Franchising or licensing is a business that is safe(er) in a recession. I own a nation wide wedding company, but we chose to license out our systems instead of franchising (still a very similar concept). We get a 7% royalty on every dollar every area in the nation makes, forever.
I personally own 5 of the 62 "franchise" areas available in the US. My areas are all in the West Coast, which is being destroyed by panic/mass hysteria right now. Everyone is hiding their money under their pillows instead of spending it.
In my 5 areas, I've had more already booked brides begging for their non-refundable deposits (usually $700-1200) back than I've had leads this week. It's crazy. My areas are suffering greatly these last few weeks. We've dropped 90% in sales, which obviously sucks for me financially.
HOWEVER. There are a few areas in the nation that are CRUSHING it right now, and that's making me bank. The areas doing well are mostly in the midwest, where the hysteria isn't nearly as great as the West Coast. I imagine that as the virus spreads, different areas will perform better than others.
But I don't care! Because at the end of the day, these area owners (fellow entrepreneurs) will go work their asses off to make sales, and I'll cash in 7% of everything they do forever. So even if my 5 areas suck during a recession, I'll have the security of knowing that I've got multiple income streams.
Also, people will ALWAYS get married regardless of the economy. We offer a value wedding package that is usually 60% lower than most photographers charge, and we have a better portfolio.
Looking back at the data from the 2008 recession, the same amount of people got married as in all previous years. People don't time their weddings with the economy. When the economy is down, they will NEED to find our company, as we are one of the only companies that offer such high value at such a low price.
I personally own 5 of the 62 "franchise" areas available in the US. My areas are all in the West Coast, which is being destroyed by panic/mass hysteria right now. Everyone is hiding their money under their pillows instead of spending it.
In my 5 areas, I've had more already booked brides begging for their non-refundable deposits (usually $700-1200) back than I've had leads this week. It's crazy. My areas are suffering greatly these last few weeks. We've dropped 90% in sales, which obviously sucks for me financially.
HOWEVER. There are a few areas in the nation that are CRUSHING it right now, and that's making me bank. The areas doing well are mostly in the midwest, where the hysteria isn't nearly as great as the West Coast. I imagine that as the virus spreads, different areas will perform better than others.
But I don't care! Because at the end of the day, these area owners (fellow entrepreneurs) will go work their asses off to make sales, and I'll cash in 7% of everything they do forever. So even if my 5 areas suck during a recession, I'll have the security of knowing that I've got multiple income streams.
Also, people will ALWAYS get married regardless of the economy. We offer a value wedding package that is usually 60% lower than most photographers charge, and we have a better portfolio.
Looking back at the data from the 2008 recession, the same amount of people got married as in all previous years. People don't time their weddings with the economy. When the economy is down, they will NEED to find our company, as we are one of the only companies that offer such high value at such a low price.