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As we ride the wave into post-pandemic business, there are myriad predictions for a strong year ahead in franchising. If you are considering becoming a franchisee and hope to build a multi-unit stronghold, some franchises will be better suited than others. What characteristics create a solid multi-unit franchise plan?
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Specialty Franchises
One way to help ensure success is to become a specialty franchise. A niche franchise focuses on a very specific market and set of customers. It might be a personal service directed toward a specific age group or a boutique-style retail location known for unusual treats.
A niche market or product will have a narrow market, but it also will have less competition. As a targeted franchise, marketing is often creative and more flexible as you grow your business. Without the slow-moving corporate format of some franchises, a specialty franchise can more readily adapt to its customers. After all, those customers are also uniquely attracted to your specific offering. Your strength will come from your franchise's less-common attributes that others cannot duplicate.
Complementary Franchises
Sometimes, opening multiple franchises of the same brand is not efficient. If you own a food franchise and open another one nearby, it may add to brand awareness, but it does not mean that your revenue will double. Instead, you could be competing against your first locations. Rather than building multiple units of the same franchise, consider buying different types of franchises that work well together.
For example, a fitness franchise attracts customers who are looking for improved health. But after they work out, they could easily patronize a smoothie franchise at the same location. Imagine the combinations that complement each other: daycare (for dogs or children) and coffee (for hectic adults) or auto lube franchise next to a restaurant franchise.
Running two types of franchises might demand more flexibility in skills, but it can be a successful blend that generates more revenue from the same small cache of customers. However, the franchises do not have to be in completely different industries. A burger joint next door to a frozen yogurt shop can achieve the same goal of complementary products that enhance multi-unit franchise ownership.
Neighborhood Franchises
Neighborhood franchises are the ones that serve only a local clientele. These include dry cleaners and mailing and shipping franchises. The customers usually live or work a short distance away, and they tend to be very loyal to the same location. Since they operate very locally, each neighborhood is a potential opportunity. A duplicate franchise in another neighborhood can operate successfully because it will draw upon the locals for its revenue.
The hunt for the perfect multi-unit franchise must still include all the other aspects of choosing an ideal franchise for your needs. You will soul-search and research the aspects of various business types. And you will dig into contracts and financial requirements, of course. But if expanding into multiple franchises is part of the plan, some franchise types are better suited for helping you build your multi-unit franchise empire.
Anne Daniells is a co-owner of Enterprising Solutions, a professional services firm specializing in corporate communication and financial improvement for businesses where she shares decades of corporate and entrepreneurial experience—including franchise ownership—in her writings on business culture. She has authored hundreds of articles for publications including AllBusiness.com, TweakYourBiz.com, and MSN.com. Reach out via her website for more on where corporate culture, communication, and human architecture collide.