Is a Franchise Better Than Starting a Business?

Whether someone has experience in an industry or is brand-new to the field, starting a franchise instead of a startup business can be a better choice for many people. And this is especially true of the restoration and remediation industry. Learn how a franchise works, review the pros and cons of starting a franchise instead of a business, and consider starting a restoration franchise with Steamatic.

How Does a Franchise Work?

A franchise is a license that allows a franchise owner, also known as a franchisee, to use a business’s name, brand, business knowledge, processes, and other resources to sell products or services to customers. This differs from a business, which holds all the rights to sell products or services to customers using their name, brand, and other resources and the reservations to sell these resources to franchisees.

In order to start a franchise, one typically needs to pay the business initial investment and licensing fees, as well as annual licensing fees. Franchise owners may be able to run their franchise a certain way that doesn’t completely match that of the overall business, but they still must adhere to a variety of rules, including service or product fees, employment practices, marketing protocols, and company culture.

Pros of Opening a Franchise Instead of Starting a Business

Here are some pros of opening a franchise:

• Access to a recognized brand, proven training practices, and trusted products or services with a built-in customer base.
• Continued guidance and support from the business to maintain and grow a franchise.
• No need to have experience in the industry in which the franchise operates or being a business owner.
• Training for franchise owners to run their business identically or near identically to the overall business.
• A higher success rate than startups since 25% of startups fail within the first year and 50% fail within five years.

Cons of Opening a Franchise

However, there are some drawbacks to opening a franchise instead of starting one’s own business, including:

• No freedom to change product line, service offerings, name, branding, company culture, and more.
• Can be a more costly upfront investment, and depending on the industry, up to $500,000 or more.
• Required to pay for annual franchising fees, which can eat into potential profits.
• Possible impact from corporate-level scandals and actions that the customer base doesn’t agree with.
• Must follow the lead of the owner.

Reasons to Start a Restoration Franchise With Steamatic

Consider these five reasons to partner with Steamatic and open a franchise with an internationally recognized restoration chain:

• The restoration industry is nearly recession-proof because disasters happen and people need remediation services to save their homes and businesses.
• A restoration franchise can get the tools, training, and customer base of a national chain.
• A restoration franchise in an underserved community can bring positive change.
• Steamatic provides a territory with a population of 250,000 people for $50,000, making it a reasonable investment.
• Steamatic also provides backing from international construction, restoration, and catastrophe remediation company the Johns Lyng Group.

For more information on starting a Steamatic franchise or to get the process started, fill out this form or call Steamatic at 817-332-1575 today.