Life after graduation can be a trying experience. For some, it's the first time in life that there is no designated next step, no set plan, and no one around to tell the graduate definitively what he must do to succeed in the world. All any graduate knows is that he needs to get a job and put those years of college classes and tuition to work, but with little, if any, professional experience outside the classroom, the available options can be somewhat grim. One option that is rarely publicized, though, is starting up a home based business franchise. As with most business opportunities, this alternative isn't for everyone, but for the right business-minded post-graduate, there are at least 5 advantages to choosing this route right out of college.
No Experience Necessary
One of the biggest hindrances for the recent graduate is that he probably has no real experience in the working world. Maybe he worked at the local record store throughout college or spent a summer as an intern at a legal firm, but when most jobs are asking for at least two-years' experience in a given industry, that kind of experience just doesn't suffice. And that can leave a person out of work for a good while before an opportunity comes along.
A work at home franchise, however, often has no experience requirement, because franchisors are always ready and willing to train their franchisees in all aspects of the business. Their job is making business owners out of anyone who wants to be one, providing not only daily-operations training, but also a tried and established business model. This means that Joe Graduate, regardless of what he majored in at school, can choose the business he wants, receive all the necessary guidance, and get right into business as a franchisee, while all his friends are searching the want ads.
Gain Experience Quickly
Even after a graduate has found a job, to continue climbing the corporate ladder, he has to acquire enough experience to progress up each wrung, which is likely to take many more years of service at the very bottom of the company. It is a long road to even a middle-management level of success and respect. However, the owner of a franchise is almost instantly equipped with everything it takes to own and operate a business. Trained in all the procedures and wisdom that has been accumulated by franchisees throughout the years, he is prepared to do everything from making sales and bookkeeping to overseeing the greater trajectory of the business as a whole. What would generally take a new graduate many years to accomplish in terms of experience, franchisees accumulates at a rapid pace, so that if they ever decide to put their own businesses aside and join the corporate world, they has a huge advantage over their peers.
Nothing to Lose
This benefit of starting a home based franchise right out of college has less to do with the business and more to do with the youthful franchisee. DVDNow, for example, is a business model currently in its adolescent phase; the DVD vending business has seen massive success in Europe, but is just starting as a rental option in the US. Though any franchise business is much less of a risk that an independent startup, there will inevitably be potential loss involved in any new business, which frightens some people out of pursuing a new work from home opportunity because they have their families, homes, and retirement funds to lose should anything go astray. Just getting out of college, though, the average graduate doesn't have family, investments, or any particular standard of living to worry about. Therefore, it is also possibly the best opportunity a person has to try his hand at starting his own business, and he may never get another quite like it.
The Low, Low Cost of Home Based Business
There are those who doubt the wisdom of buying a franchise business right out of school, and we have to admit that they do so for good reason. One of their big concerns is that franchises cost more than a graduate can afford, and getting into large debt right out of the gates is a bad idea. They really have a good point; however, there is a great deal of difference between the average franchise business and a home based franchise, and much of that is in the cost.
Some franchises come with price tags as high as $1mil, and even something in the ballpark of $100,000 is more than the average graduate can invest, especially if they are already paying back college loans, but home based businesses don't cost nearly that much. In some cases, a profitable home business can be purchased for less than $10,000, because there is no need for a storefront, overhead costs, or staff to pay for. Some good examples of very cheap and very effective vending home based businesses are Vendstar, U-Turn Vending, and American Vending Systems, all of which cost $10,000 or less but can sometimes bring in up to $70 per hour.
No Management Skills, no Problem
Another concern with business owners, straight out of college, is that they don't practically understand how to manage people. Once again, this is a valid concern, but only if the business in question requires the owner to manage people. Almost always, a work at home franchise is a one-man operation, like Vehicle Tracking Solutions, an up-and-coming internet business that sells GPS units for corporate delivery vehicles. As owner/operator, the only person a franchisee has to be able to manage is himself, and chances are, if he's motivated enough to start his own business, he can already do that.
Not everyone is cut out to run their own franchise businesses, home based or otherwise. And just because a graduate is feeling stressed by the difficulty of finding post-college employment, it doesn't necessarily follow that starting a work at home franchise is the most logical business move. However, for the right person, a home based business could very well be the most time-efficient, and cost-effective way to jump into the professional world just after graduation.
