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  • Tim Mellifont

Pros & Cons of Buying a Franchise

The legendary martial artist Bruce Lee once said ‘One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.’


And so it is in business, elegant solutions that simplify business ownership lead to business success. Without this, suffering inevitably ensues, and unfortunately, I’ve seen many business owners suffer unnecessarily - which is why I’m so passionate about the work we do at Tribe.

Of course, there are many ways into business ownership; start-up, acquisition or franchise. Today we’re going to focus on the latter and take a look at the pros and cons of buying into a franchise.


Like any business, there are upsides and downsides to buying into a franchise. For some, owning a piece of their favourite restaurant or brand may have been a childhood dream, for others the peace of mind of walking into an existing structure and not needing to start from scratch is enough to get them over the dotted line. Whichever way you get there, many things can converge to either lead to the success or the failure of your franchise.


Here’s my breakdown of the pro’s and con’s and how Tribe can help to offset, and even flip those cons into pros.


The Pro’s:

  • Be the boss, call the shots

  • Skip the startup stage and walk right in

  • Set your work hours

  • Make decisions

  • Oversee operations

  • Buy into multiple locations and expand

The Con's:

  • As the boss, you’ll sacrifice a lot of personal time

  • Staffing, HR, admin, payroll, and compliance - all on you

  • Working in a structured model might suffocate some

  • High buy-in costs

  • Royalty payments for ongoing use of the franchise name and system

  • Reputation is everything - if the franchise brand is damaged all franchisees feel it

While the upside of owning a franchise is obvious - many are negated by the downsides which can quickly turn a dream business into a nightmare. However, we know from experience that by leveraging the structured model of a franchise and employing clever solutions we can flip those cons into pros whip-smart.


So how do we do it?

  • As the boss, you’ll sacrifice a lot of personal time, it’s an inevitable part of business ownership - working with Tribe we can emancipate that time for you through clever operational solutions.

  • Staffing - it’s an unavoidable element of business ownership and as the franchisee, it’s all on you. We can take a load off and look after staff management from recruiting, interviewing, hiring, rostering, retention and, if the case calls for it, dismissal.

  • Working in a structured model might seem restrictive, but structure makes planning easier, working in collaboration with Tribe, we’ll streamline admin and compliance processes.

  • High buy-in costs may leave you regretting your decision - no one enjoys the feeling of buyer regret, we can support you to operate efficiently, ensuring that those investment dollars in the initial buy-in were well spent!

  • Royalty payments for ongoing use of the franchise name and system can be offset through neat staffing, admin and HR solutions.

  • Reputation is everything - if the franchise brand is damaged all franchisees feel it but we can help you to bulletproof your business through risk mitigation and performance enhancement.

So whether you’re looking to buy your first franchise, or you’ve already bought in, talk to us today to discuss how we can use our business know-how to eliminate the unnecessary elements and simplify your day to day, clearing the path for franchise success - something I'm sure Bruce Lee would approve of.



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