Franchise | Is part-time possible?

professional profile

December 02, 2024

by a professional from University of Virginia-Darden - Darden School of Business in Washington, DC, USA

Does anyone have experience with running a franchise part-time?

I am enjoying my current career, so I am considering this path###-###-#### hours per week.

Not sure which industry yet, but am personally attracted to speciality gyms and fast casual restaurants.

Is this goal realistic, or would managing a local franchise pretty much always a full-time responsibility?

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Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA
Great question. It really depends on what type of business you are looking at, what type of support you have, and whether you are buying something existing or starting something new.

Starting a new franchise is very time consuming. Unless you have a partner dedicated to the business full-time or a key employee with experience, it can be very high risk if you are not going to be involved. No one is going to care as much about making it successful as you will as the owner.

Also, some businesses are much more labor intensive. You mentioned restaurants. They are very labor intensive and a lot of issues can come up. Again, if you are going to buy or start a restaurant, you really need a good operating partner with experience.

As I have already mentioned, support is going to be key. Most franchisors want the owners to be committed and trained in the business. Most lenders (if you intend to use financing) will want the owners involved. Again, unless it is a business that does not require much hands on time from the owner, then lenders will likely want involvement from ownership.

Again, I think your best bet is to find either a key employee with experience in whatever industry you are looking at and make them a minority owner, or to partner with someone that will run the business each day. I am not saying you cannot do it without these items, but generally it is going to be harder to get a lender and franchisor comfortable with your operating plan. It is also going to substantially de-risk the situation for you. If you ever need help from a financing perspective, you can reach me here or directly at redacted Good luck with your decision.
commentor profile
Reply by an intermediary
from The University of Michigan in Chicago, IL, USA
Hi Adam - I briefly owned 7 territories of a home services brand and am happy to tell you about my experience. The short answer is it depends. If you are well capitalized and can afford to higher a large team and invest in marketing from the jump it's feasible, but I would probably stay away from home services in this scenario in most cases. I am not a huge fan of either of the categories you mentioned for a variety of reasons, but can share multiple options in them if you'd like. I would prefer to see you look at more wellness/beauty concepts as I think they offer the best opportunity to be run semi-absentee. Send me a note at redacted if you'd like to chat for a few minutes. Happy to help!
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