According to the results of a recent Franchising poll, more than half of people are looking to invest in a franchise that costs $100,000 or less.
The findings revealed 34.55 percent of respondents have $50,000 or less to spare, meanwhile 22.15 percent would like to purchase a franchise that costs between $50,000 and $100,000.
Luckily for them, there are a number of franchises out there that cost $100,000 or less; and they cover a broad range of categories, from construction and couriering right through to automotive and IT.
INXPRESS
InXpress, the authorised sales partner for the global courier company DHL, launched in the UK in 2005 and it entered the Australian market in 2009.
Since then, the brand has grown to include 32 franchisees in Australia, and is it looking to continue to expand within the local market.
“InXpress offers a franchise agreement averaging one per month following our country master plan on locations despite the model not being geographically specific,” says InXpress CEO – Asia Pacific, Lindsay Birley.
“This rate of growth allows us the right level of time to invest in training with new business partners while supporting existing franchisees with ongoing business growth.”
Birley explains the business is great for people who want to be their own boss, as well as those who have a knack for customer service.
“InXpress is all about selling, developing customer relationships and providing advice and ongoing support.
“The model targets 30 customer contacts a day and two new shipping customers per week. The franchisee is provided with full training including product knowledge specifically on express freight, sales skills and business management,” she adds.
The franchise term is five years plus five, enabling InXpress to develop long-term partnerships with franchisees, and it is ideal that they too facilitate long-term relationships with their customers.
The cost of a franchise is $49,000 + GST, and when it comes to ongoing fees, Birley says the InXpress model is win-win.
“New franchisees are required to budget living expenses for the first six months while they build their business. That’s it – there are no fit-outs, vehicle/stock purchases or special equipment required.
“Franchisee fees are paid on gross margin at 20 and 10 percent to support billing and collections. This means our franchisees spend 90 percent of their time building the business and less time on admin. There is no marketing levy at present as we are a sales driven system.”
TOP SNAP
Have a passion for photography and/or property? A Top Snap franchise could be a great fit – the business model sees franchisees deliver a range of professional photography services to customers.
These include daytime, dusk, elevated and aerial photography for both residential and commercial buildings.
So what’s an average day?
“A Top Snap franchisee would primarily focus on property photography, and they will also be required to provide constant support to their clients and initiate regular local area marketing efforts from time to time,” says managing director Rob Watkin.
Top Snap handles the production side of things, as well as national marketing initiatives, enabling franchisees (there are currently 23 operating across 29 territories) to focus on the needs of their business.
“It gives them the freedom to run their photography business with flexible working hours while maintaining a suitable work-life balance.
“This also means that they can really focus on developing and maintaining relationships with their clients,” Watkin adds.
He explains Top Snap is different from its competitors by virtue of its custom built web system known as Photo Genie.
“It helps them manage their business – key features include easy access to images, database management, centralised invoicing and online marketing tools.”
The term of a Top Snap franchise agreement is 10 years plus a 10 year renewal, and the cost varies. “Prices start at $39,950 plus an additional cost of between $10,000 and $25,000 depending on the equipment purchased,” says Watkin.
“There is a seven percent franchise fee, three percent for marketing and relevant production management fees.”
CAR CARE
Mobile car detailing business, Car Care delivers car maintenance services ranging from a basic interior detail and outside wash through to a more comprehensive pre-sale detail, which is designed to prepare a customer’s car for sale.
A Car Care franchise is $45,000, plus the cost of a commercial van to be bought privately, says NSW master franchisor, Craig Peters.
He says franchisees are responsible for: “All practical detailing tasks, client management and local area marketing initiatives.
“We are Australia’s largest mobile car detailing business with an average franchisee turnover of $1500+ per week.”
The business was established in 1987, and the term of the franchise agreement is 10 years.
Quick company facts according to Peters:
- Number of franchises: more than 100
- Ongoing fees (including marketing levy): $255.08 per week
COMPUTER TROUBLESHOOTERS
People with an interest in IT who have a budget of around $30,000 are well suited to the Computer Troubleshooters brand, which operates in 27 countries.
“The global franchisor is now based in the US and the Australian business is run as a master franchise,” Nick Roche, the company’s national director says.
“We have around 80 locations across Australia, plus 21 locations in New Zealand, as part of the around 450 locations worldwide.”
A large portion of existing franchisees have a background in the field, and he says they enjoy the diversity and flexibility of owning their own business.
“Most of our franchise owners are passionate about IT and enjoy the hands on involvement of running their own business and solving client IT issues.
“Once their business grows sufficiently in size to justify employing technicians they tend to be more focused on client and business management,” Roche explains.
Franchisees will also spend their days marketing their business, networking with others in the IT industry, including other franchisees, and carrying out general business admin.
“Computer Troubleshooters targets small business so our franchise owners need to be able to communicate with clients and be proactive in building their business. We aim to be the trusted IT advisors to small business,” Roche explains.
A franchise costs $27,000 plus GST, which includes a $4,000 local start-up marketing fund, and monthly fees commence only after franchisees have been in business for three months.
“Franchise owners [then] pay $325 + GST a month in franchise fees plus a state marketing fund contribution of around $100 – each state franchise group sets the level of contribution,” says Roche.
The initial franchise term is 10 years and there is an option to renew for an additional 10 year term.