How to Make More of Your Franchise
Have you considered being your own boss, making an assertive business move, and changing your life? Becoming a franchisee is exactly what you have been thinking about. One of the better things about adopting the mindset of an entrepreneur is "the sky is the limit" mentality. A franchise provides great opportunities, but the money making and growth does not have to stop there.Entrepreneurs have the acumen for seeing possibilities. Multi-unit and multi-concept franchising introduces the next level of franchising. An aspiring franchisee sees opportunity and the multi-unit/multi-concept franchisee sees more opportunities.
What is multi-unit and multi-concept franchising?
Multi-unit franchising entails operating multiple stores stemming from a single franchisor. For instance, you may operate several Carvel Ice Cream shops in one region. Since you would be associated with the brand name, you are not competing against yourself (all the region's profits would be yours). You would be instilling the brand name into all the region's customers, so they would associate your shops with their craving for ice cream.
Multi-concept franchisees incorporate two distinct, yet related businesses. For instance, a flower business and catering business are related because catered affairs usually are complemented with floral arrangements. A positive aspect of this situation is that you could advertise for each business along with the other.
Concerns
As with any business venture, it is prudent to consider the negative side first. There will be some challenges in being a multi-unit/multi-concept franchisee. Having multiple affairs occurring at once will warrant more concern.
A franchisee will have to think about the right location, the right management team, and the right services in order for their venture to make a profit. Though it can be highly lucrative and enticing, franchising is not for everyone. It especially takes a highly ambitious and committed individual to branch-out from an original franchise enterprise.
A franchisee will have to assess if having multiple locations of the same franchise will be realistic considering the needs of the region. If the region is highly populated and spread-out, then the move can work. If the brand name is popular, having multiple stores will be profitable because there will be enough demand to complement the supply.
A franchisee looking to take advantage of multi-concept franchising will have to make sure that each business can help one another; otherwise, it would be similar to opening two, mutually exclusive businesses. As aforementioned, a catering and flower business could be easily complemented, but other combinations may not work as well.
Having multiple stores will mean that you cannot be everywhere at once. You will need a solid, dependable team of managers. This is not impossible to achieve, but it will mean releasing important responsibilities to others. The success of your ventures will be contingent on the managerial skills of others.
Advantages
There are many advantages to being engaged in multiple stores. Similar to investing money, it is better to allocate your assets. This way, if one business is not doing well at a certain time, that unfortunate occurrence may be countered by another store or business doing very well.
Having multiple stores of the same franchise can be advantageous if certain circumstances stymie the commerce of one store (natural disaster, construction, etc.). In the case of a certain industry not doing well (ice cream parlor in the winter), having a business in another industry will compensate for the dive in the other's revenue.
You can use extra cash from one store and use it to augment another store. For instance, maybe one store would greatly benefit from some new product testing. You can use money from one store to foster the enterprise of another.
Having loyal employees means that you can ask them to cover shifts at other stores. This increases your possibilities and provides extra security in stressful situations (an employee quits, is sick, etc.).
Conclusion
Partaking in multi-unit and multi-concept franchising offers many opportunities. It is not for everyone, but can be quite lucrative. The most important thing to consider is doing research before making any definite moves. Match your best attributes with the right franchise for you.
About the Author
Joe Smith has years of experience in the franchise industry and is president of FranchiseFetch.com, where you can find franchising information and small business franchise opportunities for sale.