Not Every Business is Franchise-Worthy

By FranchiseKing (Joel Libava), SBA Guest Blogger

Do you ever have ideas for a new business running through your head? I do.

Most of the business ideas I come up with nowadays are marketing-related. It’s probably because I own a business and I’m always thinking of ways to market my services and products.

But, once in a while, I come up with an idea that’s bigger than just a marketing tool.

An Idea For A Franchise

Many years ago, I don’t remember how many, exactly, I came up with an idea for a retail store. It was an idea that I was able to easily visualize-and still could today. I even had a name for the store. Stores plural, actually. I envisioned lots of stores. Franchises even.

My idea was a niche-clothing store, for men, women and children.

The name of the store: Just Socks. The business would specialize in one thing-you guessed it, socks.

The latest search on Google revealed that as of today, the only business with that name is a little shop located in Perth, Australia, and the business specializes in bamboo socks. (They must hurt going on). So, as of now, my idea still has legs.

Franchise-Worthy?

Could a Just Socks retail business work?

Would you go to a store that specialized in socks?

Better yet, do you have an idea for a franchise? Would it work?

When it comes to turning a business idea-or an already-established business into a franchise business, there needs to be a market for the product or service. But, where can you turn to see if there is a market for your idea? Where is research market research available?

Market Research Sources

You may not have to invest a lot of money to do market research for your product or service.

According to Caron Beesley, a writer for SBA.gov, “The federal government is the largest producer of data in the U.S. with numerous offices dedicated to collecting, analyzing and providing free access to their findings – good news for budget-conscious small business owners.”

Here are 5 free sources for market research:

FedStats.gov
The U.S. Census Bureau
The SBA Office of Advocacy
EconomicIndicators.gov
SBA.gov’s Business Data and Statistics page

Go here to learn about the data these free resources can provide.

About the Author:
FranchiseKing

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