Work Flexibility Follows Financial Considerations as Prospects Give Feedback on Most Desirable Franchise Characteristics
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights
July 31, 2024 — As in prior surveys, “low cost of entry” and “higher earnings potential” were ranked most important by individuals seeking business ownership. But control over working conditions – including “flexibility of work schedule” and “ability to work from home” were the two next most important characteristics.
In the June 2024 FranchiseInsights.com Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™, respondents were asked to rank eight franchise characteristics in order of importance to their ultimate selection, along with a “not important to me” option for each. The data presented are weighted averages of the responses ranked by individual respondents.
Control over working conditions – including “flexibility of work schedule” and “ability to work from home” as a pair were the two next most important characteristics.
“Extensive training and support” and “systems and technology platform” edged out ”well-known brand” to round out the top seven.
On the other hand, “pandemic resilience” had the lowest ranking, and 15% said it was unimportant, as the economic and social disruptions fade into memory. In the chart below, which includes all the “not important to me” (unranked) responses,13.5% indicated that a “well-known brand” was not important, suggesting a willingness to consider newer concepts, or potentially reflecting the lack of capital for an established concept. The percentages do not sum to 100% since most respondents gave some ranking to each of the characteristics.
Since “low cost of entry” and “high earnings potential” were ranked highly by almost all respondents, and deemed “not important” by 6.5% and 1,4% respectively, it goes without saying that they are top considerations. But while that is useful for honing marketing messages, it means that they are less useful in determining information about what drives the individual decision process of prospects, and insights into their personas, as we first explored in March 2022.
FranchiseInsights.com compiles the monthly Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses for sale. The most recent Startup Sentiment Index™ survey was conducted June 20-30, 2024. See excerpts from prior SSI™ surveys and subscribe to receive the Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ monthly report when it is released.
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Published on Wednesday, July 31st, 2024.