Franchise businesses
Are franchise businesses worth buying into? Here's the story: my husband is a lead tech at a carpet/upholstery/leather/hardwood/tile cleaning and restoration franchise. He truly enjoys his work but he's made it as far as he can go. He's at the top of his company, just below the owner. His income alone would put us at the lower end up middle class in my area. Two things are happening... First, he wants more (money, responsibility, etc.). Second, at only his mid 30s his body is tired. He's been doing this for 18 years and it requires significant bending, leaning, stooping, lifting heavy equipment, etc.. He is an expert in his field (has received every certification possible and frequently attends new product trainings, etc.) and also helps in the office with the business end so he has a handle on that as well. The company he works for is a national franchise with a low cost of entry (There are several tiers you can buy in at but it's about $160,000 if you went all in on the top one, which we would). This company offers only a certain amount of licenses in each specified area. Our area only 3 out of 11 have been taken. So that's good, BUT... they are not the cheapest carpet cleaners by any stretch and thanks to the internet, consumers can easily find that information. They aren't the cheapest because they use superior products and processes. They truly are better. But a lot of consumers have trouble seeing past dollar signs. Over the past 3 years or so we've seen a decline in his current companies business. The owner is in his late 60s and seems to have one foot out the door and zero interest in learning modern marketing strategies (they have zero social media presence and don't even show up first when you Google their exact name!). So we can't really tell if the decline is because of the owner or because of the competition from the "$19 a room" cheap carpet cleaners. Probably both though. I guess after that novel I should get to my question.... Are franchises ever successful enough for individual owners? Is it worth paying a franchise fee for the instant brand recognition? I would say we don't necessarily care about being "rich", but we don't want to put in business owner effort for employee pay, if that makes sense?
I can tell you pricing from competition has nothing to do with decline and everything to do with poor marketing strategies. I co-own a digital marketing agency (inclinemarketing.org) and some of our clients are high end carpet cleaners, their sales have increased significantly since bringing us onboard. We use modern marketing techniques to place our clients at the top (it may not always be digital as each area can be different). Best of luck to you guys on franchising, and if you need some marketing pros, donโt hesitate to reach out to us :)
Have you considered purchasing the business from your husbandโs employer? It would be so much easier to takeover the business versus starting a new one. Often times a small business owner will sell the business and allow the purchaser to pay for it with future profits. For example, you could split the profits for the next 3-4 years and then after that itโs all yours.
He's "giving" it to his son in law who he's been grooming to take over for a decade now unfortunately.