I have been in the business of selling franchises for some time now and one of the most common questions I get is “do you offer financing?”. The answer to this question is yes, but which one of five ways would you like to go about obtaining financing your business?

In this market, we have seen a decline in banks stepping up offering the capital to get into business, although this is starting to change. What I have seen more and more of, is using a 401k to approach the franchise purchase. In this market with volatile returns, that thankfully have come back somewhat, what better person to bet your money on then yourself?

Back in 1999-2001 I spent some time trading, and did fairly well, but when the market started to tank I decided to get out of stocks and invest in a myself. I haven’t looked back since then and I would encourage you to look for ways to put a few dollars down on yourself.

If you are interested in looking into using your 401k to finance your franchise there are a few groups out there that can help you. Benetrends, and Franfund are both well known. I have come to know Randy Staples, an upstanding lawyer who really has pioneered this approach. Feel free to look him up and let him know I sent you.

Check out the Finance Purchase Plan.

I had a call today from someone in the painting industry wondering what made us franchise our business. For about 20 minutes we reviewed his business, and how he has gone about growing it. As I thought back with full 20/20 vision I came to conclusion that franchising is not for everybody.

Here is why:

1. Investment. Be prepared to invest a lot of money in your Franchise system. This is critical, because if you hope to one day collect a franchise fee you had better have something worth paying for.
2. Experience. If you don’t know someone that has done franchising you need to find someone fast. Franchising is not just about royalties, and franchise fees, it is about creating value, creating a brand, and being a good partner. This is critical, and I can’t express enough how important this piece of the puzzle is. Unfortunately there are some systems out there who are only interested in the fees they collect. If you are in business for the long haul, and I would recommend that you should be, you need to have someone who understands the relationship between franchisee and franchisor and can help you execute on making that relationship come off the way it should.
3. Not everything should be franchised. I have often used, and heard the expression “you can’t franchise mediocracy” and it is true. Before you start franchising your business be sure you have something worth franchising.
4. I hope you don’t need sleep. Like anything worth having, a franchise company is going to take a lot of work, mind time, dedication and difficult moments. Nothing was more exciting than adding our first franchisee to our system, and nothing was more difficult than losing our first franchisee.

All this being said, Five Star Painting has been the most exciting, rewarding, fun business I have ever been a part of. If you hope to one day franchise your business, make sure you surround yourself with people ready to go on a journey and brace yourself for some exciting times.