Posts Tagged ‘e-franchises’
Getting To Know E-Franchises
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
There’s no doubt you’ve heard of franchises - businesses like McDonalds or Subway - where you purchase the right to open one of the stores in your area. While being a bricks-and-mortar kind of franchise may not be something you are in the market for, what about an e-franchise?
Let’s take a look at what e-franchises are in greater detail.
What is an E-Franchise?
E-franchises, also known as virtual franchises, are franchises of a business that, instead of being bricks-and-mortar, are an online venture. With today’s advances in technology, it’s no surprise that many online companies specializing in a particular city, state or region, are selling opportunities to run their business models in other parts of the country or world.
In one respect, e-franchises are much like regular franchises. The purchase you make entitles you to use a known name brand and start your business with marketing and brand recognition already on your side, giving you a huge advantage over other businesses.
Additionally, e-franchises often offer training to make sure the company you run is run like the model that earned that brand recognition.
Where they differ is in their ease of setting up. Often, virtual franchises require little more than purchasing a domain name. Then you are able to set up a template website, customized to your location - and voila! You’re in business!
How to Find an E-Franchise
When it comes to finding virtual franchises, many people look up “home based business”. Usually, they’ll come up with a number of results that offer a chance to start a “free” business out of their home. These are not the business offers that you want. Most of these free offers have a number of catches that you will learn about the hard way, after you have already invested your time and hard-earned money into them.
Franchises, whether traditional or virtual, have to be purchased. Essentially, you are buying a business from someone. Although you are not purchasing a building or any of the other physical parts of a business, you are purchasing the brand that has been created, and the trust of customers who believe in the brand. That comes with a price.
Money Matters
Some e-franchises can be purchased for a few thousand dollars; others are tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars - but come with all the training and even some of the supplies you need to get up and running. That is far more affordable than the days of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more, that you’d need to spend to set up a traditional franchise in a physical location.
You will have to start your purchase by paying the franchise fees to open your own branch of the business. If you are setting up a business that has you delivering a product to a client, make sure to remember all the materials you’ll need to create that product, or the inventory you will need to have on hand to get up and running.
All of these costs generally have to be paid up front, and are monies you need to budget for.
Locating an Opportunity
Finding the right e-franchise opportunity for you will take some research. There are virtual franchises in almost every field and area of business, so you can definitely find something that will suit your style and interests.
One way to find e-franchises is to find online businesses that you like, that seem to be in a particular area other than yours, and contact them to see if they have franchise opportunities.
Another place to look are franchise directories like these:
FranchiseOnline
BizBuySell
Franchise.org
BuyerZone
FranchiseGator
Proforma
Gaebler Ventures
Just like any other business venture, you should enter into a virtual franchise agreement with care. Read the fine print, do your research and ask questions.
Finally, when you are confident about the opportunity, you’ll be ready to start your own business.
Tags: E-Commerce and E-Business, e-franchises, franchises, Leeia Ladipoh, Money Matters, work at home
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