The new year is a popular time to reconsider your professional future. Let’s talk about an option that doesn’t get enough air time with Veterans. It’s something different than getting a new job or going back to school. Let’s talk about starting a franchise.
Owning a business through franchising is a perfect hybrid between working for an organization and starting your own business from scratch.
Five reasons
Here are five reasons why you may want to see if you have what it takes to be your own boss.
1. You’re already trained for it!
A staggering one in seven franchises is owned by a military Veteran. No surprise. Especially when you consider that a franchise operating manual is pretty similar to the operating manuals we used to operate military weapons, tanks, aircraft, ships, submarines and drones.
That franchise operating manual took lots of time and money to perfect. When you buy into a franchise, you benefit by learning from someone else’s mistakes.
2. You don’t need business or industry experience.
Never owned a business before? Don’t have experience in the industry? No problem.
Franchises train you. Then they follow up with a franchisor team that provides services like marketing, accounting set-up, vendor relations, operating, pricing and more. On top of that, you have a team of fellow franchise owners who support one another.
Unlike a stand-alone business where it can be lonely at the top, the franchising model is being in business for yourself, not by yourself. Franchising is a business in a box, with a tremendous support network.
3. Veteran benefits.
Many franchises offer a discount on the franchise fee to Veterans. Plus, many Veterans have access to VA disability payments and military retirement pensions. All of this provides greater financial stability while you are starting your franchise. This gives you more financing options and allows you to focus on running your business, not worrying if you have enough working capital.
4. There’s a franchise for everyone!
Franchises are all restaurants, right? Wrong! If you can think of a service or product, there’s probably a franchise for it.
Franchises run the gamut from home services, senior care, fitness, childcare, tutoring, real estate and much, much more. There are even franchises for removing junk, painting lines in parking lots, mobile flooring retailers and yes, dog-walking!
All told, there are over 2,000 different franchise brands available today.
5. Free franchise coaching services for Veterans.
From deciding if you’re cut out for franchising to selecting the best fit to walking through the due diligence and purchase, getting into franchising can be an intimidating process.
But you don’t have to go it alone. Our franchise coaching team will walk you through the entire three- to four-month process from discovery to opening the business.
Our services are free to Veterans and your cost to the franchisor is the same whether you use our free consulting services or not.
So if you think you have what it takes to be your own boss, schedule a call with our team today!
Simply go to www.vetrepreneur.com and schedule a free, 10-minute no obligation call.
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How do you start your own franchise
I would not recommend a franchise. I started a limousine service, credit was good, got the loan & off we went. I also started a towing company. Got the loan i needed & again off i went. Spent 20 years in the towing business & road side service business which was very successful. I co-opped with five other guys who each had one truck but together we had six trucks as a co-op. I did not want emplyees. I had one female who was great & one male who lied & stole from me. My philosophy is two fold: 1) If i can’t make a living @ what i am doing i’ll do something else & 2) I’m not in business to lose money. I did my home work, talked to people i already knew in the business which helped out a lot. If you want an immediate start up business you probably already have the tools & know how, & money out put will be very very minimal. Buy a lock out kit for unlocking cars, you can also buy master keys for a lot of vehicles, buy a battery jump box & a good set of jumper cables, have a gas can available & by a floor jack for changing tires. Contact the different insurance companies & see who they use for roadside service. You can also look into buying an Electric Vehicle Charging Truck for Electric Vehicles that run out of power in the middle of the road.
There are significant discounts for vets when looking into a franchise that money franchises offer. its 50% off the franchise fee! For many not in the know, you dont personally fund the entire investment with your out of pocket money. You can get loans often with great VA rates provided through the SBA for example. If your interested in a franchise you should look into what is available to you, what franchise you might like and see what they offer for Veterans
I keep hearing about job opportunities for veterans, and I’m certainly not looking to be given anything I’m not deserving or for which I’m not qualified. However, after listening to an IRS virtual info session on 1/11/23, I came away thinking, “just another set of “bull____.”
