Another year has now gone by, and time to consider again what the future holds for you.
Maybe you have been caught up in the ‘employee trap’ and the certainty of employment, possibly even within a corporate; you might now finally be considering your options, but what are your options?
Why Should You Look At Buying A Franchise
Firstly, franchising is not for everyone! I bet you did not expect to read that!
It is fair to say that franchising has probably been around for much longer than you realise; it certainly is not limited to an ’80s or ’90s fad, but arguably in excess of seventy-plus years!
With one of the most successful business formats that has ever existed, you will certainly be in good company and have the very best chance of success. Compare this to most others ways of doing business, and the stats will speak for themselves!
Which Franchise Should You Choose?
How has your career developed so far? Do you have skill sets that would morph over to other sectors? Do you even want to stay in the sector that you have knowledge and experience in?
These are all very valid questions to ask yourself right now. Sometimes your work history can help you; however, some sectors you can certainly enter into without any prior experience. This is one of the many benefits of franchising; there is already a system in place that can be taught to almost anyone!
Is Buying A Franchise Like Buying A Job?
You might see reference to this phrase in your research, quite often from individuals that do not fully understand the concept of franchising or buying into an already proven system and replicating it.
It is fair to say that nobody wants you to reinvent the wheel with a franchise, that is for sure, and partly what you pay an initial fee for, but there is life way beyond this, with the ability to build your very own business but with the support of a centralised head office function, something you simply would not get if you went alone!
The Franchise Market Trends For 2023
Whilst, not an exhaustive list, here are some popular franchises that worked well throughout 2022 and ones which will almost certainly continue for the foreseeable future:
Food & Beverage
It can be said that if anything good came out of market turmoil, especially covid, it would be how many food brands had to pivot from customer-facing brands to online and through delivery.
We have become a nation obsessed with this now, as well as becoming a near-on cashless society. The way forward is more adventurous foods that can be delivered, with food brands looking to either take on very large sites and create ‘experiences’ or much smaller kiosk or takeaway formats. This creates more options for you in the franchise area, with various investment levels to take advantage of.
This sector is one to watch, especially with more and more overseas brands looking to enter a more stable UK market!
Fitness & Wellbeing
Surprisingly, this sector has been resilient once economies did open up again. It seems like, as a nation, we missed the chance to go and get fit!
Expect 2023 to see growth again, but with more core offerings into other bespoke areas such as 1-1 support, wellness sessions even assistance with food programmes.
It does look like individuals want to become more aware of what they are consuming and how to lead more healthy lifestyles. You might well be part of the solution if you decide this is the sector for you!
Senior Care
Probably not a great surprise to you as we know that we are all living longer. This does create opportunities within franchising, too, as more people want to stay in their own homes and are often medically stable but do need social support in order to do so.
This is where you can add value as a franchisee because that support cannot be provided centrally but can only be at a local level by someone who understands the local community and can be available around the clock. The demand seems so high for these services that this sector could stay on the hot franchise list for many years to come!
Business To Business
Great news for you, most businesses have a craving for more new business or people to spend more or visit more often.
These are typically small businesses that make up a huge proportion of the market. Yet, they are often very small scale and will have limited scope internally, therefore the need to outsource, again perfect for you if you decide this might be the sector for you.
Do not worry either if it is larger businesses that you are used to dealing with; these groups have a different set of challenges, with cost savings, or recruitment or third party consultants often used!
House & Home Improvements/ Mobile Franchises
Often the ‘darling’ of franchising as mostly this is reliant on your own time to provide a solution to a problem at a local level.
Once you have undergone training and can be mobile, enquiries should be quite quick, then look around you, and you will see opportunities everywhere you look. You might find that your limitation becomes as your reputation builds and you are so in demand you have to build a business that is not so reliant on you. This is no bad thing!
Now, over to you…
Here is the briefest of insights, purely to get your imagination going. The world of franchising is a fascinating one, quite often a family of fellow franchisees, of course, franchisors and consultants all looking to build and help you grow your own business.