Are you thinking of buying a restaurant franchise in Ontario? You’re making the right choice!

Franchise restaurants continue to rank among the top ten most popular franchise opportunities in Canada.  There are definitely many advantages to cash in on their popularity and revenue-generating potential right now.

Owning a franchise has made millionaires out of plenty of people. There’s definitely money to be made if you have the right concept and the right attitude and skill set you can make a good living and have a valuable business asset that you can proudly call your own.

Restaurants are also not ever going to go away, because people will always need to eat and socialise. It’s proven to be one of the most resilient business models over the years and the next couple of years could be good for the industry. Tim Hortons, Montana’s, Second Cup, Mr. Sub, Pizza Pizza are some examples of famous restaurant brands that operate as franchises.

But is buying a franchise restaurant better than starting a restaurant from the ground up? Is this business model right for you? Is it worth the risk? Do the pros outweigh the cons?

Franchising can be a wise decision for many reasons.

Proven business model

One of the advantages of franchising is that the business model has already been set up,

The franchisor has already figured out what works and what doesn’t from starting and growing the company from the ground up. A track record of success has been established with the business plan time and time again with different franchisees. As a franchisee, you get to benefit from the knowledge and the learning curve that members of your franchise family have already gone through.

A winning brand

When you buy into a restaurant franchise you basically get the right the licence – to use the franchisor’s logo, trademark, operational methods and business systems. You are essentially buying into a business that already has instant brand recognition. This instant brand awareness has been built by a loyal customer base over time. This can make it easier to get customers through the door and build a base of loyal or repeat customers for your own franchise business.  When you decide to open a restaurant with Iron Skillet, you get the benefit of an immediately recognizable brand name with an established reputation and your customers already know to expect a fun and delicious dining experience they can’t get anywhere else in Southern Ontario.

Support network

Franchisees receive ongoing support from franchisors in many different forms.

One, initial training is provided to you and your staff before setting up your business and ongoing training is always on hand particularly to keep pace with advances in technology. You also get to go to regular meetings with the parent company and other franchisees to make sure you are kept up-to-date with relevant issues such as technology advances and legal changes.

Another big benefit you enjoy with owning a restaurant franchise is the well-established relationships with other providers and suppliers. This ensures a level of consistency for the supply chain, particularly in gaining access to prime locations and procuring the products and tools you need to run your restaurant.

You also benefit from an abundance of valuable previous experience both from the franchisor and the franchise network as they share their vast knowledge and expertise on the products while allowing you to run your own business. You receive extremely useful guidance from people with years of experience running the business and all while being independent, you have the best of both worlds.

Turnkey ready

When you open a restaurant from scratch, you generally need to secure funding, research a location, register your brand’s logo and acquire a trademark, sign a lease agreement, build and design a unit, purchase inventory, create the menu, hire and train staff and plan a great advertising strategy to draw customers inside your business.

When you’re buying a restaurant franchise, on the other hand, you’re buying a turnkey business. It’s ready-to-go as soon as the owner unlocks the door. The start-up process is relatively easier as you already have everything you need to launch your business – the restaurant’s name, trademark, branding, and business model.

Turnkey restaurants can save you a lot of work and aggravation, since you can just jump right in, and you also have the invaluable support of a team of experts behind you every step of the way.

Lesser Risk

Your risk factor in opening a franchise is considerably less than if you open up your own restaurant from the ground up. It can be a safer route to travel down whether or not you have any experience. Starting your own restaurant from scratch with no experience in the restaurant industry is almost unheard of.  Much is unknown, and with little or no experience and no support or expert training, the deck is stacked against you.

Having no experience is not a deal breaker at all with franchising as you’re all set up for success.  Research and development are all done for you, you’re given a fairly decent insight of any competition present in your local market, a sizable amount of the start-up work has already been achieved by the franchisor and the traditionally proven success rate of the franchise system easily paves the way for more funding options. Income wise, you have a proven business concept with a restaurant franchise and there’s a far better chance to break even faster and have a higher success rate after five years than opening a restaurant from scratch.

Low starting costs

While buying a franchise isn’t cheap, the initial investment of owning a restaurant franchise in Ontario is generally less expensive compared to starting your own business from scratch. With a franchise, you will need to secure the initial one-time franchise fee, real estate costs as well as ongoing royalty fees to be able to keep using the licence and resources of the franchisor. Most franchises also require a minimum net worth and liquid assets you can quickly access to cover unexpected expenses.

With buying a restaurant franchise in Ontario, you gain instant name recognition and a built-in loyal customer base. It’s a great way to fulfil your dream of being a restaurant owner. You don’t have to build a business plan and menu from scratch, and you get to skip the difficult early years of getting a restaurant off the ground.

As one of the fastest-growing food chains in Southern Ontario, Iron Skillet offers qualified franchise candidates the 30-year expertise of the brand that has become one of the best places to wine and dine in Ontario.

To learn more about franchising opportunities with Iron Skillet, contact us now.