Utilising Franchise Services

At one-time franchise services, such as brokerage agents, were not often utilised.

However, since the number of franchise brokers has increased significantly, this is no longer the case.

Some experts claim that around ten percent of all franchises sold is a direct result of a franchise broker. There are a few ways to explain this increase and to see if utilising the services of a broker is your best bet.

The Internet Has Changed Many Things

One reason for this increase is because of the Internet. Before being able to search the web, people had to use a franchise directory, newspapers, industry trade shows and magazines to get their franchise information. While many directories have many different franchises listed and trade shows do attract some buyers and sellers, information about franchise availability was pretty limited.

Today, however, there are over 3,000 active franchise business opportunities listed on the Internet at any given time. It's said that if you were to check out each one 365 days a year, twenty-four hours a day it would take you about ten years to get through the list.

Sometimes You Need Help

Of course, this kind of information overload makes it very difficult to filter through the many choices available effectively. This is where the use of franchise services like brokers comes in. However, some brokers who advertise on the Internet are finding it more expensive and difficult to gather good qualified leads. The Internet seems to take a huge part of their advertising budget since the cost of things like pay per click type advertising is also increasing. This also means that it is more costly to advertise in any efficient manner for anyone trying to sell their franchise.

Access To Hundreds Of Opportunities

One benefit of using these brokers is that while a franchisor has only one thing to offer a potential client, a broker has hundreds of opportunities from which to choose. An average brokerage network is much like a franchise in itself; they are marketing individual brokers as consultants, touting them as agents acting in the best interest of the buyer.

However, a franchise consulting group usually represents hundreds of different opportunities with a wide price range, and some feel they will only suggest those that offer higher commissions.

Franchise services such as these will usually provide their brokers, even more, perks for closing bigger and better deals, so while many of them do have the prospective buyer's best interest at heart, there are some that will be influenced by these outside benefits. Most people who want to sell their franchises will not have to pay a broker anything until the deal is signed, making it more attractive to them than spending their own money on advertising.