Opportunities
10 Knock Hot Franchises Worth Checking Out Now
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By Alison Onianwa
ou could call it the fuel-injected route to entrepreneurship – pick an idea, product or service you like, invest tens, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars, and bingo, you’re the owner of a franchise business.
wanting to be here,” says Lorne Fisher, CEO of Fish Consulting in Hollywood, Fla., a national public relations and marketing agency that specializes in working with franchise companies. “The population is still growing, there’s a variety of demographic characteristics here and companies realize it’s a tri-county area.”
From ice cream, burgers and smoothies to supplemental education, senior care and children’s fitness – no matter your interest, there’s likely a franchise that fits the bill. And franchising is almost recession-proof if you’re smart about it, experts say.
While it’s true that, as with most business sectors these days, financing a franchise concept isn’t as easy as it used to be. But it’s not impossible and some companies now even offer incentives.
Here’s more good news: South Florida is a popular and sought-after market for a number of franchise concepts, primarily because of its demographics. “Every company has a slightly different reason for
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Salad Creations Description: Fresh salads, sandwich wraps and soups Phone: 954-590-2467 Franchise units: 39 in North America; 15 in South Florida Based: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Franchise fee: $25,000 Net worth requirement: $250,000 ($100,000 in liquid assets) Total investment: $160,000 – $446,000 Web site: saladcreations.net
Salad Creations aims to capitalize on consumers’ desire for fast, healthy food. And with South Florida’s year-round sunshine, this concept of serving fresh, customized salads – to be “fresh and fabulous” – avoids the seasonality factor that takes place in other parts of the country. Started by franchise veteran Jeff Levine in 2003, Salad Creations has already gone international with locations in Brazil and 74
T h e B o c a R at o n Ob s e r v e r
Find investing in a franchise preferable to job searching or getting your own business plan operational? We’ve done some of the research for you. Experts with whom we spoke pointed out the following 10 hot franchises, many of which are looking to expand in South Florida.