Part Time Franchises – An Overview
Part time franchises can be enjoyed by the increasing sector of society that is looked for an additional income stream or who simply do not have the time to go back into full time employment. This could be due to home demands or demands of a physical nature. Let’s take a look at the options available and how well they can work for you.
1. Vending machine franchise.
These take very little time to run and most of that time is simply restocking the machines once per week or more depending on how popular the machine is. They can vary widely from drinks and snack machines through to naughty (tee hee) vending machines, toy and gift machines, business card machines, and even weight machines fall into this category. quite simply anything which requires placing a machine in a store or building.
They tend to be fairly expensive for what they are due to the high cost of the machines but you can expect to pay anything from 8,000 – 20,000 pounds for 6 machines with options to purchase more. In many cases the franchisor will find you placement or have agreements in place with the major supermarkets and malls etc but also in some cases you are required to place them yourself.
Pros: Easy to maintain, little work.
Cons: Placement is everything. 6 machines in bad placement may only make you a handful of change each week.
2. Internet Franchises
It is debatable whether you can group Internet Franchises into the part time category but quite simply most internet franchises you get out of them what you put in. There are 3 distinct categories of Internet franchise. 1 Selling a product. 2 Selling a service 3. Providing a service.
Examples:
1. Well you can use your imagination on selling a product, everything from clothes to jewellery.
2. Services such as web design (you do not have to do the designing)
3. Running a local directory providing information to local people about the local area
Prices of course vary but the standard Internet franchise in the UK goes for around the ten k mark, rising to around 30k.
Pros: Work from home, can increase to full time.
Cons: Many are new and not established. Be wary of “made to franchise” internet franchises which may go under within a few years, taking your profit with them.
The fact is: Categorising part time franchises is virtually impossible. Whereas some franchises are full time in their own right, many of the home based franchises can be run to your own needs and expanded if time becomes more available.
The main thing to look for is what the franchisor requires from you. Obviously paying a large fixed chunk of your monthly earnings may not be possible or viable if you only want to work 15 hours per week so you want your monthly fee to be based on earnings. When talking to the franchisor remember to discuss with them your requirements and how it may affect the business you are buying into.
About the Author
Matthew Anderson is a franchise consultant and founder of The Franchise Shop, a UK business franchise directory featuring
Part time franchises
and the speciality site featuring only
Part time franchises
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