The franchise industry provides one of the most dynamic business opportunities for budding entrepreneurs and experienced business people alike. Over the past eight years, I’ve been involved with a number of franchise brands, and for those still considering the move into franchising, I’ve compiled my top reasons as to why this year is poised to be one of the industry’s strongest, making it the perfect time to take the plunge.

1. Franchising provides you with an opportunity to follow your passion, with the support of a trusted network

The old adage might just be true when it comes to franchising; “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. Franchising gives you the opportunity to work in an established industry that you are passionate about and build up a brand you feel a connection with.

I got into franchising almost by accident. I have always been attracted to a brand first, and then to the business model. I’ve been fortunate to work with a number of brands that have fulfilled my passions (be that for good food or good coffee), which have also just happened to be successful franchise operations.

This is still the case with my current role at Poolwerx. I grew up swimming competitively and swam at a high level for many years. I have always been at home in the water and now that I have children of my own, water continues to bring my whole family together. 

I believe this connection to a brand is critical when deciding who to bring on board as a franchisee. Systems and processes are easily learned, especially with the strong network that franchising provides, but passion for your product is something that has to be brought to the table.

2. Franchising can survive the traditional retail slump and extend beyond retail

Some of the challenges typically faced by franchisees, especially in the food retail sector, include high rent prices in shopping centres and staff wages. These costs can lead to significant margin compression in the businesses. 2020 will likely continue to be a tough year for traditional bricks and mortar retail but will also be a great opportunity for franchises that provide additional revenue streams. 

For example, Poolwerx offers three revenue streams for franchisees; beyond our retail hubs, which are already outside the high-rental demands faced by many food franchises, we also have our residential pool servicing offering and a business-to-business offering servicing commercial pools and establishing business partnerships.

Multiple revenue streams not only provide an opportunity to increase overall profits, but can safeguard your business against troughs within the different sectors. Should a retail downturn occur, having a business model with multiple revenue streams will help future proof your business.

3. Franchising allows newcomers to enter the market at various entry points 

Whether you are looking for a new business opportunity or to take the reins of an already established business, franchising can be a great option for those at all levels of their entrepreneurial journey.

The modern franchisee ranges from first time business owners, right up to experienced entrepreneurs who manage multiple territories with multi-million dollar turnovers. We see this latter trend continuing in 2020, and expect an increase in the number of experienced business people entering franchising.  It provides franchisees the ability for an improved work/life balance while still building a successful business backed by an established network. 

4. The franchise industry is experiencing a thorough clean up

There is no doubt the franchising industry as a whole has gone through some difficult times over the last few years. The inquiry into the operation and effectiveness of the franchise industry has uncovered challenging stories, but the strong recommendations made and currently being implemented are helping to overhaul the industry, cracking down on those who demonstrate unfair behaviour. 

This increasing level of scrutiny across franchises everywhere will give no choice to dwindling franchisors but to clean up their act in 2020. Strong franchise models will continue to go over and above and push their performance levels even higher. 

Personally, I see the code of conduct as being the bare minimum of what franchise’s need to deliver. We should be looking to focus on improving levels of support and communication throughout the business model, to best support franchisees and their profitability. This to me, is the most important key performance indicator within a business. 

5. A chance to tap into this new decade’s zeitgeist

When considering franchising opportunities in 2020, it is important to find the right business not only for your current situation, but one that will play directly into key global macro trends such as health and wellbeing, technology and customer convenience.

The opportunity to expand business models for franchises is just one of the many fantastic indicators of strong industry growth in 2020 and beyond.