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Frequently Asked Questions
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What constitutes the "Upfront Capital" amount.
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This is defined as the amount of available finance (cash, bank loans, etc.) that will be required to purchase and launch the franchise to the point where you start receiving a revenue income.
This would typically include the following items:
- Franchise purchase price
- Franchising fees (if applied at time intervals)
- Advertising fees and Royalty fees
- Purchase of capital equipment (such as machinery)
- Shopfitting, deposits, legal fees, etc.
- Provision for working capital
The franchisors are requested to take these issues into account when providing this figure but many provide only the franchise fee. One of your first queries in the pre-purchase negotiations should be an examination of these costs.
We cannot stress strongly enough the importance of preparing detailed cashflow budgets as an early stage of developing your business plan. These issues should be dealt with at this stage and you should also be able to project whether the revenue streams will be sufficient to start liquidating the debt. If not, then you may need to provide for further capital inflows.
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What's the difference between a Franchise and a Business Opportunity ?
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Sometimes not much, and sometimes quite a lot.!
In short, franchises often provide more security, are considered to be less risky, are bigger operations and cost a lot more than the typical business opportunity. Business opportunities usually provide a limited range of products and services and a business plan to use for blueprinting the operations. But it's a grey area with a lot of variances.
For a more detailed discussion go to: Business Opportunities versus Franchises
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How are the "Results Listings" ordered? It seems a little confusing with two descending sets by price.
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Some franchisors are paid-up Biz.for.Sale Members and their contributions provide the funding for the site development and maintenance costs so that you can have cost-free access to the information. In return, we display information related to their listing ahead of the "non-members." A non-member is typically receiving a limited enquiry free trial listing to enable them to assess the frequency and quality of the leads. Within those two groups, we list the results in order of descending "Upfront Capital" required.
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Some listings show a zero Upfront Capital amount. Why is that?
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Certain franchises are offered under rigid pricing structures while others are very flexible. The location and size of the franchise area, for example, might effect the pricing dramatically. There may also be considerations related to training and the mix of products and services that will be included. Rather that be accused of misleading you by publishing the lowest cost, and not wanting to seem prohibitively expensive by publishing the highest cost, these franchisors prefer to divulge these details only on application and after assessing your requirements. We according list them at a zero cost and they appear at the bottom of the listings.
But you should note that these franchises are often among the more expensive.
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Some listings do not show contact details. Why is that and how can I contact the franchisor?
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If there is a "Contact" button at the bottom of the page, then filling in the form will give you the best information at this stage. Most franchisors have pre-prepared information packs that will be emailed or posted to you containing almost everything you would want to know. Far more than you will get from a telephone conversation.
If it is a Restricted Listing, then you can email us at info@bizforsale.co.za requesting that we send you the contact details. Please do not telephone for this information as we do not release these details over the phone. We need to provide the data with qualifications and contact information and is is disruptive for someone to have to attend to your request on demand.
At Biz.for.Sale, we provide an advertising service and cannot tell you more than the information you already see displayed. You need to contact the franchisor and not us.
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