b us i n e s s s e r v i c e s fr a n c hi s i n g fe at u r e
FEATURE ACTICLE: Chris Conner | Founder | Franchise Marketing Systems
Business Services Systems Are Working The franchise market has evolved into a incredibly diverse and wide range of businesses and business segments. For so many, the market has always been associated with food service and restaurants, but today’s franchise market is almost a perfect blend of small business ideas and unique, compelling offerings which only partially consist of restaurant franchise models. This category of business service franchise systems has become more and more relevant and with the “average” franchise investor becoming more and more sophisticated, the growth in this segment seems to make sense. One might ask, what franchise brands might be described as business service brands? Business service brands include a wide range of offerings and generally are what are also called Executive Franchises. They are business models. The market segment could include accounting or bookkeeping service franchises or payroll management or one of the most significant market segments to franchise out has been Insurance with several new insurance franchise brands. These are franchise systems which are designed to attract “white collar” franchise owners who have experience in executive positions and many times have MBA’s. The business model requires a skill set and resume to make the model successful. The current trend in franchising is that many of today’s corporate refugees have been transitioning to business ownership and the franchise model is designed to support that first time entrepreneur. What makes the business services market
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Chris Conner has worked in the franchise development industry for almost 20 years and helped over 600 brands franchise their brand and develop franchise distribution channels. He founded Franchise Marketing Systems in 2009, which now includes a team of 27 franchise consultants based in and Canada and supports brands around the world to grow and scale through franchise expansion. Visit www.fmsfranchise.com for more information
segment even more intriguing are many times the numbers. Because most of the business service franchise offerings do not require equipment or a retail space, they present an extremely low up front investment opportunity for a new franchisee. Most of the required capital is needed for the franchise fee, marketing and working capital. Usually a small office space will be needed with a basic office arrangement, many business service franchise systems can be started even from a home office location. The business
service franchise systems that have been successful and offer a franchisee value in their investment typically include a technology platform to deliver services and provide franchisees with infrastructure they wouldn’t have on their own. They also have strong franchise marketing systems in place which can be replicated easily by a franchisee. The brand is professional, consistent, there is a solid lead generation marketing platform in place and a sales process that allows a franchisee to generate business efficiently and effectively. I have