Home Services Surge in Popularity, Rank No. 1 in Q2 Franchise Investment Inquiries
August 13, 2020 – Home Services surged past Food and Restaurant franchises to rank as the No. 1 most popular category for aspiring franchisees in Q2 2020, while Real Estate franchises experienced the greatest increase of investment interest over the previous quarter.
The Franchise Insights rankings are proprietary data drawn from the Franchise Ventures’ demand-generation platform, which provides the largest flow of franchise-investment inquiries from potential franchise buyers in the United States.
- Home Services franchises claimed the No. 1 spot with 21.1% of the franchise investment inquiries made in Q2, moving up from the No. 2 spot in Q1 with a 31.2% increase in share. It is a broad category that includes subcategories like Home Improvement and Handyman services, Landscaping and Lawn care, Painting and Pest Control businesses, and Moving and Alarm services, among others.
- Cleaning and Maintenance franchises jumped to No.2 most popular with 13.3% of the inquiries, no doubt driven by increasing demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. Spanning both business-to-business and consumer services, this category grew 32.5% from Q1 to Q2, moving up from the No. 4 rank.
- Business Services franchises were No. 3, with 11.9% of the prospects contacting franchisors in Q2. Another broad category, it includes B2B subcategories like Advertising and Tax services, Print and Insurance services, and Business Consulting and Expense Reduction services, among others. It grew share 10% from Q1, when it also ranked No. 3.
- Senior Health Care franchises received 11.7% of the franchising inquiries to claim the No. 4 spot in Q2. With pandemic concerns driving additional demand, this category grew 24.1% from Q1 and moved up from the No. 5 position.
- Food and Restaurant franchises rounded out the top 5 most popular business categories, with 10.7% share in Q2. Food franchises fell from the No. 1 rank in Q1. Pandemic concerns were clearly a factor here, with 42% fewer franchise systems actively seeking franchisees in Q2, and 39.1% drop in share of investment inquiries.
- Two smaller categories claimed the biggest increases in share on a percentage basis – Real Estate franchises grew 46.8% to receive a 2.8% share of investment inquiries, and Automotive franchises grew 39.1% for 6% share of prospects.
Top Franchise Categories by Share of Interest Q2 2020
| Category | Q1 2020 share | Q2 2020 share | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Services | 16.1% | 21.1% | 31.2% |
| Cleaning & Maintenance | 10.0% | 13.3% | 32.5% |
| Business Services | 10.8% | 11.9% | 10.0% |
| Senior and Health Care | 9.5% | 11.7% | 24.1% |
| Food & Restaurant | 17.8% | 10.7% | -39.7% |
| Automotive | 4.3% | 6.0% | 39.1% |
| Health & Fitness | 6.5% | 5.5% | -15.3% |
| Child-related | 6.4% | 4.5% | -29.1% |
| Education | 3.1% | 3.4% | 9.1% |
| Real Estate | 1.9% | 2.8% | 46.8% |
Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.
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Published on Thursday, August 13th, 2020.