Franchising - Your Home Based Business and Their Expertise

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill

Might a Home Based Franchise be the Way to do Business?

Starting a home based business is a scary proposition - especially if you don't have a "day job" to fall back on. Rather than introducing your own creative, untested product or service you might want to consider purchasing a franchise.

What's So Great about a Home Based Business Franchise?

Home based or not, franchises can greatly increase your chance of surviving those chancy first two business years - and then prospering. In fact, statistics show that the chance of your business succeeding doubles when you purchase a franchise. While you will have to invest money in the franchise what you get out of it is a proven product with a national, or possibly international, reputation. Many franchises also offer written materials and instructional tools with ongoing training.

To some franchiser you will have to prove your experience; others won't care. There are many fine print and online resources for franchise information. A keyword search and a trip to your favorite book store will ferret these out. Several magazines focus on franchises as well.

What Does it Cost to Buy into a Franchised Home Based Business?

You might be surprised at the business names that are franchises. Let's look at a few and what it costs for start-up. Huddle House, $20, 000 franchise fee, $200, 000 cash required. Not, of course home based. But then there's Home Helpers, offering non-medical care to seniors. Certainly a company you can run from the comfort of your own home. Its franchise fee is $15, 900. Val-Pak Direct Marketing is a great franchise for a home based business, with a buy-in price tag of only $5000.

Landscaping and lawn care service would work well as a home based business. Some landscape franchises: Lawn Doctor with a franchise fee of $74, 900, and Mister Plant, whose initial cost is $15, 000. Candy King vending asks a minimum of $8000 to get started. There are others whose buy in are considerably less, but the general rule of thumb is the lower the buy-in the less well-known the company name and the more paltry the training and marketing help.

In franchising like many other things you get what you pay for.

What Bang for Your Franchise Buck?

So what do you get for your franchise fee? Well, of course you get to use the company name. What the franchiser offers beyond that varies. Home Video Studio, for instance, offers three weeks of training; Lawn Doctor offers two weeks of training and provides lawn care equipment; Computertots provides operations manuals, on-site support, newsletter and electronic bulletin board and conferences. Bingo Bugle Newspaper, while they pledge support, does seek franchisees with sales, marketing or advertising experience.

When considering a franchise, while the idea that doing what you love is valid, it's not quite as crucial that you do what you know, if you choose a franchise whose support is ongoing. What's most important is that you carefully compare and ask many questions before making your final franchise decision.