Starting any kind of business is tough. You are essentially putting all your eggs into one basket. Becoming your own boss is the stuff of dreams. You get to decide how long your working hours are, what kinds of tasks you will be doing in the day and the projects you want to accomplish before the year turns out.

But for many people, going into business for themselves is fraught with dangers. They won’t want to go all in, but they do want a taster. This is why many want to go down the franchise route whereby half the work is already done for them, they just need to put in the effort to keep the ball rolling. So we wanted to compare the initial stages of setting up your own business to hopping on board with a franchise.

Starting Your Own Business

The very first thing you need to do is to register your business. You need to think of a brand name and a name for your organization. They can be the same, but very often, setting up a parent company is better. Mercedes Benz AG is a subsidiary of Daimler AG. This kind of shields the parent company from personal losses and still provides them with the lion’s share of the profits.

Then you will need to set up your website and your location in the real world. This can be very costly. If you are going to be retail, then you will need to rent a store that has a good location, good foot traffic and isn’t in the heart of a very competitive zone.

You will need to make your first product and or service. This requires a lot of research and development. A lot of your resources will be going here, so make sure you take your time and you are ready to compete with the bigger brands. These are the initial steps you take when setting up your own business.

Going to a Franchise

When you begin working with a franchise, half the work is done for you. The setup is going to be on the payroll of the franchise. So they will get you going after an initial downpayment to show you’re serious. The classic franchise road is fast food. McDonald’s couldn’t live without the franchise model.

But in modern times, you have ecommerce franchises such as My Business Venture. They will set up your website, give you access to 15,000 products to sell and give you business training. This involves sales, marketing and so on. You just have to be ready to catch the ball running so when you are set up, you have a strategy to market your products, know a thing or two about SEO techniques so you can grow organically, etc.

Which road do you prefer? If you just want to dip your toes in the world of running a business and see if you want to permanently follow this route, go with a franchise. If you have made up your mind and followed your heart, then start completely fresh and unique.