Thinking About Starting a Franchise Business Opportunity? Here’s Something You Should Think About First

There are many popular franchise business opportunities that are available to those looking to run their own business. They provide a viable, proven system to produce income with a product that is highly-advertised and purchased by the vast majority of society.

But one question you want to ask yourself is this: At what cost does success come with a franchise business opportunity?

The two biggest models available to a brand-new entrepreneur are franchises and network marketing opportunities. This article weighs the pros and cons of starting a franchise business and a home-based network marketing business and will help you decide which model works best for you.

1. Cost – This is a very important element and should be considered very early in your search for a new business, regardless of franchise or home-based. Most franchises cost thousands of dollars just to invest. Once you’ve invested, you have lots of overhead to consider, such as personnel, health benefits, inventory, marketing, advertising, and more. This will inevitably lead you to reach into your pockets for more, thus putting you further in the red before you even think about opening your doors.

With network marketing, your start-up costs are significantly lower and relative to the company you join. Your overhead is also lower, as you don’t need to worry about hiring personnel, paying for health benefits, and in some cases, house boxes of inventory. If you decide this is a more viable route for your start-up budget, you want to be sure you expose yourself to the knowledge needed to market your business and product. Remember that your product won’t promote itself, and neither will your opportunity. So be sure your company provides marketing training. If they don’t, reserve a specific amount of your start-up capital for marketing courses and training.

2. Time – This is extremely important to evaluate because most entrepreneurs are looking to leverage time in their favor by starting their own business. If you value your time, this is as much of a cost as your initial investment. If you’ve left ‘Corporate America’ schedule behind and are looking for a way to earn a steady stream of income on your own watch, a franchise business opportunity may not be the best direction to go. Until you get your business off the ground and have the revenue available to hire a staff, you are working from the second you open the door to the second you close, every single day. This can create more time imprisonment than an actual “9 to 5” job.

When you pit this against a network marketing business on the basis of time, network marketing will win every time. By starting a home-based network marketing business, you are still a business owner, but you are not confined to a corporate schedule that tells you when you have to be open. If you need to take an afternoon off, you have that luxury available to you. The important thing to keep in mind is you are 100% accountable for all of your output. You want to be sure you’re putting in the necessary effort to ensure your business survives and thrives. The good news is you are able to do this at your convenience. And if you don’t want to quit your day job right away, you can choose to work your business part-time.

3. Length of time to turn a profit. In a franchise business, it can take anywhere from 2-5 years to recoup all of your initial investment. Also, keep your ‘time’ investment in mind as well. The amount of hours you spend trying to get out of the red can weigh tremendously on your psyche. Before making the investment, you want to make sure you are capable of going a lengthy amount of time before you see positive fiscal results.

Contrarily, a network marketing business gives you the opportunity to turn a profit in a much quicker fashion. This is possible simply because your initial investment for starting your business is drastically lower. The thousands and thousands spent to start a franchise is normally reduced to hundreds when it comes to a home-based business. Most network marketing companies charge a small start-up fee and a monthly charge that provides the business owner with back-office assistance and several other key factors to running their business. If you market your business properly right from the start, you set yourself up for a much faster return on investment by taking the network marketing path.

To conclude, no one model is the right way to go. Both franchise business and network marketing opportunities have proven to be successful over the years. It boils down to which level of investment you’re willing to make, how much time you’re willing to commit to your business’s success, and how long you’re willing to wait for a return on your investment. Regardless of which direction you decide to go, the same basic principle applies: Expect to get out your business what you put into it.