Thursday, February 23, 2012

Regional Oil Change Business - Consider a Franchise Development Agreement

Not everyone is able to get cheap money, but for those who are in the flow of large financial loans, the interest rates are incredibly low right now. Therefore it might be a good opportunity to start thinking about opening up a regional chain of stores. Of course, with all the disruptive technology on the Internet, it's hard to say what type of business to open at the retail level that wouldn't not be slammed as folks shift to buy their products and services online. Okay so, let's talk about this for second shall we?

The question might be which business to get into right. Well, there are franchise models which offer development agreements, regional franchise agreements, or even master franchises. In some cases if you open a franchised outlet you have to sign a ten-year agreement to open 10 additional stores, at the rate of one per year. Companies like Taco Bell, Great Clips, and other well-known franchise brands often require franchisees to do this if they want a larger regional area.

Oh that reminds me, there was a decent article in the Wall Street Journal today titled; "Multi-unit Operators Spur Growth of Sector," by Julie Bennett which is worth looking up online.

Now then, having been in the auto sector, it seems like automotive services are a good place to compete, because you don't have to worry about the disruptive technology of the Internet, in fact you might be able to use it to draw in additional customers, and get a leg up on the competition, as most industries are very slow to adapt to such new technologies - this is quite evident right now with mobile personal tech.

If someone were to open a chain of quick lubes in a region with lots of cars, they might be able to take the market by storm and the competition wouldn't know what hit them. This is because the recession has weekend many of the long-standing companies, and they wouldn't have the capital or have saved up money to respond to a fast mover, or large threat in their marketplace at this time. Meanwhile such a regional player could then pick up the weakened locations for a song.

Meanwhile, hybrid and electric technology isn't there yet, but as it comes forth with new battery tech one could be ready with these locations and capture those revolutionary technologies also. Perhaps, both a short-term "Blitz Plan"

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