In 2015, the world felt like a very different place. Obama was president, corona was a byword for beer, and The Independent reported half of graduates were landing their dream jobs. Fast forward to 2020, and the BBC grimly states that a large percentage of young people are lowering their career aspirations, with job offers being withdrawn at an alarming rate. But a sudden change in the job market doesn’t mean young people need to give up on their dream career. Now is the time to be bold, adjust your plan and consider a new way forward. Why not consider owning a master franchise in your chosen industry?
What can a franchise offer me?
Investing in a franchise means giving yourself a big head-start in the industry you want to work in. Remember, by choosing a well-known, trusted brand name, you’re also getting the support and experience of the company in your new venture and they have a vested interest in your success. There are lots of different franchise opportunities – large, small, well-established, and young. They each come with different opportunities and challenges but hold one thing in common: the chance to work for yourself and run your own business.
What can I offer a franchise?
You might just be starting out in the world of work, or maybe you’re a few years in. But Gen Z now makes up a quarter of the workforce and it has a lot to offer. Like each generation before it, Gen Z has its own unique traits: independence, a desire for financial stability, socially aware and technologically native. These just some of them, and these align firmly with entrepreneurship and being a business owner.
Lots of them are already there, in fact. According to XYZ University, 58% of Gen Z want to own a business one day, and 14% already do.
Other attributes that stand younger people in good stead for managing their own franchise include the drive to succeed, bundles of energy, a passion to change the world (or at least their immediate world), and the desire to write their own narrative. As XYZ University says: “Zs are more cautious and pragmatic, but they are also inspired to change the world – and chances are, they will. After all, Zs have been taught the skills to successfully defy the norm.” (source).
What might the future look like?
We’re only just starting to see what a post-COVID-19 world might look like – more home-working, more need for mental and physical health services, potentially more home-schooling. This can give us a glimpse into where some shorter-term gaps might lie in the market. There are plenty of longer-term projections, too: the senior population is increasing with a need for social and health care. Technology is growing exponentially, with virtually all areas of our lives happening online from social meet-ups to shopping, training to TV, finances to finding a partner.
While lots of new start-ups are competing just to get off the ground, a franchise has already built the structure, done the market research, established the brand, and much more. All of this leaves you free to focus on successfully running and growing the business.
What franchises opportunities are available to me?
Our franchise directory offers a massive range of opportunities across all sorts of areas including pet franchises, accountancy, education, management, fitness, plumbing, event planning, B2B, healthy & beauty, and van-based franchises – and that really is just to name a few. It’s important that you choose a franchise that interests you and that you have a passion to make work for you and the brand.
Once you’ve decided on the industry you want to work in, it’s important to really do your research. Franchises vary in all sorts of ways; not just the size and how established the brand is, but how much control you’ll have to run the franchise your way, and how much capital you’ll need to invest at the start.
Aren’t stores closing, not opening?
You may be concerned about lockdowns and the closures of high street stores. As more and more people shift to working from home, with many saying they want to continue once coronavirus is no longer a concern, it is a legitimate worry. The popularity of running a franchise from home is on the increase, which fits in really well given the current COVID-19 world we’re living in. Four out of ten franchises have the potential to be home-based, meaning the opportunities are vast, and the advantages are numerous. They tend to be cheaper to buy and run, with lower franchise fees. They offer greater flexibility for a work-life balance if 9-5 isn’t your thing, and no need for a bricks-and-mortar location means lower overheads. With Gen Z growing up as tech natives, running a franchise from home or online may be the perfect solution.
