Size up a ready-made business
Today's franchises run the gamut: tried-and-true, odd and new
When Shep Bostin decided to buy a franchise, he researched the usual suspects: McDonald's, Jiffy Lube, Quiznos Sub. It was 2001, and Bostin, now 38, was a top executive of a dying tech firm in Gaithersburg, Md. But instead of becoming one of thousands of McDonald's franchisees, Bostin remained a geek, albeit one who wheeled around in a signature black PT Cruiser. A news story had caught his eye about Geeks On Call, a new venture aimed at providing on-site computer assistance via a stable of techies who cruise to your door in the sporty retro car. "I thought it was a really clever idea, taking advantage of disenfranchised tech workers," says Bostin, who has been making residential and commercial house calls for two years now and has expanded his franchise to three territories in Maryland.
For entrepreneurs considering a franchise, the sheer number of options today can be overwhelming. There is no official count, but most experts agree that there are at least 2,000 different franchised businesses in the United States, and they include everything from cookie-bouquet peddlers to acupuncture specialists to dog trainers. While the larger franchises--such as Jackson Hewitt, Subway, and 7-Eleven--are still increasing in number, there are new, less obvious lines of business poised to explode. No niche is too small. If you have an idea but don't have the capital to start from scratch, in all likelihood there is a franchise out there tailor-made for you.
Sheryl Inglat discovered that firsthand. As a marketing executive for a large physicians' practice with several locations in New Mexico, Inglat, 45, noticed that elderly patients often hung around after a doctor's appointment, waiting for a ride that never showed or unsure of how to use public transportation. "It was heart-wrenching," she says. While helping them find ways to get home, Inglat learned that such needs were going unmet in her community. In researching services offered elsewhere, Inglat came across Dayton, Ohio-based Comfort Keepers, a cadre of caregivers who assist the at-home elderly with their nonmedical needs, like grocery shopping, laundry, and companionship. "I didn't seek out a franchise at first," says Inglat, who quit her job and opened a Comfort Keepers in Albuquerque three years ago. "I was just looking for ideas, and I didn't have a lot of knowledge about how to run a business." She now employs 50 caregivers.
Oldies are goodies. Inglat stumbled on one of the newest trends in franchising: catering to the aging baby boomer population. In Entrepreneur magazine's 2004 ranking of the top new franchises, Comfort Keepers, with 345 franchisees in the United States, ranked second behind Fiducial, a provider of financial services for businesses. Other new franchises are providing anti-aging remedies to the same generation, says Don DeBolt, president of the International Franchise Association. He points to Sona Laser Centers, which use lasers to zap unwanted hair and reduce wrinkles. Born in 2002, the firm plans to be in 100 U.S. markets within the next few years. Other growth sectors include ethnic restaurants, such as the Guatemalan chicken franchise Pollo Campero, which attracts crowds of Central American immigrants; hotels like Hawthorn Suites that are capitalizing on the rebound in travel; and auto care, as more cars hit the road.
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