Doc Franchise Writings and Ramblings

Looking for franchise opportunities you are interested in is a bit trivial, especially if you are presented with literally thousands of franchise opportunities, online and particularly if what you "think" you are interested isn't what will meet your needs.

Nonetheless, to help you save time on searching for franchises to buy, I have 8 online resources to recommend you, along with the reasons why you should consider visiting them.

Why do I only recommend 8 online resources?

While many other resource sites can be added into the list, they are, in my opinion, offering pretty similar information with the rest of franchise resources, thus making them less useful compared to those listed in the top 8 below.

Without further ado, here is the list.

8 franchise for sale and franchise opportunities online resources

1. IFA’s Franchise Opportunities
   
   IFA (International Franchise Association) is the first place you should visit whenever you think about franchising. With 1200+ franchise opportunities, it is the most recent and comprehensive franchise resource of all. What’s more, you can access wealth of information on franchising from trusted providers, including joining as a member, accessing members-only resources.
2. Entrepreneur.com’s Franchise 500
   
   Entrepreneur.com (and the off line version, Entrepreneur Magazine) is a well-respected resource for entrepreneurs. Its coveted Franchise 500 has been around for 30 years and the list contains the top 500 franchises, categorized by industry (2009 #1: Subway.) The ranking system is very useful, indeed – It helps entrepreneurs to weigh their decision in choosing a franchise to invest in.
3. Franchise Gator
   
   Franchise Gator not only lists franchise opportunities, but also non-franchise business opportunities. It lists 1000+ businesses that you can browse by industry, investment or location. It also contains useful articles on franchising.
4. Franchise Direct
   
   Franchise Direct offers less search features (search by industry and by location.) However, it offers a useful categorisation that many don’t, such as low-cost, International, green, mobile and SBA-approved franchises. Franchise Direct’s Top 100 Global Franchises can help you learn the big picture of franchising worldwide.
5. Franchise Opportunities
   
   Franchise Opportunities, LLC is IFA’s Supplier Forum Member, so it’s pretty much credible in the information they offer. The highlight is on the International site they have, focusing on local and International franchises in respective countries, such as India, Australia and United Kingdom.
6. Bison
   
   Bison’s main features are the “My Request List” – containing a list of franchises you are interested to receive more information from, and Popular Franchise of the day list – containing the top 5 franchises which info was requested the most by site visitors.
7. BusinessForSale.com’s Buy A Franchise
   
   BusinessForSale.com is actually a business for sale marketplace that offers a category of franchise for sale. While the “real” franchise for sale (established franchise units) is actually on the business for sale section, this section contains a list of franchise opportunities, that are not only categorised by industry, but also by specific region: Global, US, UK, Canadian, Australian, Irish, and Spanish.
8. BizBuySell’s Franchise For Sale
   
   Similar to BusinessForSale.com, BizBuySell.com has a category that list franchise opportunities categorised by industry, US state and capital requirement. It also has an info request list that shows you to which franchises you are requesting more info from. Again, to find the established franchise for sale you need to go to “Buy A Biz” section.

There are others. Some with some slick tools to determine whether what you are looking for meets your criteria for investment, results, and lifestyle/workstyle experience. You can start with these and see if what you are looking for and if in fact franchising makes sense for you at all.

Be Well!

Hopefully this list can help you to pursue your dream in investing in a franchise.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

The proliferation of B2B franchises - service based franchises - coaching and consulting franchise opportunities has created a whole new category and level of need for financing.

It's been hard enough if you were a capital based franchise (we need build-out, equipment, vehicles, etc.) For a time it seemed all small business capital had dried up. It is a bit better but not a lot.

Today, non-capital intense businesses whose primary needs are working capital, capital for growth (more territory, expansion of marketing efforts, etc.) and only minor capital expenditures compared to manufacturing and retail types still may require capital in addition to their candidates capabilities.

Where do they go? Where does anyone go? Are there alternatives?

Before you run out and begin your search for capital, you may want to consider an approach that many businesses — particularly start-ups and small businesses that may not yet qualify for loans or be able to attract venture capital — have used with more than a little bit of success. It's called bootstrapping. Bootstrapping or booting refers to a group of metaphors that share a common meaning, a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help. The term is often attributed to Rudolf Erich Raspe's story The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, where the main character pulls himself out of a swamp, though it's disputed whether it was done by his hair or by his bootstraps.

Today we refer to bootstrapping and it means finding money and resources by any means possible, including begging, borrowing, bartering, sharing, and leasing everything a company needs.

In short, bootstrapping is guerrilla financing.

So, who bootstraps? Many companies do. In fact, some estimates put the total at 75 to 85 percent of all start-up businesses. Three fundamental rules for effective bootstrapping are

• Hire as few employees as possible. For many companies, employees are the greatest expense. When you add up salary, benefits, overtime, and other employee-related expenses, it doesn't take long for any budget to feel the pinch. Bootstrappers avoid this pinch by hiring (and paying) as few employees as possible.

• Lease, share, and barter everything you can. No, you don't have to pay cash for everything that you need for your business to run. Many companies share facilities, equipment, and even employees with one another to spread out their respective costs. An increasing number of firms also have discovered the wonderful world of bartering, the trading of goods and services to other companies in exchange for the goods and services that are needed.

• Use other people's money. Why use your own money when someone else will let you use his or hers? We're not talking about getting a loan, we're talking about convincing a vendor to allow you to pay 30 or 60 or even 90 days after you receive your goods from them. Or, on the other hand, obtaining payment from your customers before you deliver their goods or services. In each case, you have an opportunity to use someone else's funds to your advantage — for a while, at least.

Some of the more common approaches to bootstrapping are:

• Seeking funds from friends and family.

• Getting a home-equity loan.

• Offering equity to employees and vendors in lieu of salary or cash payments.

• Bartering for goods and services.

• Tapping your credit cards.

• Convincing vendors to accept extended payments.

• Starting your business part time while working a full-time job.

• Getting an extra job.

• Working from home or in your garage.

• Sharing offices with another company.

• Encouraging customer financing (deposits and early payments).

• Looking for angel investors.

• Pooling founders' savings.

Although the need for bootstrapping tends to go away as a business grows and becomes more established — and therefore becomes more attractive to conventional lenders and investors — any company, no matter how big or how small, can benefit by applying bootstrapping techniques in its day-to-day financial activities.

One of the greatest dangers as businesses become more established is the growth of overhead — the costs of facilities, administrative personnel, equipment, utilities, office supplies, furniture, and so forth — at a rate far faster than the growth of a company's sales. This is a recipe for poor profits, sluggish growth, and loss of competitive edge.

Bootstrapping can help keep your company lean and mean while keeping overhead in check and profits high.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641