Do you love working in the restaurant industry but want to take your career to the next level? Are you an entrepreneur that’s always aspired to open your own business? If so, owning a franchise might be the best career option for you.
Owning a franchise provides an opportunity to buy into an existing, successful business model that has a proven track record, a successful training program, business support, a solid supply chain and an already-renowned brand reputation.
While the idea of owning an established, profitable business can be very appealing for aspiring entrepreneurs, taking the first few steps towards owning a franchise can be overwhelming.
Checklist: Are You Ready to Own a Hospitality Franchise?
That’s why, in this blog, we give five tips that will help you start your very own restaurant franchise business.
The first step to starting your own restaurant franchise is to decide what kind of business you want to run. There are a vast amount of options when it comes to hospitality, and they all involve significantly different skill sets and time commitments.
The first step will be distinguishing between a full-service restaurant versus a quick service restaurant - as these have significantly different demands and hours. You then have a number of options to choose from, including coffee shops, food trucks, full-scale restaurants or fast food joints.
It’s important to look into what all of these options would involve, and which one works best for your particular expertise and lifestyle.
Keep in mind that to be your own boss within the restaurant industry, you don’t necessarily have to open your own restaurant. There are franchise opportunities within the hospitality sector that help you get away from the long-hours and hard work of actually working in a restaurant - if that’s what you want.
For example, Sculpture Hospitality gives you everything you need to stay within the hospitality industry, improve your work-life balance, be your own boss and set your own work hours - without actually owning your own restaurant. Instead, you would be consulting restaurants and helping them to become more profitable.
Interested in learning more about franchising with Sculpture Hospitality? Check out our franchise opportunities.
Once you know the type of franchise business that you want to open, it’s time to start thinking about location. Not only do you want to find a location that will help your business be a success, but you’ll also want to start doing some research on competitors in the area.
Research on your potential location will help you understand what type of business format works where, which competitors you’ll need to keep in mind when opening a business and what your potential customer base would look like.
Based on the type of franchise you want to open, different options will involve different costs. Some franchise businesses can be incredibly expensive to start up, while others can be reasonably cost-effective. In most cases, opening a franchise will involve an initial fee and then an ongoing royalty fee.
By creating and understanding your budget, you will have the information you need to see which franchising options are available to you. You can then compare the investment costs with the expected ROI of the business, to find an opportunity that works best for you.
Here at Sculpture Hospitality we have a range of franchise investment opportunities from small to large. We’d love to help you start your own business.
When it comes to franchising, it’s the franchisor’s brand name at stake. That’s why in any franchise agreement the franchise will have its own set of standards and policies that the franchisee will need to adhere to.
When investing in a franchise, it’s important to know what kind of support you will get once the business is up and running. The amount of support you receive will help you succeed. Franchisors typically offer support with operations, marketing, supply chain and human resources. It’s important that you make sure the support you are receiving is worth your ongoing investment into the franchise.
Once you're through the initial stages of being approved for a restaurant franchise and you have secured your financing, it will be time to sign a contract with the franchisor. Before you do this, make sure you thoroughly review the contract with the help of a lawyer.
You’ll want to have a clear understanding of all aspects of the franchise agreement, such as what will happen if the franchise fails, what your ongoing payments to the franchisor are and what amount of money you will get back from your investment. A lawyer can help you go through the contract with a fine tooth comb so that you understand all the ins and outs of the agreement.
Are you interested in learning more about franchising in the hospitality sector? Contact us today. Sculpture Hospitality has more than 370 successful franchisees who provide expert inventory management solutions for the hospitality sector. We’d love to discuss how we can work together and set you up for future success.