing a contract with a franchisor, part of your due diligence will be to get acquainted with the Franchise Disclosure Document, or FDD. The FDD outlines comprehensive information about all parties in the agreement. It enables franchisees to make an informed decision about their investment.

Money is critical in this equation, but in order for a brand to be positioned for success there are some tell-tale signs of a good franchise system. When making your decision, look for these five key characteristics of a successful franchise.

Five Key Characteristics to Look for When Choosing a Successful Franchise

Industry Leaders

Although there are new franchises coming on the scene every day, there is something to be said for longevity in the market and industry experience. You want a franchise with experienced corporate leadership who understands the market and the competition.

Training/Support

Look for a business opportunity where industry-specific expertise is not required. Certainly, a solid business understanding will be advantageous. But you want to find a franchise that provides unsurpassed training to impart the skills and knowledge you need walking in as a franchisee.

Ongoing support is critical to keep pace with the latest industry trends. Discover whether the franchisor arranges continuing education opportunities and conventions for franchise members.

Research how available the corporate support team is to you on a daily basis. Having a team of experts to assist when there’s a problem is indicative of a brand that wants its franchisees to succeed. This includes encouraging franchisees to seek advice from each other.

Name Recognition

Being a household name certainly provides an edge in business. Buying into a franchise with brand recognition can generate better foot traffic at your location. If you choose a brand with enough recognition, you’ll have a customer base upon which to rely and grow from the moment you open your doors. Customers come to rely on the brand and know they can depend on a set standard.

Strong Model

A strong model is a simple model. An effective and successful franchise business model focuses on how to build your location and turn a profit. Keeping it streamlined helps novice franchisees as well as professionals.

Track the growth of potential franchises you are researching. Do they show consistent, strong growth? Determine how well the model holds up against bad economic times. Is it sustainable? A franchise model that proves to be recession-resistant means that even during economic downturns, your investment likely remains safe.

The business model should include an effective advertising and marketing campaign. Again, your investment in a franchise means this legwork has been done for you. Having an existing marketing formula to follow that you can just plug into is one of the advantages of franchising.

The franchise model can also assist with supply issues. Partnering with a larger franchise can often mean suppliers are delivering to many locations, translating to better pricing for you. That’s not typically the case for an independent business owner.

Location, Location, Location

If site selection pertains to the franchise you’re interested in, find out if the franchisor helps identify prime locations and helps negotiate leases. You will also need to know if they offer protected territories, which affects your ability to generate revenue.

AAMCO is That Successful Franchise

If you are looking for a successful franchise that checks all these boxes, explore AAMCO. AAMCO’s network of automotive service centers utilizes the most up-to-date technology. Expert technicians diagnose a repair, fix it right the first time and back it with a nationwide warranty.

AAMCO, recognized around the world as the leading transmission expert, capitalizes on enormous brand equity. We have a reputation as a leader in the aftermarket automotive repair industry, earning decades of consumer trust and providing enormous growth potential for our franchisees.

We want to partner with good franchisee candidates who recognize the valuable investment opportunity with AAMCO. Our brand makes sense for entrepreneurs who want to join a brand that is committed to their success.

AAMCO is part of an incredibly large industry that’s profitable and recession-resistant, and our ability to become the dominant brand for complex car repair positions us to make the future brighter than ever before.

Our main goal is to help our franchisees thrive and prosper, and we have made significant investments on our franchisees’ behalf to increase profitability over the long term. We want to make the dream of business ownership materialize for entrepreneurs eager to partner with a strong brand.

AAMCO has spent decades building consumer trust and loyalty. For franchisees, that provides great advantages. When you open your doors to your new business, your community will already know where to take their vehicles for complex car repair. Not only have we been a leader in automotive repair for more than fifty years, but we are evolving with an ever-changing industry. Car repair is becoming more complex as cars are built with more options and become more computerized. We are keeping pace with those changes and training our staff and franchisees in the process.

Explore the AAMCO Franchise Opportunity

With nearly 600 centers across North America, we are actively seeking single-and multi-unit operators who know this partnership is ideal for their lifestyle. If you are passionate about the brand and committed to providing the highest-quality service, you should have a minimum net worth of $250,000 and liquid assets of at least $65,000 per unit. Depending on the real estate site selected, franchisees can expect the initial investment to be $223,600-$330,500.

If this looks like a good investment opportunity for you, you can request more information about AAMCO and download your free franchise information report.

Comments are closed