If you’re looking to earn a living that works both for you and your family commitments, why not consider owning a business? It is easy to regard business ownership as a costly and time consuming avenue to go down, but did you know there are a lot of businesses out there ideal for parents? Whether you’re a single mum or dad, or married looking to help support your family, franchising is one route to business ownership which is favoured by many. Let’s take a look at some of the best franchises for parents that can be run either from home or on a part time basis.
What is franchising?
Franchising is where the owner of an established business decides to license out the rights to entrepreneurs to trade as his or her business. Entrepreneurs can “invest” in a franchise – ie buying the rights to trade as the business – and in exchange for the investment, they’ll get a “business in a box”. The difference between starting up a business from scratch: getting an already established brand and proven business model. However within franchising, you’re not just buying the rights to trade. You’re also getting the training and support of the franchisor (the business owner), plus any necessary starting stock and equipment to get the business up and running. Is franchising employment? No. The business will be yours and your responsibility to operate and see it be effective. However many franchises offer the luxury of being able to work from home, work your own hours and fit the business around your own commitments.
Here are our top 4 types of franchises which are fantastic to run either as a single or married parent.
Vending Franchises – A Fantastic Entry Point
Typical Initial Investment: From £500
Vending businesses for sale in the UK are widely considered to be the ideal “entry point” to business ownership stroke franchising. If you’re both new to the world of franchising and new to the world of business ownership, vending franchise businesses are a fantastic starting point. Why? – Because they’re scalable. They’re also low cost as well. This lends some reassurance that if the business doesn’t go to plan, or you get cold feet after the investment, you’re not chasing back thousands of pounds.
Vending franchises come in a variety of forms. You’ve got businesses which rent out vending machines, profiting from the goods sold, then you’ve got more advanced vending franchises like coffee machines. You’ll often have multiple revenue streams with the latter, providing machine servicing as well.
Vending machine businesses are partly home based, with some involvement in meeting clients. However for the most part, owning the business, means you can fit in work around your schedule. Diarise client bookings around school hours, and carry out home based work when the kids have gone to bed.
As mentioned earlier, vending franchises are scalable so the more work you put in, the more you get out. Start out with a small number of machines as an entry point, then grow the business and your workload for higher turnover.
Mobile Coffee Franchises – A Premium Opportunity
Typical Initial Investment: From £15,000
The typical investment is quite a step up here from vending, but did you know, subject to your financial history and your business plan, banks can lend up to 70% of the investment? Thanks to this, and thanks to the fact that most van based franchises will have agreements in place with vehicle lenders and sellers, investing in a franchise could be cheaper than you think.
Unlike coffee shop franchises, mobile coffee brings the coffee to the customer. As well as being well suited for parents, these types of coffee businesses are fantastic for avid entrepreneurs too. The typical working day of a mobile coffee franchisee will involve driving out to busy spots such as train stations and community events, where footfall will be high. The van based flexibility of a mobile coffee franchise means you can work whenever suits you and your family commitments.
For a parent, that might mean taking your kids to school, selling coffee through the day, before picking them up again. For the avid entrepreneur, it might involve getting up at 5am to greet commuters, taking the day off and then returning for the evening rush. From corporate events to parties and transport hubs, mobile coffee franchises are versatile, lucrative and ideal for both parents and experienced business owners alike.
Children Related Franchises – Enjoy What You Do
Typical Initial Investment: From £1,000
There are many different children related franchises out there and these are more often than not suited for parents. If you have a passion for spending time with children, making them smile, then why not consider a children franchise? After all, loving what you do is one of the key factors in making the business a success.
One such popular example is baby and children dance and movement. Franchises like Tappy Toes are often run by mums and dads! Many franchises like dance and baby sensory can be recession proof and resilient during pandemics such as that of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many franchisees adapted to the likes of Zoom to continue running classes during lockdown.
By owning a children franchise, you’ll benefit from the training and support of the franchisor. That means help in establishing prominence within your area through marketing and social media. Support will also involve finding venues to hire and run classes and employing staff if you choose not to run the classes yourself. Because you’re a part of the franchisor’s brand, it should come as no surprise that they’ll want you to be fully equipped and confident when you represent their brand in your area.
Cleaning Franchises – Discover Work Life Flexibility
Typical Initial Investment: From £500
Don’t immediately disregard this type of business as a filthy chore filled career that resembles employment crossed with running a household!
Whilst you can run your own cleaning business as a sole operator, and many businesses run in this way do work well for parents, many cleaning franchisees don’t actually do any cleaning themselves! Most cleaning businesses operate on a “management” basis. What this means is the franchisee manages a team of cleaners, while the franchise never does any cleaning – unless they want to.
Why is this a good choice for parents? Because as long as the business gets marketed, and the cleaners get their work, it really doesn’t matter when you do the work. Marketing can be scheduled, and your own work is often done from home. This means you can make time to take your kids to school, pick them up, and even extend the flexibility of taking them to an after-school club.
And even if you did want to operate as a sole operator, for example oven cleaning franchises, you can plan your clients around your own schedule. You’ll be agreeing on a mutual time that works both for you and your client, enabling a better work life balance.
Because cleaning franchises are quite compact in that there isn’t a lot to them, the overheads are reasonably low. And so is the initial investment. While some cleaning franchises like ovens and commercial cleaning do require a van, the management franchises don’t as they’re home based, thus keeping investment costs down.
Points to Consider
Franchising is a fantastic choice for anyone looking to get in to business ownership. The support from the franchisor, the proven brand name, and the “business in a box” greatly outbalance the risks associated with starting up a business from scratch. As with any business venture, you will need working capital – funds to use to keep the business running from when starting stock has been exhausted, up until you start profiting. Working capital will vary depending on the business, but it can be easy to work out after you meet the franchisor, who will share information about the business’s expected profits and losses. Franchising is a great way to get in to business for yourself but not by yourself. With many different franchises out there, over 1,000 in fact, there is a business for everyone. These aren’t the only 4 types of franchises for parents. There are many businesses which can be run from home. From home-based travel franchises to event and wedding planning. Discover a world of franchises at Franchise Planet.
