Convenience is king in today’s market. People want what they want and they want it quick and easy. Remember back when the idea of the drive through food service model redefined what we knew and understood about convenience? Nowadays, the idea of a drive through is pretty old school in terms of how convenient products or service are delivered considering the Amazon effect where people expect products to literally show up on their door step within a day’s time.
This trend towards convenience has carried over into franchising in a big way and has shown up in a wide range of different industries. Consumers today want their automotive services done at their home, elderly family members taken care of in their own home, groceries to be delivered and food to show up on their doorstep. All of this translates to more business opportunities centered around convenience and driving dollars towards businesses which make the transaction easy for the customer to receive their goods and services.
Mobile franchises have emerged in a wide range of market segments making this trend even more evident. Fundraising University for example is a mobile franchise model where franchisees go to the schools and customer directly and onsite in a territory franchise model. It’s a unique business model in a fun market segment that makes the process for schools to raise funding for activities and programs.
Along those lines, the senior care industry is full of mobile franchise opportunities – Goshenite is a new franchise brand, but has all of the potential you’d want to see in a mobile services franchise model. Not only does Goshenite provide senior transportation services, but also publishes a senior-focused magazine pulsation and puts on shows specific to the senior market. Franchisees have a multi-pronged revenue model with the lower investment of a mobile operating model.
Miraculum Fire is a new one that brings innovative technology to the market through a fire suppression formula. The patented formula can be sprayed on anything and make the item resistant to fire (think homes, furniture, baby’s clothing, etc) – the possibilities are endless and the mobile service model allows a franchisee to take the business to the customers.
Kids Kab is a California-based franchise that transports children and provides a professional, safe service for busy parents who have to shuttle their kids to and from the myriad of activities every household is involved in. I know the Conner House could use these services virtually every day with the 3 and 6 year old that live there.
In the education space, we have a new franchise system by the brand Nexplore which is a mobile services education business providing STEM-based, Math and Science at the school itself through after school programs. The classes are customized to the students, convenient to get to and make learning fun all of which play exactly to today’s market for education services.
The possibilities and number of brands working in mobile franchising are virtually endless. My work as a franchise consultant exposes me to a lot of great brands and amazingly innovative entrepreneurs. Over the past 17 years, I’ve seen trends come and go in a variety of industry segments. I don’t think that is the case with mobile franchising. People want and demand convenience and today, the credibility of a business isn’t dependent on a brick and mortar location like it was 10 years ago. People have the opportunity to start a business with a lot less money invested and can create a business that in most cases offers higher levels of profitability due to the lower overhead and operating structure. Brands such as Junk King, Restoration 1 and others have become national brands in a relatively short time period playing to these elements in the franchise industry. People want good value for their investment and there are a lot more people who can invest $150k than there are who can put together $500k for a fixed location franchise.
In my experience, mobile franchising is not for the faint of heart when it comes to marketing and selling. Some fixed location businesses can allow a franchisee the luxury of opening their doors in the right location and not have to pull customers in the door with aggressive selling. Mobile franchising relies on the aggressive sales-minded person to drive the new business development. Successful mobile franchise owners know how to acquire business and enjoy the marketing activities that come with developing new relationships and being in control of their own destiny.
In my opinion, if you are a go-getter, enjoy business development and are looking for the best return on investment, mobile franchises make an incredibly compelling opportunity. In addition, mobile franchises can allow you the opportunity to work from home creating an awesome work-life balance opportunity.
Christopher Conner is the President of Franchise Marketing Systems and has spent the last decade in the franchise industry working with several hundred different franchise systems in management, franchise sales and franchise development work. His experience ranges across all fields of franchise expertise with a focus in franchise marketing and franchise sales but includes work in franchise strategic planning, franchise research and franchise operations consulting. For more information on how to choose the right food service franchise, contact Chris Conner at Chris.Conner@FMSFranchise.com