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Step #2 - Begin your franchise search

Written by: Jack Burris July 6th, 2008
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As you start deciding which franchise is for you, there are dozens of sources to reference to gain valuable information about available opportunities. If you are searching for a retail opportunity in your own town, take some time to drive around and see what’s there. Use other helpful resources like YellowPages.com and Google to see what kind of marketing other businesses are doing … your future competition. Here are a few resources to find some of the available opportunities:

Aside from contacting third parties, you should also contact the franchisor who will be able to provide real world information about the franchise “straight from the horses mouth.”

Next up? Sifting through all the information. Stay tuned!

Tags: , Posted in Business Models, Business Planning, Choosing a Business Idea, Choosing a Business Model, Franchise Business
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Comments

  1. Rich Sloan     Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    Jack,

    Thanks a lot for creating the series of posts! Franchising is definitely the “darling” path for some entrepreneurs.

    Another great resource for finding franchise opportunities is right here at StartupNation.

    You can find it under the SERVICES tab at the top of the site.

    Here’s the link: http://www.franchisegator.com/startupnation/Selector.php

    Rich

  2. Mitchell York     Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    People looking for franchises should be knowledgeable on the sources of information they rely on. Franchoice and other similar organizations are paid by franchisors on success–so potential buyers should know they are not completely objective about the merits of particular franchises. As to the franchisor being the “horse’s mouth” of information: here again, buyers need to be aware that the only objective information comes from the UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular) which is a legal document filed with the FTC. Nothing the franchisor says verbally to convince a potential franchisee to buy a franchise can be relied on to be objective and truthful. Franchising can be a great alternative but like everything else in business, it’s up to the buyer to do her homework and take responsibility for the outcome.

  3. Jack Burris     Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pm

    Michael,

    This is all good information. If you are interested, you can usually get the FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document - formerly called the UFOC) from the franchisor for free. If you want to move the process along, you can either try getting the information from the State of California, which publishes all approved companies in an online database, or you can use a service like FranData and pay ~$200 for each FDD you want to buy. Agreed on your comments on FranChoice. These companies also provide a nice service of helping you think through the process. Whether you go with one of their recommendations or continue your research, using 3rd parties can be a good way to sift through the thousands of choices.

  4. Fayaz Karim     Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    Good blog information
    But you must go beyond and ask existng franchisees their numbers, their experineces with the franchisor, support, marketing and more.

    The truth is out there provided to persist for the details and call as many people as possible until you feel you have consensus.

    Researching but have no time or the discipline to do this? go to http://www.mrfranchiseman.com