Changing Careers

Many people contemplate changing careers at some point(s) in life. Many things can lead an individual to re-assess goals and refocus on doing something meaningful and fun.

Jumping into a new career can be tricky. Assessments of retraining requirements should be made before plunging into such things. It often takes a while to work up to a successful new career and it is wise to look at this from a financial standpoint (make sure to work out a livable and affordable budget).

Changing careers can be both exciting and frightening at the same time. It can be helpful to work with a professional career coach to get some insightful advice. These individuals can evaluate strengths to find great career matches. Being successful in a new career requires you to assess your goals and yourself. Remember, however, that there's always a means of finding a way to get to where you want to be.

State Franchise Tax Board

*Depending upon the individual states in which you are doing business, you may need to pay taxes to each state franchise board.

Each state has its own requirements for how and when it collects taxes. Staying up to date on the ever-changing requirements and laws of multiple states can be a big burden for a small company. Corporations with offices in multiple states need to stay on top of the various requirements and deadlines. This can become burdensome. Before expanding your business into new territories across state lines, check with each state franchise tax board to understand your obligations.

Home Based Business for a Woman

Ladies, stay clear of envelope stuffing schemes and the like when you're looking for a home-based business. Before beginning make sure that you possess the following:

• a sound business plan
• a product or service that has an honest demand
• a reasonable chance of success based on your skills and background

It might be helpful to find women who are making money in successful home-based businesses and ask them about the specifics involved in their businesses.

Women's franchises are another popular way for women to re-enter the workforce or change careers and some franchises even offer means of starting home-based businesses for women.

Investigating Franchise Business for Sale

In addition to the usual fees, structure, and support inquiries you should take into consideration before purchasing a franchise, you should also check into the background of the franchise business for sale. Decipher how many franchise owners it has had. Note that a number of owners over a short period of time is probably a sign of some business difficulties (either in that particular location or within the franchise as a whole).

Visit the locations and observe the way they conduct current business. If it's a franchise with repeat customers, talk to some of them. Also take the time to talk to the current franchise owner about the training and support they have received from the parent company. Compare the numbers with other franchises for sale. Make sure you hire an accountant to review the books of the franchise business for sale.

Research for your Low Cost Franchise

Whether you are buying a low cost franchise or not, you still need to determine that there is a demand for the product or service. Define your potential customers and figure out how and where they live. Do they buy your product or service on an impulse or is it a pre-planned and researched purchase? A low cost franchise like a snack or ice cream store depends heavily on foot traffic for impulse buys. Location is very important to these kinds of businesses. On the other hand, most people don't hire a cleaning service because they happened to walk by an office one day. For those types of businesses, advertising and publicly displaying information on the business is probably the best way to make an impact (people are more likely to research such services before purchasing them).

*Whether or not you find low cost franchise opportunities, figure out how to reach your prospective customers and what messages will reach them.

Franchise Directories

There are a variety of franchise directories online. Some are portals, offering a wide variety of information. Others are narrowly focused on certain niches and can show you a franchise opportunity or business directory within a specific industry.

You can search through various franchise directories by industry, investment costs, region, or a variety of other categories. Franchise directories provide you with a quick way to get a feel for the franchise world including:

• availability
• costs
• financing options

Some franchise directories focus on U.S. franchises and others on international opportunities. Choose the one that best suits your needs.

Top Franchises

It can be helpful to check out the management running the franchisor of the top franchises you are investigating. Find out the names and employment history of the managers. Do they have prior experience in running a franchise operation? Also, check out any indication of shady business deals. In other words, look for criminal records, bankruptcies, and a lawsuit histories related to your top franchises. Alternately, look for past examples of meeting obligations, behaving honorably, and earning stellar reputations.

When you invest in a franchise, you want to be sure it's of top quality. You are relying upon the franchisor to meet their obligations to you so don't ignore omens presented by their past business dealings.

Existing Franchise for Sale and Your Accountant

Bringing in an accountant to examine the books of an existing franchise for sale is very wise. Unless you have a detailed accounting background, get referrals from friends and business owners you trust for a qualified accountant who has some experience in business evaluations.

An accountant will review the franchise's financial statements and help you understand them. They can also help you develop a business plan. You might want to get a Dun & Bradstreet report on the franchisor. Your accountant should assess the earning projections made by the existing franchise for sale and help you understand the assumptions on which they are based.

Turnkey Small Business Opportunity

Some franchise operations offer turnkey packages, giving you almost everything you need to get going with your new small business opportunity. This can be a great help when you are starting out, but it can also be a great rip-off. Figure out exactly what they are supplying and how much that's worth to you. It's fair that you pay something for the ability to jump right into the small business opportunity, but you don't want to spend all your profits before you even get started. Talk to other franchise owners and find out their opinion about the turnkey package for starting a small business.

Small Business Trends

In addition to researching the particular small business franchise you are interested in, you should research general trends about the industry as well. No franchisor is going to tell you that you're buying in at the tail end of the business cycle. Think about what competition might appear or how your business might change with new technology. Is your service something that could be offered over the web? Will it eventually become obsolete? Look at the competition in your industry and find out whether they're introducing related new products or pulling back and heading in some other direction. Is there specialized knowledge required to run this small business franchise? Is your business plan dependent on cheap labor being readily available and what do the labor supply trends look like? Whatever your success is dependent upon, ask yourself what you'll do if it is not available.

The Small Business Administration Franchise Directory

The Small Business Administration has a franchise directory of franchises that have worked with the SBA and meet their requirements. They offer a streamlined loan application process because they have investigated the franchise operation and worked with the corporate management. However, just because a franchisor appears in the SBA franchise directory does not mean you should presume anything about their quality or profitability. The SBA will still consider financing other franchises, but the process will be more similar to their typical small business loan process.