Can You Become A Part-Time Franchisee?

Is it possible to find a legitimate franchise opportunity that only requires a few hours a week to run? And, if you do find a part-time franchise, can you make enough money for it to be worth your up-front investment, and of course, your time? Let’s find out.

First off, it’s important for you to be able to distinguish a true franchise-type of business, from a non-franchise business.

In most cases, franchise ownership offers:

·       A proven business system that’s easy to replicate

·       A formal training program

·       Proprietary software and technology

·       Marketing and advertising tools and systems

·       A support team

·       Formal and lengthy contracts

·       Protected territories

Non-Franchise Businesses

Business Opportunities, or Biz Opps, as they’re sometimes called, aren’t very structured when compared to a franchise business. You won’t usually find territory restrictions with a business opportunity, and there are no royalties.*

In addition, the total investment amount is usually less than a franchise business.

While there may be training, and even some marketing tools, the support structure isn’t as tight as it is with a franchise business system.

(It's not because purveyors of Business opportunities are mean-spirited people that they don't supply a tight support structure. It has to do with the business model; in a Business Opportunity, the investment amount is collected up-front. There’s no royalty-stream coming in that could support a lot of well…support, in this type of business set-up.) 

There’s another type of non-franchise business that’s worth mentioning here; Network Marketing businesses. Also known as MLM’s (Multi-Level Marketing) these businesses are almost always marketed as “Part-Time Opportunities.”   

There isn’t enough space here for me to go over all the pros and cons of a Network Marketing business. Suffice to say, there’s a plethora of information available, including an article I found over at FTC.Gov that defines Network Marketing businesses in easy to understand terms.

 Part-Time Franchise Opportunities

While the thought of owning a franchise that doesn’t require a full-time commitment may be appealing to you, the reality is that there are very few franchise concepts around that fall into that category. Most franchises are designed to be owner-operated, with the owner on the premises.

But, if you do have your heart set on investing in a franchise that can allow you the flexibility to not be there all the time, know this; you’ll probably need deep pockets. That’s because most of the franchises that tout things like “flexibility” in their marketing methods are multi-unit ownership opportunities.

In addition to the promise of flexibility that several franchisors offer their franchisees, there’s another option offered in the franchise marketplace that may also have a nice ring to it for you. Ready?

How would you like to keep the job you have while you start a franchise business?

Right off the bat, it’s very appealing, cash-flow wise. That’s because if you can keep your day job while launching a new franchise business,* you’ll have cash coming in-via your paycheck, and that can really give you some breathing room.

To summarize, if you have a pretty sizeable net worth, want a lot of flexibility, and like the idea of maybe being able to keep your current job while your new business launches, there are opportunities available in the franchise marketplace.

*Non US-Government links

More resources

An Overview of Franchising- SBA.Gov

5 Franchise Tips From SCORE

About the Author

The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is the author of the book, Become a Franchise Owner! He's also a franchise ownership advisor; Joel teaches people that are interested in franchise ownership how to properly select and carefully research franchise business opportunities so they can increase their odds of success.