Starting your own business is both exciting and scary. Regardless of how well you do your homework or how knowledgeable you are, there is always a huge risk factor. Starting a business is a huge financial commitment and many people have been ruined financially because of starting bad businesses. You simply cannot afford to run blindly into a new business venture as the implications are just too far reaching these days.
When starting a new business, you basically have 2 choices. You can either start a business from scratch and build everything from the ground up or you can just buy into a franchise and simply plug into the existing systems.
There is on old principle in investing that says that the risk is always related to the reward. High risk has the potential for high reward and this is usually what blinds so many entrepreneurs who wants to “go it alone”. Start up businesses can be fantastic. In fact, most of the best products in our modern world is the result of small start-up that went off to become huge. The problem is that so very few of these do “come off” and its usually a very long and hard road.
Franchises offer us the opportunity to buy into a successful business model. Not only does it greatly reduce the risk factor but it allows even the most mediocre entrepreneur to be successful. There is very little trail and error involved and having access to a wealth of knowledge and experience is what often makes all the difference.
Although buying into a franchise can be a lot more expensive, the fact that its a proven business usually makes finding the financing or the investors much easier. If you start a business from the ground up you can probably start for a lot less, but if you need financing or investors it can be extremely difficult without any business history.
In the end there is no real best or worse option. It all boils down to your own individual needs and aspiration.
What’s the best business franchise? See my blog to learn more about franchise business opportunities.