Look Beyond Brick & Mortar Franchises to Start Your New Business

• November 11, 2020
• bidexecs
• no comments

When you think of a franchise, you think of a brick and mortar business with a physical presence, serving customers face-to-face is likely what comes to mind. From restaurants to gyms and everything in between. However, when you consider our current situation, the pandemic brought brick and mortar businesses to a screeching halt and foot traffic is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels. With more businesses permanently shutting down offices and shifting to remote working; if you are looking at starting your own business, here are the top three reasons to look beyond the ‘brick & mortar’ franchises. 

1. Geographically bound and location dependent:  While brick and mortar franchises do offer advantages, they also come with a long list of drawbacks. With a brick and mortar franchise, your customers can only take advantage of your products or services when you are open. Even though you may be able to keep your franchise open 24/7, doing so is often expensive and unrealistic. Or, consider a franchise like an after-school tutoring center – the students only use the space for about 3-4 hours after school. You pay rent, maintenance, and utilities for the space to sit empty during the day.

With a brick and mortar franchise, your business is limited to the population and geographic demographic – not just for your clients but also with hiring employees. Any major shifts in populations, as we have seen during the pandemic, could impact your fixed location business. 

2. Heavy Capital Investment: Landlord leases generously include a 3 month or 6 month rent deferral period for a reason. After much searching and finding the right location in your territory, you are required to pay deposits to landlords, utility companies, hire architects, general contractors, and pay equipment suppliers. It adds up fast and you haven’t made your first dollar yet. Your upfront investment can be daunting for example updating your space based on franchise updates, invest in maintaining the landlord’s assets. 

3. Limitation on Growth: Generally, a brick & mortar franchise has a 5-mile or 10-mile radius. You are limited to servicing your assigned territory and you can only scale as much as the area scales. For aspiring entrepreneurs, in order to scale and grow revenue and profits, your only option is to purchase a new territory and redo the entire investment again. Managing geographically different business locations can be exhausting and impact your entire business. 

What are the alternates?

The good news is that brick and mortar franchises are not your only option. There are new-age franchise concepts that break free of geographic limitations, require minimal capital investment, and allow you to scale and grow without the need to set up duplicate operations. More importantly, these new franchises would fall under the category of ‘social entrepreneurship’ – do good for yourself while you help others. For instance, BidExecs cater to a massive market size of over $1.5 Trillion in market spend. This first of its kind franchise concept caters to a segment of aspiring entrepreneurs who are highly educated and as an inherent outcome of the services the business offers, it helps grow other businesses in the community by winning bids and contracts. 

Put simply, a non-brick and mortar franchise involves less risk. If you’d like to pursue entrepreneurship but fear the risk involved, this may be the ideal option. You’ll be able to start right away with minimal employees, supplies, and costs. Best of all, your chances of succeeding are high (as long as you put in the time and hard work), regardless of the economic state or what’s going on in the world.

Own Your Own Franchise with Minimal Risk

Until recently, most franchises were brick and mortar. You couldn’t become a franchise owner unless you invested hundreds of thousands of dollars upfront. Times have changed and events like the global pandemic have proven just how risky owning a restaurant, gym, or daycare facility can be. 

A new franchise option in business consulting and bid & proposal management is a great way to enjoy a lucrative, flexible career with minimal upfront investment and little to no employees.