best franchises???

kdowling

could people please share their experiences/information regarding the best franchises in ireland at the moment.

I am not a franchisee but i have heard that subway for instance have a few good stores where the franchisees are making good money but that these are the guys that get first dibs when a good store comes up for sale. A new franchisee will only be offered the crap stores. have heard of quite a few failures. Also of subway opening up other stores quite close buy a practically forcing the franchisee to buy that store too. Therefore they get pretty much the same customers with the cost of running two stores!

I know one mcdonalds franchisee who started working behind the counter, worked his way up from manager to owner, is now the owner of three mcdonalds franchises and a millionaire as a result.

Gloomtastic!

One of my first jobs was working behind the counter at McDonalds......

But then I got fired.

You'd think that the McD's and other fast food franchises would be the best bet at the moment but then you have the Irish KFC franchise losing e2million last year - go figure!

For a cafe/fast food outlet it is all about location. Maybe more important than the actual franchise.

kdowling

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

You'd think that the McD's and other fast food franchises would be the best bet at the moment but then you have the Irish KFC franchise losing e2million last year - go figure!

QUOTE]

the individual outlets could still be in profit, thats the parent companys losses the accounting aspect of which can be pretty complex.

kdowling

the problem as i see it with most franchises are that the parent compant take a cut of the total turnover in most cases rather than the profits, so they will still make money on an outlet that is making a loss.

Gloomtastic!

kdowling wrote: »

the problem as i see it with most franchises are that the parent compant take a cut of the total turnover in most cases rather than the profits, so they will still make money on an outlet that is making a loss.

Yes, in any decent franchise there should be at least a 50% profit margin to allow for this.

You have to weigh up whether starting up as a stand alone venture is going to be more profitable for you in the long term than paying all the fees associated with franchises.

Personally I think the fact that 75% of franchises are still trading after 5 years as opposed to 10% stand alone businesses speaks for itself.

As I mentioned in another related thread a few weeks ago. I beleieve, the way to make this work for you is to take on a franchise and then learn the processes involved. Then after a few years either start your own franchise operation or buy a master franchise.

MrMatisse

Anyone know of any good ones for under 50K?

janullrich

Going independent myself. Got some good news. I have talks on Monday re buying out the lease of a coffee shop/bistro. A lot of work needs to be done but I'm prepared for it, morning, noon & night. While franchises may have a greater chance of surviving I sincerely believe it depends on the passion of the owner of their own place. If they have the desire and put the work in to get bums on seats etc they will succeed. As regards franchises most are far too dear and not realistic in my line of business (Enquires are looking at a place for €250k of which I would have to put €80k up myself - get real I told them) and I ain't going to tell them how much my house, car etc is worth because it ain't any of their business as far as I am concerned. I approached the Streat as well but I found them laxedazy and not prepared to help with sites in Dublin city or help me with a site in general. It may suit some people but I am not for the franchise route.

YellowSheep

Hi Gavin
If you need a hand with anything just give me a bell.

Good luck Oliver