Blog Hotspot for Franchise News ...

Home is where the heart is. And what is true for family life is also true in the business world these days.

A few weeks ago, Franchise Direct published a report on the home–based business sector. The report found that home-based businesses and franchises comprise some of the best opportunities out there in the current business environment. That statement is backed up by new statistics, as well as a new story in Business Week magazine that declares the rise of the ‘homepreneur’.

The Business Week story states that there are 6.6 million home-based businesses in America which account for more than 50% of a person’s income. The story also states that there are over 13 million people employed in the home-based sector, about a million more employees than the home-based sector.

And what’s driving the success of the home-based sector?

“First, technology has made it easier to start and run a business from anywhere. But just as important, there has been a change of consciousness in the business world to recognize home-based enterprises as legitimate.”

Our report makes many of the same points. The work place has evolved immensely over the last two decades and it is safe to say that it is seen by many as the future of business.

Home-based franchises make up a varied and growing franchise industry, according to the latest exclusive report on the franchising industry by Franchise Direct.

Home-based franchises have an established track record during past recessions, and with thousands of opportunities to avail of, this franchise sector is prospering. Throughout 2009, Franchise Direct has been continually publishing informative reports on diverse sectors within franchising. Home-based franchises are one of the most popular franchise sectors out there, with many opportunities on offer. Home-based franchises fall into wide range of industries, and so while the profitability of a home-based business varies to a degree, the industry itself is on the rise.

Generally-speaking, home-based franchises are at the cutting edge of a shift in the American workplace. The report found that more and more people are choosing to work from home, bolstered by the sense of personal freedom it provides. Home-based franchises are particularly enticing for women, who can juggle the demands of work and family with much more ease while at home. With technological advances making the office only a click away, many workers are now asking themselves not whether to work at home, but which home-based franchise to choose.

Franchising, which has adapted easily to most American working trends in the past, is perfectly geared towards the home. Practically every franchise out there can be tailored to suit the home office, with commercial cleaning franchises the most popular home-based franchises at the moment. The Franchise Direct report provides in-depth statistics on the profitability of some of the most popular home-based franchises.

That said, working from home is not ideal for everyone. You will have to be organized, disciplined and self-motivated to make a home-based franchise work for you. But if you have long been considering a career change and have the right mindset to be your own boss, this report states that home-based franchises are a great alternative. They offer a low-cost, low-risk startup. If you’re looking for a new career path, you might find it at home.

Running a franchise or a small business is challenging, recession or no recession. It’s pointless trying to sugarcoat the difficulties that entrepreneurs are operating under these days. Most consumers are chiefly concerned with saving money and unless an entrepreneur can dream up a concept that facilitates that pragmatic goal, they will find it difficult to gain traction for their franchise traction.

Last week’s Wall Street Journal reported that many entrepreneurs are taking up part-time work on top of their existing business simply to make ends meet. The piece profiles a Chilean flower importer who is now working for a white-water rafting company, a CFO of a PR company who is doubling as a ranch caretaker, and a maker of preteen educational DVDs who is now moonlighting as an education consultant.

Bu the fact that many entrepreneurs are taking up second jobs is no reason to be depressed. There is a lot of work out there that is ideal for people looking to trying turn a spare 15-20 hours in the week into profit. Look at Franchise Direct’s home-based franchises or part-time franchises. These are ideal for the truly enterprising entrepreneur. With say, a vending opportunity, you can maintain your regular job and just attend to the machine when it requires. Use your home or garage for spare office space and let the business manage itself.

Sure, times are tight. But only by being brave and thinking cleverly will we be able to overcome this challenging time.

Franchising has shifted towards the home front in the last number of months. The challenges of the economy have forced flexible entrepreneurs to reconsider their attachment to their business space. Many have been opting to forego rent and relocate at home. But launching a home-based business  is not an open-and-shut matter.

Recently, The Wall Street Journal published an interesting profile of entrepreneurs who have relocated their businesses to their homes. A move home might seem like the logical step for a franchise that is small and versatile, especially if the franchisee has an extra room in this house. But there are a few challenges to consider, as the article discusses.

Zoning: Laws vary from town to town and state to state, but this is a very important consideration. The WSJ article cites the experience of Princeton, NJ’s Victoria Rogers, who wanted to relocate her ballet shoe business to her home. A local community group objected, claiming the ballet shop violated Princeton’s historical image and Rogers was forced to obtain a permit for selling shoes in her house by appointment only. This seems like a great inconvenience and it’s the kind of hassle every entrepreneur should consider before relocating.

Marketing: The greatest advantage of owning a store is having a living, breathing space to advertise your product or service. A shop is probably the last thing a consumer is looking for when they drive through a residential area, and the small sign you’ll be able to hang out in home’s window will hardly capture many people’s imagination. Distance from the footfall that a shoppinh zone provides forces many entrepreneurs into the trickier world of online marketing, as Brendan Buffington of Eurochild explained:

“Before, we could put a sign with ’sale’ on it outside our door, and it would drive traffic directly into our front door,” Mr. Buffington says. “Now, we place ads on other Web sites, and send our email campaigns, and wish on a star that people will click through.”

None of these things should inhibit you from opening a home-based franchise, but they issues are worth considering. Perhaps in these difficult times, rent is one expense too many, so it’s as good a time as any to consider a home-based franchise with Franchise Direct.

It’s no surprise that home-based franchises are one of the most popular franchise investments. They offer new franchisees an excellent and affordable start-up with minimal risk and the option of maintaining other work. With the recession, we’ve witnessed real growth in this sector, as entrepreneurs have been turning to business opportunities with lower overhead and higher yield.

But what does a home-based franchisee need to know to be successful?

James Stephenson has just written the Ultimate Home Based Business Handbook. It’s an deeply-knowledgeable book that tells entrepreneurs everything they’ll need to know for getting their home-based franchise off the ground. We hope to be reviewing the book in the near future, but in the mean time, here’s a brief excerpt from the Home Business Musts section.

Do what you enjoy.
What you get out of your business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business. So if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, in all likelihood it’s safe to assume that will be reflected in the success of your business–or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, chances are you won’t succeed.

Take what you do seriously.
You cannot expect to be effective and successful in business unless you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell. Far too many home business owners fail to take their own businesses seriously enough, getting easily sidetracked and not staying motivated and keeping their noses to the grindstone. They also fall prey to naysayers who don’t take them seriously because they don’t work from an office building, office park, storefront, or factory. Little do these skeptics, who rain on the home business owner’s parade, know is that the number of people working from home, and making very good annual incomes, has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.

There’s 23 other tips here.

Also, if you’d like to buy the book, which is published by Entrepreneur Press, follow this link.