What’s HOT in franchising and why?

Like all industries, there are trends in franchising, but unlike other industries, franchising basically covers every single industry out there. With that in mind, we take a look at what industry trends are hot in franchising in Canada this year.

Going Green

As climate change continues to be the defining crisis of our time, more and more businesses are turning their attention to being as eco-friendly as they can. There are two ways franchise businesses are doing this.

First are franchises whose entire business model is to help the environment. This would be things like a solar panel installation business.

The other way is a business that has decided to be as environmentally friendly as possible. So, any business that takes active steps to save on energy and reduce waste would fit into this second category. Some businesses build their buildings to procure LEED certification, others may retrofit their buildings to use energy and water more efficiently or use environmentally friendly products and practices.

With more and more Canadians leaning toward going green, franchises that also lean toward eco-friendliness — and make it known that they do — can increase their revenue while decreasing their impact on the planet.

Eating Better

It’s not just earth that Canadians want to see get healthier. They also want to be healthier themselves. A lot of the most popular food franchises in Canada have drawn attention to their own shifts toward using better ingredients and offering healthier foods. Words like “fresh” and “local” are often used in advertising as restaurants all want to be associated with healthy eating. There’s also an emphasis on ethical food like free-range eggs, chickens that have been fed a completely vegetarian diet and antibiotic-free meat.

Combining Convenience and Health

Sticking with restaurants, Canadians want the convenience of fast food, but the food quality of a sit-down restaurant. This has lead to the proliferation of fast casual restaurants, which get people their food quickly, but also offer options that you would normally associate with a higher end sit down restaurant.

Many of these restaurants have opted for a create-your-own style of serving, where people specify what they want in their burrito or on their pizza and it’s made right in front of them. Typically, fast casual restaurants will also offer alcoholic beverages, which is something traditional fast food restaurants do not.

Aging at Home

Baby Boomers continue to get older (as we all do), but instead of going to an old folks home, they’re opting to stay at home and enter their twilight years on their own terms. They want to keep their independence, but they also know that as they grow older, they will likely require increased care.

This attitude of wanting to age gracefully at home has given rise to elderly care services that send employees to people’s homes. With relatively little overhead and the opportunity to makes people’s lives significantly better, this is an outstanding franchising opportunity for the right entrepreneur.

Being Semi-Absent

Not every franchisee wants to be hands-on with their business. Many of them actually just want to own a business and have it run by a competent manager while the franchisee just collects the profit from the business. This trend is prevalent in the retail marketplace, but also in other service industries like hair salons.

If you want to be a business owner, but not necessarily run the business, go ahead and be semi-absent. If everyone else is doing it, why not you? Keep in mind that some franchises prefer their franchisees to play an active role in the business, so not all franchises are open to this trend.

If you believe you’re ready to take that first step toward business ownership, sign up for a free FranNet franchise search and consultation today.

Aug 14, 2018