Start on Your Own or Start a Franchise?

In this down economy, are you thinking of starting a new business? Have you thought about what type of business you want to start?

One of the hardest things about starting a new business is getting it off the ground and setting it up for long term sustainability. We've all heard the statistics that say that 80% of businesses fail in the first couple of years. While these numbers fluctuate depending on who you talk to and the industry is, the general feeling is that most new businesses fail.

If you're interested, check out this article from SmallBizTrends.com which shows a graph of businesses from 1992 to 2002 and how many were still around: Startup Failure Rates - The Real Numbers.

So if the numbers are so bad over time, what can you do to improve your chances of surviving?

Well, one option that is out there is to start a franchise. Why is this a better idea? Well, when you start a franchise you get the training and backing of a company that knows what they're doing in their industry. If they have a good track record you can trust that by getting started with that franchise you'll have a better chance of success.

The other benefit of starting your new business from a franchise is that you get instant brand recognition. Think of it this way: you could start your own burger shop and have to build up recognition, or you could get a well-known name immediately like McDonald's, Burger King, etc. and also get all of the advertising that goes with it.

The other good thing is that there are franchises in almost every industry. You could start a cartridge franchise, bread franchise, food franchise, or just about anything else you can think of.