What stops many people from starting a business is not a lack of ideas, but a lack of confidence. They don't fully trust their own calculations, the potential of a given location, or whether they will be able to manage a team, put together an offering, and win their first customers. Bringing all of these elements together is also a major challenge — and doing so, of course, without burning through cash in the first few months.
Franchising can offer a practical solution, because it allows entrepreneurs to start a business from a different starting point. They can draw on a proven business model, brand recognition, established procedures, training, access to tools, and the experience of other entrepreneurs.
This does not mean, however, that franchising is the right choice for everyone. The key question a prospective entrepreneur needs to answer is whether this model offers support in the areas where they actually need it — and whether it will help them move more quickly from idea to action.
What Problem Does Franchising Solve?
A report by Oxford Economics shows that people choosing to invest in a franchise (you can read more about how this model works here) are often launching their first business. 64% of the franchisees surveyed said that the location they ran was their first business, and 30% admitted that without the franchise, they would not have decided to run a business of their own at all.
For one entrepreneur, the greatest value will be a ready-made sales model. For another, it might be the training, support with opening, access to proven tools, or the chance to exchange experiences with other franchisees.
Without a clear sense of what matters most to you, it's easy to focus on the things that look good in a presentation: the brand, photos of the locations, the number of outlets, or the network's history. These things matter, but they don't answer the most important question — whether this particular model will actually help you run your business day to day.
The report referenced above highlights the elements that franchisees themselves identify as the practical value of the model. Among the most important, they cite: the opportunity to exchange experiences with other franchisees (65%), training (64%), access to technological solutions (64%), and advertising campaigns (58%). It's worth translating these into concrete situations from the first few months of running a location.
Access to a network of other franchisees matters when it can genuinely be put to use: comparing results, asking about proven solutions, seeing how others handle recruitment, local marketing, or seasonal fluctuations in sales. The phrase "you're part of a network" on its own doesn't say much. What matters more is whether knowledge actually flows within that network.
Training is valuable if it prepares you not only for opening a location, but also for managing it day to day afterwards. A candidate should check what areas the training covers, and ask how frequently it will be available at later stages of running the business. Otherwise, it may turn out to be a one-off onboarding session rather than genuine ongoing support in running the company.
The same applies to technology. CRM systems and tools for reporting, sales, and customer service are not simply nice extras if they help you see more quickly what's working and what needs improvement. For a franchisee, what matters is not just whether the network provides access to these tools, but whether using them actually translates into easier decision-making and better results.
Only by breaking the scope of support down into its individual components can you properly assess whether a franchise will genuinely help you get started. Not because the franchisor will do the work for you, but because it will give you access to the knowledge, processes, and data that make it easier to manage your business.
Is It Worth Using a Ready-Made Business Model?
One term that comes up frequently in discussions of franchising is a "proven business model." It's worth pinning down what this phrase actually means in practice. It's not simply about a brand already having operating locations and being well known. What matters more for a prospective franchisee is whether the network is able to replicate the model across new locations — in a structured, measurable, data-driven way.
A good example is the process of choosing a location. This is one of the decisions that has the greatest impact on a business's success, so it shouldn't rest solely on intuition or a general sense that a particular spot "looks good." What matters includes factors such as the demographic profile of residents, footfall, nearby competition, planned developments, places that generate passing trade, and the risk of cannibalising other locations within the network.
This matters because a proven model isn't limited to the standard of the premises, the offering, procedures, or training. It also covers how decisions are made before opening: where it makes sense to operate, how to assess the market, how to match the format to the location, and how to limit risk. These are often the very areas that prove most difficult for someone just starting out.
That's why, before signing an agreement, it's worth asking the franchisor not only about the investment costs and ROI, but also about the location-selection process. Who carries out the analysis? What data is it based on? Are factors such as competition, demographics, local footfall, and the city's spatial development plans taken into account? Does the network use tools that allow it to compare locations against one another?
A thorough location analysis can help you avoid one of the most costly mistakes at the outset: opening a location in a spot that doesn't generate enough footfall, customers, or room for growth.
Looking for the right franchise model for you? Find out more about fitness franchising or play centre franchising.
Don't Forget — You'll Be an Employer
At the planning stage, it's easiest to focus on what needs to be bought, leased, fitted out, and paid for before opening. It's only later that an entrepreneur fully realises just how much the team matters.
In a service-based franchise, however, customers rarely judge the business on the brand or the premises alone. They judge it on how they were served, whether someone took care of them, whether everything worked the way it should, and the atmosphere they experience there. That's why support from the franchisor in recruitment, training, and maintaining standards is invaluable.
The report mentioned earlier shows that, in terms of staff retention, the transition from part-time to full-time roles, and access to benefits, franchises performed better than independent businesses.
This doesn't mean, of course, that every franchisee will automatically be a good employer. But it does suggest that a well-built franchise system can help in this area too — through onboarding standards, access to training, HR tools, and a more structured way of organising work.
For a prospective franchisee, this is another important thing to check.
So, is it worth entering a franchise? That depends on what you're hoping to get out of the model. If you're looking for a way into business with support, know-how, ready-made procedures, training, tools, and the ability to draw on the network's experience, a franchise could be a good decision — particularly if your biggest obstacle is moving from idea to a concrete plan of action.
If, on the other hand, you see a franchise simply as an easier way to run a business, it's worth thinking carefully about whether this is really the right path for you. A franchisor can give you access to know-how, share proven solutions, and support you across operations, marketing, and much more — but it won't take away your responsibility for the business you run.
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