Franchise Sizzle!
The Franchise and Biz Op Blog

For families who don´t want to pack their elderly father or mother off to a retirement home, there is another alternative. In home care is something that appeals to many older people these days. As the Baby Boomers reach retirement, they are beginning to need some help, some of them are simply not able to live on their own anymore. It´s a franchise opportunity ripe for the taking.

There are a variety of franchise opportunities available that deal with in home care of the elderly. Caregivers help those who are not able to be on their own live a good life still. Maintaining the quality of life and peace of mind to senior citizens is a very worth business that many franchises are taking advantage of.

If you have an affinity for the elderly, an in home care franchise opportunity could be just right for you. Take a look at a few of the franchises that are out there and decide for yourself if this is the best business for your talents.

Another huge advantage to this type of franchise opportunity is that the overhead costs are very low. In fact, you´ll find some of the lowest investment opportunities in this industry! Since you will be working in your client´s home, there is no need for a big office or storefront as with many other franchises. For those who enjoy working with older people and who have little money to invest, an in home care franchise could be perfect.

Do you like shoes? You probably wear them every day and find that you need a new pair or two every few months, more often if you are an athlete. Here´s a franchise that takes advantage of the constant need to buy athletic footwear, The Athlete´s Foot.

Athletic footwear makes a great franchise opportunity and The Athlete´s Foot was the first franchise of its kind and has established a quality brand around the world. This franchise opportunity is available around the globe and already has established storefronts on 6 continents. Considering the great reputation backing this franchise, it is a pretty safe bet for investing.

With The Athlete´s Foot franchise, you can either invest in one store or in a territory where you will be allowed to open multiple stores. This is a good idea if you want a store on the street as well as a mall shop and you will receive a discount if you choose to open two or more franchises. With more and more Americans becoming aware of the growing need for exercise, you can bet that athletic footwear will be in demand for years to come, meaning this is a very useful and profitable franchise opportunity.

When you are researching your franchise opportunity, it´s a good idea to not only speak with the franchise, but also with franchisees. This will give you a good idea of whether or not the business is for you. You could go for hours asking questions, but here are the five most important ones to ask current franchisees.

How long have you owned your franchise? This will give you a good idea of whether or not the person can actually answer your questions. Someone who has only been in business for a couple of months will not have the insight that someone who has been with the franchise for six or seven years will.

Are you satisfied with the franchise and the service/training provided? The answers to this question will let you know if the franchise has a good working service and training policy. If everyone has a similar issue with them, you can be sure that you will have the same problem and you´ll need to decide if it is still worth it to you to invest.

How long did it take to break even? This won´t necessarily tell you if you will earn well or not, since every business is different, but it will give you an idea of whether it is possible to make your money back or not.

Were the costs incurred similar to the ones listed in the original disclosure document? This will let you know if the franchise is underestimating costs, something that could drastically affect you when it comes time to set up your franchise opportunity.

If you had to redo it, would you still choose this franchise? Find out if they are really happy with the franchise. Most people will have some part of the business that they don´t enjoy, but if those franchisees you meet are consistently down on the program, you may be better off just walking away.

Restaurants are some of the most popular franchises around, possibly because people always need to eat. While McDonalds and Burger King franchises might be a bit out of your league, there are plenty of smaller food franchise opportunities that are perfect.

The Desert Moon Fresh Mexican Grille is one of these franchise opportunities. Offering high quality fast food with a Mexican touch, this is one franchise restaurant that is going places. you´ll be taken step by step through the setup process, finding a great location, marketing and sourcing products. One of the biggest attractions of this franchise opportunity is the fact that all the food is flavorful, fresh and low fat. It´s healthy Mexican food that consumers love.

With a commitment to excellence and great food, the Desert Moon Fresh Mexican Grille team is dedicated to helping you make the franchise a success, so you´ll have support all the way.

