Investing in a business is perhaps one of the largest and most significant decisions that one can make. That means it takes research and planning. Sound familiar? Like buying a house?
Why Financing Early Is Important
Another way that investing in a business is like buying a house is that an aspiring entrepreneur will be proactive in understanding their financing options early in the process. Why is this important?
- Prequalifying will help a potential business owner to understand what is possible – I encourage my candidates to prequalify so that they know what their upper dollar limit is, even if we never discuss a franchise option that comes anywhere near it. Finding that perfect business and then learning you can’t afford it is like finding the house with the large yard, pool and optimal school district and then discovering that it’s out of your reach;
- Prequalifying will also help a potential business owner understand if they can afford to step away from their primary career and its income stream or whether they should limit themselves to franchise business opportunities where their role will be Owner/Executive or Semi-Absentee;
- Prequalifying also helps to initiate the discussion and education about the range of funding solutions that are available to consider in your unique and personal situation.
Specialized Resources For Success
Fortunately, in franchising, we can introduce our candidates to specialist resources who know franchise funding intimately. They not only can counsel a candidate on what their options are, but they can also refer to the right counterparties for financing, which often accelerates the process. Funding specialists will know of lenders who are actively looking for the type of exposure that lending to you and your business concept/industry segment will bring. Compare this to walking into your local bank that has been your “forever bank”, and the probability that they are starting from scratch in getting to know the business model, market demand, and financial track record of other operators in that franchise system.
Let’s Chat
At FranNet, we pride ourselves in being the resource for our candidates that can connect them with a wider group of qualified specialists in many relevant areas, including financing. Getting started is simple and involves setting up a no-cost, no-obligation appointment. If you are at a point of wanting to learn more, I’d welcome a further conversation at jmceleney@frannet.com to see how I can help you to keep learning.