If you’re going to start investigating franchise opportunities, there are a few questions that will undoubtedly come up. They are:
“What franchises are ‘hot’ right now?”
“What are the “up and comers?”
“Are there certain segments in franchising I should be looking into?”
In this post, I’m going to show you how to get those questions answered. That way you can search for franchises that are in-line with some of the current trends taking place in the U.S.
How to Find Trends in Franchising
It’s important to know what consumers and small businesses are spending their money on. But it’s even more important to find out why they’re spending their money on something. What’s motivating them to do it? What trend or trends?
A Specific Example
There’s one trend that’s so prevalent, it’s actually changed the franchise industry. That trend: the dual-income family.
According to Pew Research*, 66% of couples with children under the age of 18 are dual-income families. In other words, both parents work. Only 28% had the father as the only one employed, while 4% had only the mother employed. What does that tell us?
The 1st thing this statistic tells us that there are a lot of dual-income families!
Secondly, if both mom and dad are working full-time, that means they have less time to do their household duties. And that’s a problem in need of a solution. One that the franchise industry has been providing for years.
In franchising, the home services segment is the solution, and it continues to grow in leaps and bounds. That’s because its focus is on dual-income, time-starved consumers.
Some examples of franchises in this segment include:
- House-cleaning
- Lawn care
- Painting
- Handyman services
- Window cleaning
And others.
In this case, a specific (and huge) trend was spotted and franchise opportunities were launched to capitalize on it-quite successfully.
Furthermore, some of the people who were looking at franchise opportunities to buy learned about that trend and decided to capitalize on it themselves.
Are there trends similar to the dual-income trends that you can capitalize on?
Trendspotting
There are a few different ways to spot trends. Here are 3.
1. Search Engines
One of the best ways to find out what the current trends are is through the use of your favorite search engine. Here are a few things you can type into the search bar:
- “Consumer trends”
- Demographic trends”
- “Consumer spending”
- “Dining trends”
- “Food trends”
- “Retail trends”
As you’ll see, there’s no shortage of data and information. Try to look for patterns.
For example, when you search for “dining trends,” look to see if people are eating out more, or if they’re staying home and getting their food delivered. Are the numbers rising, falling or staying the same? Are there franchise concepts capitalizing on the results you’re seeing in the data?
2. Friends and family
What are your friends and family members talking about?
What are they complaining about?
Are some of them saying the same things?
For example, are some of your friends with school-aged children complaining about the curriculum? About how their kids are struggling to keep up?
If that’s the case, maybe it would be worth your time to investigate tutoring franchise businesses. And make sure you look up “trends in tutoring.”
3. Office talk
- What are people talking about at work?
- What are you seeing at work?
- Are there any changes to the technology you’re using?
- Are there problems the company is experiencing that a lot of other companies are experiencing, too?
- Are there franchise businesses out there that are helping to solve those problems?
For example, are you hearing that it’s becoming extremely challenging to find high-quality salespeople?
If so, are there franchise businesses available that can help alleviate that problem? Like sales-training franchises? Or a business coaching franchise?
In conclusion, if you’re looking for franchise opportunities to buy, it’s important to spot the trends taking place. Can you capitalize on them?
*Non-U.S. Government link
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