Buying a franchise

[Biker Scout]

I can't take anything serious that ends in "...a-rama" "...teria" or "...opolis"

I know, I'm going to start a new sign franchise company. I'll call it, "Signikea" where we just provide the basic materials to the customer, and they can make their own signs at home. They'll get a squeegee and Xacto with every kit. But I'll make the franchisees have to buy a Rolls Roller table, a Zund G3 plotter/cutter/router, and a Inca Onset S20. And of course they will need a Durst Lambda for regular prints too.

 

[Saw Trax]

Congrats and best of luck on your new venture!

 

[ColoPrinthead]

I can't take anything serious that ends in "...a-rama" "...teria" or "...opolis"

I know, I'm going to start a new sign franchise company. I'll call it, "Signikea" where we just provide the basic materials to the customer, and they can make their own signs at home. They'll get a squeegee and Xacto with every kit. But I'll make the franchisees have to buy a Rolls Roller table, a Zund G3 plotter/cutter/router, and a Inca Onset S20. And of course they will need a Durst Lambda for regular prints too.

 

[Gino]

Good luck...................

 

[TammieH]

I know one franchise sign shop that went out of business around the corner from us, I am not sure this is universal, but one of the reasons for them not lasting was the overhead they were required to keep, we checked out the auction, they were required to keep a lot of vinyl and foils for the edge in stock at all times.

They had 2 back up rolls of every color in Gerber foils, so that was one opened and two back up, thats crazy in a slow economy

On the flip side, we buy black and white vinyl in full rolls and purchase colors by the yard as needed. I complain at times but its better than sitting on 1000's of dollars of product.

Do all franchises require the same?

 

[SignManiac]

Good luck to you in your new venture. You will have a lot of new things to learn. But that's the fun of it anyway.

 

[Billct2]

The dig shop I now own started as a franchise, one that No longer exists. The owner fired the franchise and brought me in as a partner to bring my years of experience onboard. I know of a franchise shop near here that bankrupted 2 owners before someone was finally able to make it work. By the way those devastating failures aren't considered failures because the location never closed. All that being said I think franchises in the right hands have some advantages, and I think those advantages will probably increase going forward. The biggest thing though is being able to sell it, try asking on here how much a small sign shop is worth.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Welcome from Omaha and good luck!

 

[Kevin-shopVOX]

Happy New Year!
I have made the leap and will opening my Signarama store in Raynham MA next week.

I will provide updates as well as become an active participant of this forum. Thanks for the input and I look forward to exciting times to come!

Best of luck to you.

A word of advice. Sell, sell and sell some more. Sales cures a lot of problems and you can only do it really from 9-5. Anything else you are doing between those hours that is not sales related is wasting your time. Network with local businesses. Build a good production team and treat them right by being a good manager. Monitor their quality but let THEM do their job that you pay them for. When your gut says someone isn't good for your team it is probably right; make the tough decision and replace them sooner than later. Use your mentors; Kingston, Framingham, S. Burlington, Braintree - that is a wealth of experience at your fingertips.

Every store I've seen that struggles, is miserable, or fails, 9 times out of 10 it is due to the fact that they ended up buying themselves a job and not an opportunity. You have quite the road ahead of you but if you follow the system (back to selling again) then Raynham doesn't have to be another revolving door.

Oh and if you need help with your awesome new point of sale system let me know

 

[signworldusinc]

Best of luck to you! Welcome from California.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

The only real franchise operations I've seen give way to better profits than doing your own thing have been where the shop was a true turnkey and is not involved in the day to day (but that requires a good manager AND having other projects on the side) OR have been franchises that have such high production with minimal labor costs (and higher turnover) that it's almost impossible to not turn a profit. Here in Amarillo I know at least one of the franchises have had issues with being able to pay rent and/or payroll in the past and subsequently had to move locations because of it ... so it's a mixed bag.

Any business is what you put into it ... This is an industry with minimal start up costs but requires a good investment of time, money and/or energy to be successful. If you want a turnkey business (no day to day with the ability to sell in a year or three) build it so it stands without you, find a good manager, a decent accountant and include profit sharing for the manager so he has an incentive to do well in addition to pay. If you want a job without a boss ... just about any business model will work ... just determines where you want to go and what your commitment is. If you want to start a business you can be included on the day to day but still have the ability to be worth something if you want to sell ... good luck .. I know very little sign shops that can pull it off unless you can leave the shop for a month, week ... heck a day before stuff hits the fan.

That being said, if it financially seems right to go franchise, then go with it. Make sure you fully research your options and what is required of you financially, physically, mentally and temporally.