Title: Franchise Ownership: A Balanced Look Word Count: 553 Summary: The idea of owning a franchise is, for some people, the ticket out of the rat race and into a world of financial independence and being their own bosses. For others, the idea of owning a franchise means risking not only a regular paycheck, but having to put up their own money and then agree to run the business according to someone else’s guidelines. Both Sides Somewhere in between those extremes is the reality of being a franchise owner. No one who knows the franchise b... Keywords: Franchise Consultant, Franchise Opportunity, Franchise Restaurant Article Body: The idea of owning a franchise is, for some people, the ticket out of the rat race and into a world of financial independence and being their own bosses. For others, the idea of owning a franchise means risking not only a regular paycheck, but having to put up their own money and then agree to run the business according to someone else’s guidelines. Both Sides Somewhere in between those extremes is the reality of being a franchise owner. No one who knows the franchise business can honestly say there is not a tremendous amount of work involved, and that the success or failure of an individual franchise operation will depend on how willing the franchisee is to do that work. On the other hand, because most prospective franchisees are pre-qualified before being accepted, and because they will have a good amount of their own finances tied up in the franchise, they are more highly motivated to make the business work than they might have been when working for somebody else. And, because buying a franchise means they will be entering the business world with a proven product or service, which is already familiar to a large number of people, they will not be faced with trying to find and keep a customer base. As long as they have a good location for their franchise--and many franchisors offer assistance in getting their franchisees located--and provide customer service up to the franchisor’s standards, new franchise owners have an opportunity for early success. Many Opportunities From Which To Choose The wide variety of franchise opportunities now available means that franchising is now an option for more people than ever before. Franchising has grown well beyond the fast-food arena and now includes businesses like fitness centers, dollar stores, cellular phone stores, doughnut shops, and apparel stores. So people from many different business backgrounds are starting their own franchises. Owning a franchise, of course, means that you’ll have to run it according to the training and Operations Manual which your franchisor provides, and that you will very possibly be required to pay your franchisor a portion of you monthly sales in fees. You may also have to make time for periodic company workshops, which can mean traveling long distances. If there are other of your company’s franchisees in the area, however, you all might be able to split your local advertising costs. And because you’re all selling a branded product, your advertising budget should not be too high. Travel expenses can be written off. If you are willing to work hard and within the guidelines set by someone else, a franchise could be your ticket out of the nine-to-five world! However on the other hand, you have no control over the other people who happen to own the same franchise as you in a different part of town. All it can take is one single bad franchisee to bring the good reputation of your business down, causing you to lose sales and have to close the doors of your business franchise once and for all. When all is said and done though, if you want the responsibility of opening your own business but you have no idea where to begin, then a business franchise is totally the way to go.