SPECIAL REPORT: Top Franchises
Guide to Today’s
top franchises
The FBR50 is the only awards program to look at actual franchisee satisfaction data. 2013 Most Satisfied Sectors 1 Sports & Recreation 2 Travel 3 Senior Care 4 Fitness 5 Finance & Tax
Who We Are Franchise Business Review has been researching franchise companies since 2005. In eight years, we have surveyed thousands of franchisees, worked with hundreds of brands, and assisted countless entrepreneurs in their search for a franchise business. Each year, we release our muchanticipated Guide to Today’s Top Franchises, which lists our annual franchisee satisfaction award-winners— the top franchise brands based on our survey. Originally dubbed the “FBR50” because it included only 50 companies, Franchise Business Review’s Top Franchises list has grown to include 200 companies spread across four size categories. The FBR50 is the only awards program to look at actual franchisee satisfaction data. In addition to providing the base for our awards program, our research supplies us with a considerable amount of data, as well as a unique view of franchising from the inside. We supplement our research by conducting interviews with senior executives and franchisees at many of the top franchise companies, and those findings make up the editorial for this report. What We Do To compile the data for this report, we surveyed over 26,000 franchisees, representing more than 350 brands and 125,000 franchise units/locations. Our survey is open to all North America-based franchise companies at no cost.
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We email our survey to all active franchisees within a system. Franchisees answer 33 benchmark questions ranking their franchise system in the areas of financial opportunity, training and support, leadership, operations and product development, core values (e.g., honesty and integrity of franchisor), general satisfaction, and the franchisee community. An additional 16 questions ask franchisees about their market area, demographics, business lifestyle, overall enjoyment running their franchise, and role in the franchisee community. From this data, we identify our list of Top Franchises, which includes companies with above average satisfaction among the companies we surveyed. Why Satisfaction Matters By all accounts, 2013 is a great time to buy a franchise. Franchise brands are outperforming non-franchised businesses, franchise units are experiencing healthy returns, and many people who’ve been considering franchise opportunities for several years are finally committing to their dream business. But, no matter how rosy things look for franchising as a whole, nothing guarantees a franchisee or a franchise concept will be successful. Prospective franchisees must thoroughly research every opportunity they are considering to determine if the concept is viable and the right fit for them. One of the best ways to know if a franchise opportunity is really as good as it appears is to look at its franchisee satisfaction data. Not all brands survey their franchisees, but those who do offer a wealth of information on the system’s leadership, culture, training and support, financial outlook, and franchisee community.