Franchising Has Moved Beyond Fast Food

APP.com:

In September 2003, Katharine Halpin sat eating breakfast with a business associate at a Phoenix restaurant.

For 10 years, the Phoenix-based coach and leadership strategist for CEOs and corporations had hired personal contractors in order to keep up with high demand. In return, she found herself training her competitors and diluting her brand.

After she put down her fork and finished venting, her friend referred her to a franchise consultant. Halpin’s first 2-hour meeting with the consultant resulted in three options: grow company-owned stores with others managing employees, license her product to others or franchise.

‘I was a very successful solo-preneur with a few part-time employees,’ Halpin said. ‘I wasn’t big enough to hire full-time employees to be leadership strategists. If I licensed, I would lose quality control.’

Halpin, 48, came out of the meeting with complete clarity - she needed to franchise.

‘Franchising was the only way I could build a bigger brand and maintain quality control over the services provided,’ she said. ‘I had been burned a few times with my independent contractors when I had not stayed involved. It was an easy decision once I got to that point.’

She formed the Halpin Cos. Inc. for the sole purpose of selling her nontraditional intellectual property franchise. To date, she has sold 7 franchises in three states at $25,000 a pop.

The traditional model of franchising has been turned upside-down with no limit on what can or should be franchised. Once dominated by the fast food and cleaning-service industries, businesses offer franchises in everything from cruise planning and children’s parties to fresh-fruit bouquets and IT services. In 2005, more than 300 new franchise concepts opened their doors in the United States alone.

One reason for the growth: Franchise businesses are successful. According to the association, 90% of franchises succeed while 90 % of regular startups do not. More.