Between 10/20 and 7/22, I applied through jobs.gov for approximately 12 different positions for which I was qualified. I have yet even to be interviewed. Keep in mind I have more than 30 years of experience in human resources at every level (so I fully understand staffing processes), in addition to other areas of expertise. Add to the fact that I’m also a war veteran.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong, which someone can point out.
Respectfully,
You have to change your resume for each job you apply for. You need to look at the job description & make sure 30% or more of the verbiage is in your resume or cover letter. That will help you get to an interview. Best of Luck!
I keep hearing about job opportunities for veterans, and I’m certainly not looking to be given anything I’m not deserving or for which I’m not qualified. However, after listening to an IRS virtual info session on 1/11/23, I came away thinking, “just another set of “bull____.”
It has been three days and no one has contacted me……
what are the top 5 franchises?
I’m a wife of a veteran with Agent Orange and am his care giver at home under All Saints, and run my own business as well. Because of my husband’s health issues I worked for a doctor and continued on with college courses to be able to keep him out of the nursing homes.
I am wanting to add a Private Home Healthcare to veterans and seniors around the Harvey County area. Would I be able to get the financial help to do this while caring for my husband here in Halstead KS?
This type of help is needed so our veterans in our home town that can’t travel has the care they need.
send more info on veterans work from home
You can look for semi or fully absentee franchise opportunities.
Couldn’t find out anything near what I wanted to know about available franchises
As everything in life, there are both advantages and disadvantages to franchising. If you are considering buying a franchise, I would suggest 3 things.
1.) You are familiar with the what the franchise is offering. (The learning curve can bankrupt you)
2.) Don’t eat out of your profits for 1 year. (You need to use your profits to grow your business.)
3.) Make sure you can comply with the franchise requirements. (Not only do you have to pay your monthly franchise fees; but some require additional cost such as advertising, location requirements, ect..)
bnltrade.com
Larry Sr.
Click bait for sure! Giving up PII without more info on who is doing this seems like a set-up.
Nice clickbait VA, thought you were better than that.
Such a waste of time reading this article. The link in the article takes me to a website that doesn’t mention ANYTHING about how the “coach” makes money, a list of their so-called “coaches”, how long the company has been in business, where the HQ is located, any field offices, contact info, etc. NOTHING is listed! Why should I or *ANY* veteran trust them?? I would NOT & I do not trust a website that doesn’t list basic info.
Google is more helpful, lol. ?
Here’s a list for those looking for the top franchises in the U.S. Good luck my fellow vets!
https://www.franchisetimes.com/top-500-2022/
Franchise coaches make money from the franchisor not the franchisee (“you”). Franchisors benefit from using the coaches because the coach does a level of prequalification. It’s in the coach’s best interest to make sure that they are making a good match between franchisor and franchisee. I can’t speak to THESE particular coaches, but in general they are a useful resource. One recent resource I found that helped give me some insight and peak my interest was a podcast. BiggerPockets Money podcast episode 372.
You have to have money to open any business, we’re does that come from.
The money to buy a franchise can come from literally anywhere. If you have a 401k and are willing to quit your job, you can roll that money into a solo401k, create a c-corp and invest your 401k money with that c-corp to fund the business. SBA also has a variety of loans available for starting a business (which includes buying a franchise) as well as other resources available to veterans specifically.
Without the list your article is futile. Too bad as I am searching for an Income Tax or financial data crunching type gig.
A friend of mine found Liberty Tax to be the franchise for him. You may want to check them out.
I’m a 62 yo veteran of 18 years TIS. Fully disabled in Afghanistan and am curious about disabled veteran opportunities that aren’t necessarily in the food industry.
Technical support call centers depending on your skill ability to learn a particular level they are great work from home incomes. I am 66 still working FT disabled and have no desire to quit.
Do recommend any specific technical support companies
What technical support company
How do we find this tech support companies? I am interested in this type of opportunity.
How do we find these tech support companies? I am interested in this type of opportunity.
