Sunbelt Atlanta South has a franchise specialist ready to answer your franchise questions and assist you with the process.
Please Contact Julie Cherry at 800-350-0188
Facts About Franchises
Opening up a franchise is a much safer decision than opening up a new business independently. An even safer decision is to purchase an existing established franchise. Here are some facts about franchises according to The International Franchise Association (IFA):
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, fewer than 5% of Franchises were terminated on an annual basis.
In a study by Arthur Anderson & Company of 366 franchise companies, nearly 97% were still in business after 5 years.
In contrast, a study by the U.S. Small Business Administration revealed that 62.2% of all new businesses FAILED within their first 6 years of business.
Nearly 50% of all domestic retail sales were from franchise businesses.
1 in 12 U.S. business establishments is a franchise.
A new franchise opens every 8 minutes of every business day.
There are approximately 3,300 Franchisors and over 500,000 franchise units.
The total number of people employed by franchising is over 9 million, with 8 to 14 employed per business.
Franchised businesses create more than 170,000 new jobs each year.
The Sunbelt Franchise Program
At Sunbelt, we believe in and know about franchising because all of our offices are owned by franchisees. In fact, Sunbelt is the number one rated and largest Business Brokerage franchise company in the world (we are consistently ranked #1 by Entrepreneur magazine in our category).
Last year, Sunbelt acted as the intermediary in business sales totaling over a billion dollars. With thousands of business buyers walking through our doors, we discovered that nearly 90% of qualified buyers were looking for a business with the same characteristics - different kinds of businesses but the same characteristics. They were looking for a business that could be bank-financed, and that offered on-going marketing, training and support for the life of the business. Are you looking for a business with these characteristics? If so, you are looking for a franchise.
As the largest business brokerage firm in the world, Sunbelt is regularly contacted by franchisors looking to expand their concept. Hundreds of these franchisors have come to us because of our national presence and our ability to bring qualified buyers to the table. Consequently, we are constantly pre-screening franchises to determine whether they meet our high standards of excellence, integrity, and quality. As a result, we are able to present you with the top franchise opportunities currently on the market.
Our ultimate goal is to help you find an opportunity that will be good for you and your family. We provide you with guidance throughout this process, but you never pay us for any of our work, before or after the purchase of a franchise. Our income is earned by commissions paid by the franchisors for referring qualified and educated buyers to them.
Our number one goal in the franchise evaluation process is to help you find an opportunity that will be good for you and your family. Of course, franchising is not for everyone. If at any point in the franchise evaluation process you believe a franchise is not in your best interests, you are under no obligation to continue the process.
Types of Franchise Agreements
Before you consider what kind of franchise to investigate, it is extremely helpful to find the right entry level of franchising. Franchises are usually classified into four different categories or levels. Choosing the right level of franchising for personal and professional satisfaction is almost as important as choosing the right franchise.
Single-unit Franchises
A single-unit franchisee has the right to operate one franchise unit. Most franchisees enter the world of franchising by owning one unit. It is an excellent way to gain an understanding of the franchise system before considering additional units.
Multi-unit Franchises
The franchisee acquires more than one unit of the franchise usually at reduced initial franchise fees. A good sign of the health of a franchise organization is that many of the franchisees are multi-unit owners.
Area Development Franchises
This license usually grants the franchisee the right to open a certain number of franchises in a given area. There is usually a production schedule where the area development franchisee must open a certain number of franchises during a certain period. As long as the area development franchisee stays on track in opening franchises in the area, he/she has an exclusive area where no other franchisees are allowed to open a franchise. Area development franchisees also typically pay reduced franchise and royalty fees.
Master Franchises
Sometimes called a regional developer, a master franchisee has all the rights of an area developer and usually assumes a larger area. The main difference is that the master franchisee, in addition to opening franchises at reduced franchise and royalty fees, can also sell unit franchises, multi-unit franchises and area development franchises, and profit from those sales. The master franchisee usually receives a part of the ongoing royalties paid by each franchisee. There may be additional income available from distribution of products through the franchisees in the area and possibly some real estate interests in franchisee locations. The master franchisee will usually operate at least one unit for income generation, for use in franchise sales, and for use as a training facility. Master franchises are rare, and when they are available, they are usually sold quickly. Because of the multiple revenue streams associated with a master franchise, the potential return on investment is substantial.
The Sunbelt Atlanta South Office has brokers that are specifically certified to represent and sell franchise opportunities. Often times a good candidate for a franchise is a "corporate refugee" (a right sized manager from the world of big business having a mixture of management and business skills).
If you are interested in learning more about whether a franchise may be a good solution for you, please contact Julie Cherry at 800-350-0188.