A very common question that potential business owners ask of franchise opportunities is “how much will I earn?” Of course you want to know, but can you rely on the answers that the franchise gives you, if they give you any?

Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal for a franchise to divulge an earnings claim. An earnings claim is basically just information that you can use to speculate how much you could potentially make with the franchise opportunity. It is not legal for anyone to give you a set number and tell you that you will make a specific amount of money running the business.

Franchises are not required by law to divulge financial information, but if they do, it will be in the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC), listed under Article 19. This will contain earnings claims based on the previous sales and earnings of the business, which can be used to figure out the earning potential of this particular franchise opportunity.

You will never have an exact number, but being able to estimate your future earnings, should you invest in the franchise, can be helpful. Talk to the franchise about their earnings claim and ask to see the UFOC if there is one. Apart from that, talking to other franchisees may give you an idea.

Women entrepreneurs have never had it better than they do today. The opportunities for women wanting to own a franchise are good and getting better. Just look at some of the franchises and business opportunities that have opened their doors to the fairer sex:

• Express Personnel Services - The franchise that offers real people with real skills to real businesses in a real professional environment.
• ValPak - With more than 70,000 advertisers, this is one of the most well known direct mail coupon companies on the planet.
• The Glove Guy - Become the glove lady in your neighborhood and drive a cool van.
• Too Hotties - This franchise is revolutionizing the way men get hair cuts.
• Slender Xpress - The wellness franchise for women.
• Soho Hero - The business service provider for the work-at-home industry.
• Accessible Home Health Care - The name says it all. Tired of working for someone else? Own your own home health care business.
• Discount Resort Club - If luxury is more your style, this business opportunity offers fun loving ladies an opportunity to own their own luxury oriented business for less than $5,000.
• Gill Media - iGSM certified, this business opportunity is the perfect low-investment opportunity for the woman who loves to help others with the latest technological developments in business. Service offerings include web design, marketing, SEO, managed hosting, a wide variety of similar services.
• KidzArt - Like kids? Like art? Then a KidzArt franchise just might be for you.
• CaribbeanCruiseLines - The $10,000 business opportunity for women who love to travel. You get your own automated website and keep all the profits to yourself.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Women in business have the best opportunities today to succeed at their own business. Whether you are looking for a franchise or a business opportunity, Red Hot Franchises has the right business franchise for you.

In only three days, we’ve received more than 50 comments on our iPod Nano contest. Have you entered?

Well, you don’t have to enter a contest to know a good opportunity when you see one. All you have to do is a little research. If you are interested in a franchise opportunity and you think you’ve found the perfect one for you, don’t jump in with both feet until you’ve checked on a few things first. Here is a list of things you should look into before committing to any franchise opportunity:

• The company’s financial situation - How do their balance sheet and income statements look? If you wouldn’t invest in the company’s stock, you might not be interested in buying a franchise.
• Location - Where does the company tend to place its stores? Do you have a say in where your store will be located? Will your store be in close proximity to other stores within the same franchise system? If so, get out.
• Tenure - How long has the company been in business. As a general rule, you don’t want to join a franchise if the company has been in business for less than three years. That’s not a long enough track record. You want a company that has proven itself before offering franchise opportunities because that says a lot about the company’s management philosophy.
• Hidden costs and fees - There is more to buying a franchise than just your initial investment. Does the company charge franchise owners for stock inventory, paperwork, and other management services. If so, what are they? Too many fees might make your profit potential prohibitive.
• Talk to other franchise owners - Talk to current and past franchise owners. Were they happy with their investment? Don’t just settle for the company’s list of satisfied franchisees. Do your own research here. Find a list of stores owned by franchisees and ask them what they think of the business. Are they glad they did it? If you have more than one franchise owner saying they wish they hadn’t made the investment then you might reconsider it yourself. But don’t just make a rash judgment on one testimony alone.

Investing in a franchise is just like buying any other business. If it’s a bad business decision then it’s a bad business decision. Trust your instinct, but do the research.