I retired and started my own business in Ca and sold it after 11 years. I moved to Louisiana and looked into starting a new business and talked with some franchisee and if you don’t have business experience, you need to get a business consultant to pretext yourself. You have to usually buy in and then pay franchise fee. So be careful and God Bless America
Good work! It’s great to see government in action for the benefit of the people who have safeguarded our country over the years.
Sir, were you in SHAPE/ACE then Pentagon. If so I worked for you.
Tony Rose
I owned a franchise for 25 years. I’m available to answer general questions about owning a franchise.
How do you start a franchise and is worth it?
i’m very much interested in starting my own bussisnes
I would like to start up a business of helping veterans get their benefits or go by getting the process started because alot of veterans do not know how to get it started. I have been helping some of them from my house on my own without capital.
a business that helps veterans get their benefits means you are making a PROFIT off of them learning how to get what’s rightfully theirs. There area number of non-profit entities already out there that do just that.
That’s great if you meet the requirements of the franchise. However if you don’t have the credit or collateral it won’t happen. Thanks for the brief glimmer of hope though.
Where can I get a list of franchises ? Would that list include the start up cost for each one ( or at least some of them) ?
That would be a helpful start.
I would like to see, type of franchise is good for me
Okay, what are the 2,000 opportunities?
check out bizbuysell.com or any other business buying site.
Please show the 2000k franchise business. I can not schedule a phone call/ meeting during the day.
I am a 67 year old retired vet. I certainly think i have what it takes to own a business, but i don’t know how to get started and don’t have enough capital to get anything off the ground.
Interesting 5 reasons. Have thought about another career if I get some real time training to help. Have a lot of interests and want to have fun getting started. Will reach out and maybe get family involved with an opportunity.
Where’s the list of franchises with veteran incentives?
I’m available.
this is a scam
Great information to know and pass on to other veterans.
This “article” should be labeled as an advertisement.
Cautionary tales about veterans and franchising
https://www.franchisetimes.com/article_archive/cautionary-tales-about-veterans-and-franchising/article_930b5d1b-c0d1-57e7-82ea-dd01865bda26.html
I can offer advice for any veteran for franchising. I’m a successful franchisee and can talk directly to veterans on how they too can be successful, no matter what they decide to do!
Great article!
The schedule a coach link goes to a marketing company targeting military and does not allow me to connect to a coach to find out more about franchising opportunities.
I think the reason why we don’t open one is because we don’t have the money, franchises are not cheap.
I have a barbecue restaurant already and have been in the business since 1991 with the help of my wife and children. I am trying to get my barbecue sauce into the military’s mess hall or commissaries. Need contacts to talk with.
So many resources to give information but none of them pave the road to get there
Hi Chris Hale,
I disagree with points 1, 2, & 4. Therefore I disagree with majority of this blog.
From my franchise experience, I wouldn’t recommend any franchise unless the VA has a clear vetting process to evaluate any franchise listed within. From my experience, you join a franchise and sign a franchise agreement then you are left to the wolves of that franchise and treat you like a franchise number to adhere to the same nonsense that bad organization are defined by. I can’t speak for every franchise, but as I said earlier unless the VA has a clear vetting process to evaluate each franchises business practices before pitching it to us veterans, they should think twice about exposing us to the opportunity to being taking advantage of.
Sincerely,
Chris Holman Retired USAF
Chris, Which franchise are you in? Your comment has me very curious. It would be helpful to know who to stay away from. I know I can name one for sure!
There’s pro’s and con’s to every brand I’ve dealt with and researched.
Thank you for your insight.
I like it Chris H. Sounds like you may have real-world experience with franchisors. Folks very close to me share the same thing (2). I believe I know what I’m looking for, BUT potentially $100s of $1,000s just to sign the franchise contract, THEN paying monthly and/or annual ‘rights’ fees (flat OR %-based), and THEN possible/probable crap for support and help, I’m advising all to proceed carefully.
If this article is any indication of what NOT to expect from within this VA program, WHERE is the list of 2,000? I mean how about even a list of the top 100? Indicators…
Who has $250,000 or more to start a franchise?
retired Army