Saturday, January 8, 2011

5 Questions To Ask Before Starting A Computer Franchise Business

5 Questions To Ask Before Starting A Computer Franchise Business

Author: Candice Clem

When you choose to pursue your own franchise business, there are many decisions to be made. One of the most essential of those decisions is what kind of franchise you want to invest yourself in. Even if you’ve staunchly decided that a franchise in the computer industry is the right choice for you, the matter of selecting the right specific business may still remain difficult, because there are such vast differences even between businesses in the same market. To help you make your choice among the plethora of computer business options available, here are 5 questions that will narrow down exactly what you want in a business.

Do You Want To Make A Business Plan Or Follow One?

The first thing you always have to ask yourself is whether or not a franchise business is right for you. The benefits of using someone else’s proven model of business are plentiful, but not everyone wants to follow someone else’s way of running a business, and the person who doesn’t is not quite what a franchisor is looking for. Running a franchise requires that the owner be willing to accept someone else’s methods. The best franchisee is the person who isn’t afraid of taking risks but also isn’t opposed to taking orders. If that’s you, then a franchise is right up your alley.

Do You Want To Own And Operate Or Manage?

One of the great distinctions between business opportunities is the role of the franchisee within them, and the two basic roles available are owner/operator or manager. Flicko’s is a great example of an owner/operator franchise. As a professional cinematographer, film editor, and renter of video equipment for a range of clients from private parties to business owners, the Flicko’s franchisee depends on no one but himself, doing all client relations, marketing, and hands-on creative work single-handedly. Conversely, a franchisee with Fast-teks has the primary responsibility of managing a collection of computer technicians who do the ground-level work of responding to client calls for computer help. Serving as the marketer, staff oversight, and development director for the business, the franchisee is able to concern himself more with the growth of the business and less with the essential task of fixing computers. Both of these franchises are work at home, but depending on whether you prefer to do everything yourself or oversee the work of others, one of these two businesses will definitely be more in line with your nature and goals than the other.

Do You Want A Business That Works On Computers Or Uses Computers?

This is how broad the category of "computer industry" can be: it includes businesses that merely use computers and the internet to do business. Of course there’s nothing wrong with using computer equipment and internet access to do business, but have an idea coming into the market whether you want to do, perhaps, sales or consulting with the aid of a computer or help people fix their computers, because you don’t want to find yourself with a business model you’re less than excited about. If you love tech work and want to help people keep their machines running, something like a The Utility Company franchise is the way to go. Though 90% of the work is done remotely by helpdesk staff in the back of the house, this franchise opportunity is built wholly on providing small businesses with outsourced tech support.

What Do You Want To Sell: Products Or Services?

If a tech support business is not the way you want to go, and you would rather use your computer and the internet for the business of sales, an important question to ask yourself is what you want to sell. If actually having a tangible product to sell is important to you, then a home based business like TVME Inc is very likely the way to go. The distributor of computerized music and video systems for the hospitality and entertainment sector, TVME Inc franchisees have the privilege of watching their product fall into client’s hands at the point of sale. If, however, you prefer to sell a product, then an internet marketing franchise with Gogiro would be an excellent choice. Working remotely from a home computer wherever he happens to be, the Gogiro franchisee helps connect his clients with just the right people to help them put the internet to optimum use for their businesses. Knowing what you want to sell will go a long way toward choosing the business that will be most rewarding day in and day out.

Where Do You Want To Work?

This is a huge question for any business owner: are you going to work out of an office or shop or will you work from home? The way you answer that question will have a great impact on what computer franchises are in your pool of potential choices, because though there are a few that can be run either from home or from an outside location, most are strictly one or the other. For instance, Rapid Refill is an ink cartridge refilling franchise that is only operated with a public storefront. The business model is designed in such a way that without that storefront and the public exposure that it brings, the business wouldn’t even run. Deciding definitively whether or not you want to work from home will help narrow down your options greatly.

Computer franchise businesses come in all shapes and sizes, with a variety of purposes and products, and choosing which one will work best for you can often be a challenging task. As with most things in life, though, the more questions you ask and the more answers you get, the better a decision you’re likely to make. Search your own mind and motives, get answers from professionals about what certain businesses are like, and your choice is sure to go far more smoothly.


Find more franchise opportunities including computer franchises and ISP franchises at Franchise Gator

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_651433_15.html

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