The restaurant industry as a whole is one of the toughest things to get into. While the failure rate is high, it is not so much the industry as it is the people that are investing in it. Many think it will be fun and delve into their own restaurant without doing the proper research or having the proper knowledge. It would not matter what industry they were going in, they would fail. Because of the competitive market, franchises are some of the safest bets in today’s economic market. Here are a few benefits of restaurant franchise operations.
Brand Recognition – because money is so tight for so many people these days, people want to know what they are getting for their dollar. Someone is more likely to go to McDonald’s for a burger than they would Joe’s Burger Shack simply because they know the product. Do not ever underestimate name recognition in this niche.
Advertising – while it is up to the individual owners to do their own local advertising, restaurant Franchise success stories benefit from the national advertising that is done by the main corporation. This will continue to keep that brand in the focus and may be responsible for people getting off of their couch or stopping by on their way home from work.
Better Chance of Success – franchises as a whole are far more successful than Mom and Pop style restaurants. The amount of research that goes into settling on a location is staggering and companies like McDonald’s, Burger King, Outback and Houlihan’s will spend more money doing demographic studies than most people have in their overall budget. They want to make sure that the location will be successful before it ever opens its doors.
Training – when a Mom and Pop restaurant is opened, all training and knowledge is the sole responsibility of the owner. When opening a franchise, the owner will more than likely have had to work in a restaurant for at least a year and will receive training about every aspect of the business from the corporate trainers. This education will be invaluable towards the success of the restaurant.
Financing – getting a loan is never an easy process, but when opening a franchise, it is much less difficult. The banks will generally be more comfortable going with a proven model. There may also be the option to borrow directly from the restaurant corporation itself. In many cases, they will put up some investment money and raise the franchise fee as their interest rate. There are plenty of options to pursue.
Product Control – a normal restaurant will have to set up all of their contracts with vendors and if the owner does not know what they are doing, this can be a huge area of loss as they will get everything that they can out of someone given the opportunity. Most franchises have approved suppliers that can be purchased off of and prices are more or less negotiated already. Everyone is paying the same thing and the corporation monitors the quality control. This is a huge burden that is off of the owners shoulders.
Restaurants get a very bad rap in the business world, but this is more because people that open them have no idea what the industry really is. The amount of work that goes into opening and operating a successful restaurant is fairly significant. Opening a franchise will give you more training and a proven model of success to help you succeed in an industry where most people fail.
